Sean Carroll

Well, what do you mean by really want to learn this stuff, right? If you want to learn it at the level of a professional physicist, you have to start at the beginning. You have to learn classical mechanics and calculus and differential equations and waves and E&M and basic quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics and then on your way up.

There is a famous slash infamous web page put up by Gerard de Tuft, who is a Nobel Prize winning brilliant physicist, called How to Be a Good Theoretical Physicist. And he lists – I've always thought maybe I should do a – my own version of this because it lists every course you need to take.

There is a famous slash infamous web page put up by Gerard de Tuft, who is a Nobel Prize winning brilliant physicist, called How to Be a Good Theoretical Physicist. And he lists – I've always thought maybe I should do a – my own version of this because it lists every course you need to take.

And he points to specific resources, both online and textbooks that will take you all the way up through quantum field theory and particle physics and condensed matter physics and so on. But he also has all the steps along the way, including things like foreign languages and the mathematics and so forth. The problem is that a Tufts idea of what you need to know is rather expansive.

And he points to specific resources, both online and textbooks that will take you all the way up through quantum field theory and particle physics and condensed matter physics and so on. But he also has all the steps along the way, including things like foreign languages and the mathematics and so forth. The problem is that a Tufts idea of what you need to know is rather expansive.

So it's incredibly intimidating. Like you look at the list and you're like, I'm never going to get through all this. And, you know, maybe that's what you need to be in a Tufts level theoretical physicist, but maybe some of us want to just aim at being a, a working class hack theoretical physicist, and that would be good enough.

So it's incredibly intimidating. Like you look at the list and you're like, I'm never going to get through all this. And, you know, maybe that's what you need to be in a Tufts level theoretical physicist, but maybe some of us want to just aim at being a, a working class hack theoretical physicist, and that would be good enough.

So you can maybe pick and choose a little bit, but ultimately, yeah, you're going to have to buy some textbooks, I think. Maybe buy is the wrong word, because at this point, there's so much stuff online, whether it's online courses, which I really am a fan of, or online lecture notes or whatever. I don't have specific recommendations there, but go to edX and Coursera.

So you can maybe pick and choose a little bit, but ultimately, yeah, you're going to have to buy some textbooks, I think. Maybe buy is the wrong word, because at this point, there's so much stuff online, whether it's online courses, which I really am a fan of, or online lecture notes or whatever. I don't have specific recommendations there, but go to edX and Coursera.

These are online course sites. Or go to Khan Academy or whatever and just find courses you can sign up for. And many of them are archived, so the videos are there. You don't need to take them at some specific pace. You can just do it whenever you want, which is great.

These are online course sites. Or go to Khan Academy or whatever and just find courses you can sign up for. And many of them are archived, so the videos are there. You don't need to take them at some specific pace. You can just do it whenever you want, which is great.

Christoph Radomski says, in Space Time in Motion, you mentioned that you, being a science consultant in Marvel's Thor, had something to do with Jane Foster's mention of an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Are you also responsible for Tony Stark's mentioning quantum fluctuations at Planck scale triggering Deutsch proposition in Avengers Endgame? No, that one was not mine.

Christoph Radomski says, in Space Time in Motion, you mentioned that you, being a science consultant in Marvel's Thor, had something to do with Jane Foster's mention of an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Are you also responsible for Tony Stark's mentioning quantum fluctuations at Planck scale triggering Deutsch proposition in Avengers Endgame? No, that one was not mine.

There were other science consultants on Endgame. I think, I'm not 100% sure, but I think that former Mindscape guest Clifford Johnson was one of them, and it might be from him. I mean, that particular statement of Tony Stark's is kind of word salad nonsense. All the individual terms make sense, but the particular way they are arranged in order doesn't, which is, that's fine. You know, it's just...

There were other science consultants on Endgame. I think, I'm not 100% sure, but I think that former Mindscape guest Clifford Johnson was one of them, and it might be from him. I mean, that particular statement of Tony Stark's is kind of word salad nonsense. All the individual terms make sense, but the particular way they are arranged in order doesn't, which is, that's fine. You know, it's just...

It could have been better like if they had more science consulting going on. It could easily have been massaged into a statement that both made sense and to serve the dramatic purposes in the moment. But despite the fact that these movies cost a lot of money to make and spend a lot of time being made, there's always kind of a rush.

It could have been better like if they had more science consulting going on. It could easily have been massaged into a statement that both made sense and to serve the dramatic purposes in the moment. But despite the fact that these movies cost a lot of money to make and spend a lot of time being made, there's always kind of a rush.

People don't have time to sit back and go like, OK, how exactly should we get this one particular line? Should we get the technobabble right so that it makes sense? So, no, I am not responsible for that one. Sorry.

People don't have time to sit back and go like, OK, how exactly should we get this one particular line? Should we get the technobabble right so that it makes sense? So, no, I am not responsible for that one. Sorry.

Gary Miller says, But if you read this question aloud to your entire audience and agree that any one person's vote doesn't matter, you risk alienating a large group of people from voting. It seems like democracy depends on people believing something untrue that their vote matters. Is this an inherent problem with democracy?