Sean Carroll

The universe doesn't care about you and your measurements.

The universe is just out there, and I'm just going to believe in it.

Why not?

The universe is impersonal, and the word measurement should not appear in the fundamental laws of physics.

Why not?

Yes.

I presume that the question is referring to, like, is it mostly a philosophical question or is it mostly a physics question?

Right.

Different parts of physics are also very relevant here.

But this is exactly why I chose to title myself a professor of natural philosophy, because I don't think that there's a boundary or a dividing line between the philosophy of it all and the physics of it all.

You were never going to invent quantum mechanics by sitting around in your armchair thinking about how the universe would be, right?

You needed experiments that gave you, giving you data that you couldn't otherwise account for, and that's what led us to quantum mechanics.

But then quantum mechanics leads us to this idea of many worlds happening every time you make a quantum measurement, and philosophy becomes super important for accounting for that, for understanding that.

The physicists...

Bless their hearts.

I've done a terrible job.

Most of them just live in denial and don't even want to think about this.

And it's kind of an embarrassment.

But the philosophers have at least taken up the challenge.

I don't think that we're done yet.