S. James Gates Jr.: Theoretical physicist and professor at Brown University specializing in supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He served on President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and co-authored 'Proving Einstein Right.'
What this episode covers
Jim Gates joins Lex Fridman to discuss the deep structure of reality, from the challenges of interstellar travel and colonizing Mars to the nature of consciousness and creativity. He explains supersymmetry, bosons and fermions, and his own invention of Adinkra symbols, which surprisingly contain error-correcting codes buried inside the equations of physics. Gates lays out the contested status of string theory, the historical fragility of how Einstein became famous, and his experiences working with Richard Feynman and serving in the Obama administration. Throughout, he emphasizes symmetry, the mystery of why the universe is comprehensible, and the role of dreaming and emotional struggle in scientific creativity.
The guest's own work
Proving Einstein Right
S. James Gates Jr. and Cathie Pelletier
“he's now the co-author of a new book titled proving Einstein right about the scientists who set out to prove in Stein's theory of relativity”— Lex Fridman
Proving Einstein Right
S. James Gates Jr. and Cathie Pelletier
“in our book proofing Einstein right we actually do talk about the fact that Albert Einstein in 1915 wrote a set of equations”— guest
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
Richard Feynman
“there's a book called surely you're joking mr. Feinman there's a series of books that starts with surely you're joking mr. fireman”— guest
What Do You Care What Other People Think?
Richard Feynman
“the segment may be something like what do you care what they say or something I mean their titles are all in there three of them”— guest
The Big Bang Theory
Chuck Lorre
“well string theory is what they do on the Big Bang Theory right”— guest
Schoolhouse Rock
ABC
“if you've ever seen that television cartoon called Schoolhouse Rock is this one story about how a bill becomes a law”— guest
Big reveals from this episode
- Gates is convinced humans will NOT reach Mars by 2030, arguing it is at least a thousand times harder than the moon given funding cuts.
- He is disappointed in Bezos and Musk, saying their rockets are only incremental change and they should pursue flare/aerospike engines to bend the cost curve.
- When Eric Schmidt said computers would soon do his job, Gates replied 'not unless they can dream', tying consciousness to irrational, dreamlike creativity.
- Gates reveals he found error-correcting codes buried inside supersymmetry equations and it took three years to convince physicists he wasn't crazy.
- He bluntly states string theory 'doesn't actually exist' as a theory, it is a large collection of mathematical facts with no overarching paradigm.
- Einstein's 1911 prediction was WRONG; only wars and bad weather preventing 1914 eclipse measurements saved his reputation before he corrected it in 1915.
- Gates says his mother died when he was 11, so he learned the end of the story early and never spent time fearing death.
Worth remembering
- The Apollo program consumed about 5% of US economic output; today NASA gets roughly one tenth of that funding.
- A flare (aerospike) engine looks like a car exhaust pipe and lets you vary thrust in ways a bell-shaped rocket engine cannot.
- There are 18 quarks and six lepton-type particles; the strong force has eight carriers called gluons.
- LIGO has detected gravitational waves, but we still lack the technology to prove the graviton exists by showing the waves carry energy in packets.
- Supersymmetry was actually first discovered in Ukraine in the late 1960s but the Iron Curtain hid it from Western physicists.
- Error-correcting (Hamming) codes were devised in the 1940s, and the only other place in nature they appear is genetics.
- Contrary to popular belief, there exist purely four-dimensional string theories, discovered independently by three groups in the late 1980s.
- The Breakthrough Prize, founded by Yuri Milner, awards three times the money of a Nobel Prize.
- The Nobel Prize in Physics is never given for merely proposing an idea, it requires observational support, which is why Einstein never won for relativity.