Sean Carroll

So in inflation, there is a predictive theory for where the baryons and the antibaryons come from, and you can calculate that. what the fluctuations should be, they're much, much smaller than one part in a billion, okay?

One part in a billion is actually a huge difference by the scales that we're talking about here, because there are quantum fluctuations, but every—sorry, there really are not quantum fluctuations. It depends on models of physics that we don't yet have complete handles on, okay? So you could—what you want to do

One part in a billion is actually a huge difference by the scales that we're talking about here, because there are quantum fluctuations, but every—sorry, there really are not quantum fluctuations. It depends on models of physics that we don't yet have complete handles on, okay? So you could—what you want to do

is to create some theory of the initial conditions where there's an imbalance where, sorry, there's not an imbalance in the initial condition, but there's dynamically a preference for, you know, decaying into baryons or antibaryons. And you can invent that. Models of leptogenesis and things like that do that kind of thing.

is to create some theory of the initial conditions where there's an imbalance where, sorry, there's not an imbalance in the initial condition, but there's dynamically a preference for, you know, decaying into baryons or antibaryons. And you can invent that. Models of leptogenesis and things like that do that kind of thing.

It's a little bit tricky because even in the standard model of particle physics, baryon number is not conserved. B minus L, baryon number minus lepton number is conserved. So if that quantity is exactly zero, it stays zero. But you can still create or destroy individual baryons. And in fact, we also think that gravity does not conserve baryon number at all.

It's a little bit tricky because even in the standard model of particle physics, baryon number is not conserved. B minus L, baryon number minus lepton number is conserved. So if that quantity is exactly zero, it stays zero. But you can still create or destroy individual baryons. And in fact, we also think that gravity does not conserve baryon number at all.

And that hurts you for this particular question because if you started with an imbalance, but it's super-duper high energies, there was copious violation of baryon number, then you would tend to equilibrate. You would tend to get rid of the excess number of baryons over anti-baryons. So, you know, we don't know what the final answer is.

And that hurts you for this particular question because if you started with an imbalance, but it's super-duper high energies, there was copious violation of baryon number, then you would tend to equilibrate. You would tend to get rid of the excess number of baryons over anti-baryons. So, you know, we don't know what the final answer is.

We certainly don't know what the initial conditions are, but cosmologists are thinking about all of these things. And, you know, the thing is, it's not just like we don't know why there's more matter than antimatter and this makes us sad, right? That's not the motivation. The motivation is this is a clue that the universe is giving us. There's more matter than antimatter. Okay.

We certainly don't know what the initial conditions are, but cosmologists are thinking about all of these things. And, you know, the thing is, it's not just like we don't know why there's more matter than antimatter and this makes us sad, right? That's not the motivation. The motivation is this is a clue that the universe is giving us. There's more matter than antimatter. Okay.

does that tell us something about the laws of physics that we don't know? So, you know, it's nice to have those little puzzles out there in the universe for us to think about. Helen Edwards says, I love all the interviews you've been doing in some form or another on life, how to think about agency, multiple scales, computation, information, etc.

does that tell us something about the laws of physics that we don't know? So, you know, it's nice to have those little puzzles out there in the universe for us to think about. Helen Edwards says, I love all the interviews you've been doing in some form or another on life, how to think about agency, multiple scales, computation, information, etc.

Where has your intuition got to on whether AI could ever be alive? And how are you conceptualizing information and computation as a common root of synthetic versus organic systems? Well, computation and—sorry, information and computation, absolutely a central part of the commonality between synthetic and organic systems.

Where has your intuition got to on whether AI could ever be alive? And how are you conceptualizing information and computation as a common root of synthetic versus organic systems? Well, computation and—sorry, information and computation, absolutely a central part of the commonality between synthetic and organic systems.

I don't think that my main conception has shifted very much vis-a-vis whether AI could ever be alive. Namely— Sure, it could be. I'm 100% willing to imagine that it is being.

I don't think that my main conception has shifted very much vis-a-vis whether AI could ever be alive. Namely— Sure, it could be. I'm 100% willing to imagine that it is being.

I think that as I know more and more about what it means to be alive, I'm more and more appreciative of the differences between what we are doing these days in the realm of AI and what it would be to create a truly living artificial organism.

I think that as I know more and more about what it means to be alive, I'm more and more appreciative of the differences between what we are doing these days in the realm of AI and what it would be to create a truly living artificial organism.

As I've said many times before, so I'm not going to rehearse now, but real living beings are quasi-stable systems that take in free energy from the environment and use that free energy to survive, to persist, to self-repair. We do metabolism. We eat and we excrete and we get on with lives and we're constantly increasing the entropy of the universe.