Phillip Goff

They're like Goldilocks porridge, right? Not too big, not too small, kind of exactly in the right narrow range necessary for life.

They're like Goldilocks porridge, right? Not too big, not too small, kind of exactly in the right narrow range necessary for life.

They're like Goldilocks porridge, right? Not too big, not too small, kind of exactly in the right narrow range necessary for life.

I think the cosmological constant is the one that's most baffled physicists, I think. This is connected to dark energy, which powers the accelerating expansion of the universe. I remember when we discovered this. I wasn't involved. I was a teenager interested in black holes things. And, you know, when I was a teenager, we thought we didn't know if the universe was speeding up or slowing down.

I think the cosmological constant is the one that's most baffled physicists, I think. This is connected to dark energy, which powers the accelerating expansion of the universe. I remember when we discovered this. I wasn't involved. I was a teenager interested in black holes things. And, you know, when I was a teenager, we thought we didn't know if the universe was speeding up or slowing down.

I think the cosmological constant is the one that's most baffled physicists, I think. This is connected to dark energy, which powers the accelerating expansion of the universe. I remember when we discovered this. I wasn't involved. I was a teenager interested in black holes things. And, you know, when I was a teenager, we thought we didn't know if the universe was speeding up or slowing down.

Maybe it would collapse back on itself. But we discovered in 1998, I think, that it is accelerating in its expansion. And therefore, physicists postulate some repulsive force pushing it apart that we call dark energy. And when we worked out what the value is of that force, it turned out to be very surprising in lots of ways.

Maybe it would collapse back on itself. But we discovered in 1998, I think, that it is accelerating in its expansion. And therefore, physicists postulate some repulsive force pushing it apart that we call dark energy. And when we worked out what the value is of that force, it turned out to be very surprising in lots of ways.

Maybe it would collapse back on itself. But we discovered in 1998, I think, that it is accelerating in its expansion. And therefore, physicists postulate some repulsive force pushing it apart that we call dark energy. And when we worked out what the value is of that force, it turned out to be very surprising in lots of ways.

From what else we know in physics, you'd expect it to be very big, a very strong force. In fact, in the relevant units, it's incredibly small. It's nearly zero. It's nearly zero, but not quite zero, which many physicists already find a bit odd. But actually, it's fortunate it is that way, because if it had been a slightly bigger number,

From what else we know in physics, you'd expect it to be very big, a very strong force. In fact, in the relevant units, it's incredibly small. It's nearly zero. It's nearly zero, but not quite zero, which many physicists already find a bit odd. But actually, it's fortunate it is that way, because if it had been a slightly bigger number,

From what else we know in physics, you'd expect it to be very big, a very strong force. In fact, in the relevant units, it's incredibly small. It's nearly zero. It's nearly zero, but not quite zero, which many physicists already find a bit odd. But actually, it's fortunate it is that way, because if it had been a slightly bigger number,

Everything in the early universe would have shot apart so quickly that no two particles would have ever met. We wouldn't have had stars, planets, we wouldn't have had anything. Nothing would have interacted. Whereas if it had been less than zero, it would not have counteracted gravity and the entire universe would have collapsed back on itself a split second after the Big Bang.

Everything in the early universe would have shot apart so quickly that no two particles would have ever met. We wouldn't have had stars, planets, we wouldn't have had anything. Nothing would have interacted. Whereas if it had been less than zero, it would not have counteracted gravity and the entire universe would have collapsed back on itself a split second after the Big Bang.

Everything in the early universe would have shot apart so quickly that no two particles would have ever met. We wouldn't have had stars, planets, we wouldn't have had anything. Nothing would have interacted. Whereas if it had been less than zero, it would not have counteracted gravity and the entire universe would have collapsed back on itself a split second after the Big Bang.

So for there to be any kind of structural complexity, it had to fall in this really narrow range of being really, really, really small, but not quite zero or not quite negative. And it is just... It just seems hard to make sense of that that could have just been by chance that it had a number in that range. And there are many numbers like this. So, you know, I guess... Yeah, sorry.

So for there to be any kind of structural complexity, it had to fall in this really narrow range of being really, really, really small, but not quite zero or not quite negative. And it is just... It just seems hard to make sense of that that could have just been by chance that it had a number in that range. And there are many numbers like this. So, you know, I guess... Yeah, sorry.

So for there to be any kind of structural complexity, it had to fall in this really narrow range of being really, really, really small, but not quite zero or not quite negative. And it is just... It just seems hard to make sense of that that could have just been by chance that it had a number in that range. And there are many numbers like this. So, you know, I guess... Yeah, sorry.

Yeah, I think it's hard to get it because these are so abstract. It's hard to connect. This is why it's good to have these concrete examples that I'd forgotten I'd given in my book. Thank you. I mean, suppose like suppose let's say because I do find people often say, oh, it's just chance. But suppose, you know.

Yeah, I think it's hard to get it because these are so abstract. It's hard to connect. This is why it's good to have these concrete examples that I'd forgotten I'd given in my book. Thank you. I mean, suppose like suppose let's say because I do find people often say, oh, it's just chance. But suppose, you know.