The idea that there could be other universes out there is really one that stretches the mind in a great way.
BRIAN GREENEBut can we really understand that or put rigorous mathematics or testable experiments against that? Not yet. So one of the big holy grail of physics is to understand why there is something rather than nothing.
More Brian Greene Quotes
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How can a speck of a universe be physically identical to the great expanse we view in the heavens above?
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There’s no way that scientists can ever rule out religion, or even have anything significant to say about the abstract idea of a divine creator.
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The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.
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String theory envisions a multiverse in which our universe is one slice of bread in a big cosmic loaf. The other slices would be displaced from ours in some extra dimension of space.
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According to inflation, the more than 100 billion galaxies, sparkling throughout space like heavenly diamonds, are nothing but quantum mechanics writ large across the sky. To me, this realization is one of the greatest wonders of the modern scientific age.
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We’re on this planet for the briefest of moments in cosmic terms, and I want to spend that time thinking about what I consider the deepest questions.
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In quantum mechanics there is A causing B. The equations do not stand outside that usual paradigm of physics. The real issue is that the kinds of things you predict in quantum mechanics are different from the kinds of things you predict using general relativity.
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Relativity challenges your basic intuitions that you’ve built up from everyday experience. It says your experience of time is not what you think it is, that time is malleable. Your experience of space is not what you think it is; it can stretch and shrink.
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Cosmology is among the oldest subjects to captivate our species. And it’s no wonder. We’re storytellers, and what could be more grand than the story of creation?
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I can’t stand clutter. I can’t stand piles of stuff. And whenever I see it, I basically just throw the stuff away.
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Quantum Mechanics is different. Its weirdness is evident without comparison. It is harder to train your mind to have quantum mechanical tuition, because quantum mechanics shatters our own personal, individual conception of reality
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If someone wants to place the word ‘God’ on those collections of words, it’s OK with me.
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Every moment is as real as every other. Every ‘now,’ when you say, ‘This is the real moment,’ is as real as every other ‘now’ – and therefore all the moments are just out there. Just as every location in space is out there, I think every moment in time is out there, too.
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Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding.
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Sometimes attaining the deepest familiarity with a question is our best substitute for actually having the answer.
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String theory is the most developed theory with the capacity to unite general relativity and quantum mechanics in a consistent manner.
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Science is the greatest of all adventure stories, one that’s been unfolding for thousands of years as we have sought to understand ourselves and our surroundings.
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Assessing existence while failing to embrace the insights of modern physics would be like wrestling in the dark with an unknown opponent.
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Our eyes only see the big dimensions, but beyond those there are others that escape detection because they are so small.
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A watch worn by a particle of light would not tick at all. Light realizes the dreams of Ponce de Leon and the cosmetics industry: it doesn’t age.
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I like ‘The Simpsons’ quite a lot. I love the irreverent character of the whole show. It’s great.
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Science is a way of life. Science is a perspective. Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding in a manner that’s precise, predictive and reliable – a transformation, for those lucky enough to experience it, that is empowering and emotional.
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Physicists are more like avant-garde composers, willing to bend traditional rules… Mathematicians are more like classical composers.
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I’ve seen children’s eyes light up when I tell them about black holes and the Big Bang.
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In the far, far future, essentially all matter will have returned to energy. But because of the enormous expansion of space, this energy will be spread so thinly that it will hardly ever convert back to even the lightest particles of matter.
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And putting together the probabilities of quantum mechanics with the certainty of general relativity, that’s been the big challenge and that’s why we have been excited about string theory, as it’s one of the only approaches that can put it together.
BRIAN GREENE