Sean Carroll

if I have a theory of, you know, when a volcano is going to erupt, the details will depend on a lot of microscopic facts that I don't know the answer to, right? But the point is that what that means is there are two, actually many more, but let's say particularly two microstates that are in the same macrostate that lead to very different behavior at the macro level.

So there's a microstate of the volcano. I look at the volcano. I do all the tests I can, but I cannot measure every single atom in it. So there's details about the pressure and the temperature that I don't exactly know. Certain microstates of the volcano are going to explode any minute now. other microstates of the volcano are going to last years without exploding, okay?

So there's a microstate of the volcano. I look at the volcano. I do all the tests I can, but I cannot measure every single atom in it. So there's details about the pressure and the temperature that I don't exactly know. Certain microstates of the volcano are going to explode any minute now. other microstates of the volcano are going to last years without exploding, okay?

So that's okay at the- at the emergent level. That's not a failure of emergence. It just means that the emergent theory tells you the probability that the volcano is going to erupt. And I think the same thing is true with people and with free will.

So that's okay at the- at the emergent level. That's not a failure of emergence. It just means that the emergent theory tells you the probability that the volcano is going to erupt. And I think the same thing is true with people and with free will.

My macrostate description of a person obviously doesn't include an enormous amount of information about the details of what's going on in their brains, right? So it may very well be the case that the microphysics of what's going on in their brains completely determines what they're going to do next. But that information is not available to me. I don't have that information.

My macrostate description of a person obviously doesn't include an enormous amount of information about the details of what's going on in their brains, right? So it may very well be the case that the microphysics of what's going on in their brains completely determines what they're going to do next. But that information is not available to me. I don't have that information.

I don't even have that information about myself, much less about other people. So what happens is in the macro state that I use to describe a person, there are various different possibilities about what will happen in the future. And 100% compatible with everything I know, there are different possible future choices. We call these decisions or –

I don't even have that information about myself, much less about other people. So what happens is in the macro state that I use to describe a person, there are various different possibilities about what will happen in the future. And 100% compatible with everything I know, there are different possible future choices. We call these decisions or –

Yeah, choices, decisions, things that your free will is doing. And free will is just a label we put on them. And I know that some people don't want to put that label. That's fine. I don't care. Don't put it on. I'm just trying to correctly describe what goes on in the world.

Yeah, choices, decisions, things that your free will is doing. And free will is just a label we put on them. And I know that some people don't want to put that label. That's fine. I don't care. Don't put it on. I'm just trying to correctly describe what goes on in the world.

Henry Jacob says that so many people support Luigi Mangione, which blew my mind, suggests that a lot of people are consequentialists. Do you agree with this inference? So Luigi Mangione is the one who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, which did indeed – Start a lot of conversation there on the old internet and elsewhere.

Henry Jacob says that so many people support Luigi Mangione, which blew my mind, suggests that a lot of people are consequentialists. Do you agree with this inference? So Luigi Mangione is the one who killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, which did indeed – Start a lot of conversation there on the old internet and elsewhere.

I think that here in the United States, for those of you who don't live here right now, we have problems with our healthcare system. And a lot of the problems in the United States in general are simply the result of the fact that very important –

I think that here in the United States, for those of you who don't live here right now, we have problems with our healthcare system. And a lot of the problems in the United States in general are simply the result of the fact that very important –

functions of everyday life are outsourced to corporations who are trying to make as much money as possible, not trying to make our lives better as possible. The whole idea of capitalism and Adam Smith is that under certain circumstances, the interests of corporations trying to make money and the interests of the consumers or the workers can align with each other, right?

functions of everyday life are outsourced to corporations who are trying to make as much money as possible, not trying to make our lives better as possible. The whole idea of capitalism and Adam Smith is that under certain circumstances, the interests of corporations trying to make money and the interests of the consumers or the workers can align with each other, right?

You can actually have a situation where it's win-win for everybody. But that's not inevitable. It doesn't necessarily happen. Sometimes the corporations can just leech off money from people because they have figured out a way to do it. It doesn't make anyone's life better except they make money. And The insurance industry here in the United States is a classic example of that.

You can actually have a situation where it's win-win for everybody. But that's not inevitable. It doesn't necessarily happen. Sometimes the corporations can just leech off money from people because they have figured out a way to do it. It doesn't make anyone's life better except they make money. And The insurance industry here in the United States is a classic example of that.

And so it's in a regime or it's in a context where emotions run very high because you're literally talking about people's lives, people's health. The healthcare companies deny life-saving care to people. And so people are rightfully angry about this. And so Luigi Mangione took it out. I don't know the details. I don't follow this kind of thing very carefully. But