Sean Carroll

But I would say that there are different kinds of disagreement, right? There are people who are worth disagreeing with, and there are people who are not worth disagreeing with. I do try very hard to not spend too much time disagreeing with the people who are not worth disagreeing with. I mean, I disagree with them maybe,

But I would say that there are different kinds of disagreement, right? There are people who are worth disagreeing with, and there are people who are not worth disagreeing with. I do try very hard to not spend too much time disagreeing with the people who are not worth disagreeing with. I mean, I disagree with them maybe,

But if they're not going to change their minds or their thoughts are just not very interesting or good, then I'm not going to spend a lot of time engaging with them. I'm trying to engage with people who I disagree with in a way that potentially they could change my mind or I could change theirs or at least we could learn something important from each other.

But if they're not going to change their minds or their thoughts are just not very interesting or good, then I'm not going to spend a lot of time engaging with them. I'm trying to engage with people who I disagree with in a way that potentially they could change my mind or I could change theirs or at least we could learn something important from each other.

That's the criterion that I try to have for guests on Mindscape. It doesn't always work, you know. There's – Podcasts has to happen every week, and I choose a lot of different people, but basically what I'm looking for is somebody I can learn from. Even if it's something that I already know a lot about, I can learn little details, and the audience maybe can learn a lot.

That's the criterion that I try to have for guests on Mindscape. It doesn't always work, you know. There's – Podcasts has to happen every week, and I choose a lot of different people, but basically what I'm looking for is somebody I can learn from. Even if it's something that I already know a lot about, I can learn little details, and the audience maybe can learn a lot.

And if it's something that I disagree with somebody, but I want to know why they think that, right? So I'm choosing to engage with people I disagree with but can learn from, and so that kind of naturally makes it a more pleasant experience. I do think this might not be true, but I think that...

And if it's something that I disagree with somebody, but I want to know why they think that, right? So I'm choosing to engage with people I disagree with but can learn from, and so that kind of naturally makes it a more pleasant experience. I do think this might not be true, but I think that...

It's weird to me to see people on the outside of academia be less able to disagree with each other politely and constructively than people inside academia. If you just asked me if I hadn't thought about it that much and you just asked, do professors disagree with each other sort of loudly and emotionally, I would say, yeah, they really get into it and they disagree pretty badly.

It's weird to me to see people on the outside of academia be less able to disagree with each other politely and constructively than people inside academia. If you just asked me if I hadn't thought about it that much and you just asked, do professors disagree with each other sort of loudly and emotionally, I would say, yeah, they really get into it and they disagree pretty badly.

still almost all the time, not all the time, but almost all the time, professors, intellectuals, scholars, people who are in academia, they disagree, and they go out and, you know, have a drink with each other and talk about it. They keep talking about it forever, for decades, right? This is very, very standard. It's not 100% by any means, but it happens all the time.

still almost all the time, not all the time, but almost all the time, professors, intellectuals, scholars, people who are in academia, they disagree, and they go out and, you know, have a drink with each other and talk about it. They keep talking about it forever, for decades, right? This is very, very standard. It's not 100% by any means, but it happens all the time.

And I think that a lot of people outside just, if they're disagreeing, then that person is an enemy And they shouldn't be engaged with in any way. And that's a little alien to me. It makes me sad when I see things like that. Folkman says, I just finished reading the big picture, which I found excellent.

And I think that a lot of people outside just, if they're disagreeing, then that person is an enemy And they shouldn't be engaged with in any way. And that's a little alien to me. It makes me sad when I see things like that. Folkman says, I just finished reading the big picture, which I found excellent.

On the question of free will, it almost seems as if your definition results in a situation where entropy is reversed or inverted.

On the question of free will, it almost seems as if your definition results in a situation where entropy is reversed or inverted.

Multiple potential macro states resulting from the decision you actually make, you have free will so you can make many different decisions with distinctly different outcomes, correspond to only one microstate, which results from the deterministic chugging forward of the microscopic configurations based on the laws of physics. What are your thoughts on this interpretation?

Multiple potential macro states resulting from the decision you actually make, you have free will so you can make many different decisions with distinctly different outcomes, correspond to only one microstate, which results from the deterministic chugging forward of the microscopic configurations based on the laws of physics. What are your thoughts on this interpretation?

Does this have any interesting implications for the arrow of time and related concepts? So I'm not exactly sure what you have in mind here. I'm not sure that it came through to me perfectly clearly, but I don't think that your interpretation is on the right track. Let's forget for the moment about quantum mechanics, okay? Quantum mechanics introduces true indeterminism into our observed world.

Does this have any interesting implications for the arrow of time and related concepts? So I'm not exactly sure what you have in mind here. I'm not sure that it came through to me perfectly clearly, but I don't think that your interpretation is on the right track. Let's forget for the moment about quantum mechanics, okay? Quantum mechanics introduces true indeterminism into our observed world.