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Sean Carroll

Sean Carroll

@sean-carroll · 20 positions · On ppll ↗

Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy, host of the Mindscape podcast and author of Something Deeply Hidden.

Sean Carroll did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

3 of Sean Carroll's claims fit 3 mental models. Most often: Emergence, Incentives, Occam's razor.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Emergence

Whole systems do things none of their parts do, and nobody has to design that order for it to appear.

Used by 23 others

Consciousness and free will are not illusions: being emergent and non-fundamental is exactly as real as a table is.

  1. Sean Carroll Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University That’s different than something being emergent or non-fundamental, but also real. This table is real, even though I know it’s made of atoms, that doesn’t remove the realness from the table. I think that consciousness and free will and things like that are just as real in tables and chairs. Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com · 22 Apr 2024 · 2:06:15 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsThat’s different than something being emergent or non-fundamental, but also real. This table is real, even though I know it’s made of atoms, that doesn’t remove the realness from the table. I think that consciousness and free will and things like that are just as real in tables and chairs.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:06:15 plays here

    ↗Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com

    22 Apr 2024 · video · 2h 35m · spoken · official transcript

Occam's razor

Prefer the simplest explanation that fits the facts, and still make it prove itself.

Used by 4 others

The simplest explanation for why we have never noticed an alien civilization is that there are none out there.

  1. Sean Carroll Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University But I think your intuition is right that it would’ve been easy for there to be lots of civilizations then we would’ve noticed them already and we haven’t. Absolutely the simplest explanation for why we haven’t is that they’re not there. Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com · 22 Apr 2024 · 0:23:46 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsBut I think your intuition is right that it would’ve been easy for there to be lots of civilizations then we would’ve noticed them already and we haven’t. Absolutely the simplest explanation for why we haven’t is that they’re not there.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:23:46 plays here

    ↗Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com

    22 Apr 2024 · video · 2h 35m · spoken · official transcript

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Incentives

Look at what people are rewarded for; it explains more behaviour than what they say, your own included.

Used by 86 others

The Nobel Prize is probably a net good for the world and a net negative for science, because it makes scientists want to win a Nobel Prize.

  1. Sean Carroll Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University I think that Nobel Prize has enormous problems. I think it’s probably a net good for the world because it brings attention to good science. I think it’s probably a net negative for science because it makes people want to win the Nobel Prize. Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com · 22 Apr 2024 · 2:33:17 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsI think that Nobel Prize has enormous problems. I think it’s probably a net good for the world because it brings attention to good science. I think it’s probably a net negative for science because it makes people want to win the Nobel Prize.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 2:33:17 plays here

    ↗Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com

    22 Apr 2024 · video · 2h 35m · spoken · official transcript