Tim Maudlin Λ Bernardo Kastrup: Non-locality, Bell's Theorem

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      "text": " The Economist covers math, physics, philosophy, and AI in a manner that shows how different countries perceive developments and how they impact markets. They recently published a piece on China's new neutrino detector. They cover extending life via mitochondrial transplants, creating an entirely new field of medicine. But it's also not just science, they analyze culture, they analyze finance, economics, business, international affairs across every region."
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      "text": " I'm particularly liking their new insider feature was just launched this month it gives you gives me a front row access to the economist internal editorial debates where senior editors argue through the news with world leaders and policy makers and twice weekly long format shows basically an extremely high quality podcast whether it's scientific innovation or shifting global politics the economist provides comprehensive coverage beyond headlines."
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      "text": " Think Verizon, the best 5G network is expensive? Think again. Bring in your AT&T or T-Mobile bill to a Verizon store today and we'll give you a better deal. Now what to do with your unwanted bills? Ever seen an origami version of the Miami Bull? Jokes aside, Verizon has the most ways to save on phones and plants where everyone"
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      "text": " I think physical realism and locality are both disproven unless one is prepared to entertain sometimes grotesque theoretical fantasies."
    },
    {
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      "text": " Tim Modlin is a professor of physics and philosophy at New York University and has also been on the Theories of Everything channel twice, once before with Tim Palmer for a Theolocution on Superdeterminism, Bell's Theorem and Fractals, as well as a solo episode, which is one of our most beloved physics episodes. Tim Modlin is also helping organize the John Bell Institute, which is a foundation for research about the foundations of physics."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 158.268,
      "index": 5,
      "start_time": 132.824,
      "text": " I've donated to this GoFundMe, as there aren't many places in the entire world that are dedicated to making progress at the foundational level. Rather, there are separate programs like Strings. The links to everything mentioned, including the John Bell Institute, are in the description. Bernardo Castro holds a PhD, both in computer science and another in philosophy, and is now an advocate of what's called analytic idealism. The notion that the material world around us is a mere projection of mind."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 182.466,
      "index": 6,
      "start_time": 158.268,
      "text": " And that at the Fundament, all that exists are mental elements, or are just one instance of one ontological type. This is distinct from Donald Hoffman. However, there are various overlaps and similarities. Bernardo also runs the Essential Foundation, links to which are in the description, and he's been on the podcast before several times, once with Professor Vervecky, Professor Susan Schneider, Professor Donald Hoffman, Professor Susan Blackmore, a solo episode."
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      "text": " Another with Christopher Langan and Sabine Haassenfelder. At the end of this episode will be an extremely lengthy update on the Theories of Everything channel. My name is Kurt Jaimungal and welcome to the Theories of Everything podcast, where we explore toes from a theoretical physics and mathematical perspective, as well as a philosophical one. Enjoy this theolocution with Tim Modlin and Bernardo Castrop. OK, welcome, Bernardo. Welcome, Tim. Thank you all for coming on to the podcast again."
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    {
      "end_time": 232.5,
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      "text": " I would just like to start by asking you how is your day? How's your day been and what are you all working on? We'll start with Tim and then we'll go to you, Bernardo. How's my day? Fine. It's rainy. I went swimming. That was nice. What am I working on? Well, what I've been working on on a large scale for years and years and I'm still trying to get through is a"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 259.36,
      "index": 9,
      "start_time": 233.114,
      "text": " Is a new account possible way of thinking of space and time as being discrete and that just requires a whole lot of choices and a lot of, you know, figuring out how to set the thing up. And so that's kind of the biggest project that that's going on. Hopefully someday a book will come out and you want it to be discrete because the continuum has too many problems or being discrete solves. I mean,"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 287.21,
      "index": 10,
      "start_time": 260.452,
      "text": " First of all, everybody knows from antiquity it might be discrete, so it's a hypothesis worth investigating, and simply saying it's discrete doesn't nail down the geometry much at all. There are just lots and lots and lots of ways to try and realize that idea. If it's discrete, then pretty clearly you're not going to run into singularities. That is, all the math will be set up in a way that"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 307.568,
      "index": 11,
      "start_time": 287.619,
      "text": " No calculation can yield a value that exceeds all bounds, the way it can in a continuum. So sure, there will be certain technical problems that simply can't arise in such a setting. And the other thing is if you do it discreetly, it's"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 333.899,
      "index": 12,
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      "text": " It's pretty hard to avoid having a kind of preferred foliation, which is something I want for reasons of explaining non locality and violations of Bell's inequality. So it's just kind of built into it from the beginning, which to me, that's not a bug. That's a feature. All right. Okay, Bernardo. So how's your day and what are you working on these days? So far had a good day."
    },
    {
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      "text": " I just finished writing one of the two books that I had committed to my publisher for this year. The other one is ongoing, but I sort of I'm digressing because some new ideas popped in my mind and I can't avoid but pursue them. I am looking at the potential synergy between some form of objective idealism and integrated information theory."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 388.677,
      "index": 14,
      "start_time": 362.005,
      "text": " because I think IIT potentially offers an account for dissociation, which is critical for objective idealism. So I've been giving it a lot of thought, even though I promised myself I would just think about it after I'm done with the second book. I can't help. I am sort of I'm being attacked by these thoughts and I have no defenses."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 415.657,
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      "text": " So I think I'm going to pursue this more seriously once I finish the second book. Well, publishing one book in two years is difficult. So how are you managing to publish two books in one year? Is it stream of consciousness? Do you already have the ideas sorted out? Well, I haven't written anything in three years. I sort of took a break for three years focusing purely on essential foundation and getting that going."
    },
    {
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      "text": " The books, but by the time I start writing them, they are in my mind already. I don't I don't know whether I'm typical in this respect. Maybe I'm I'm anomalous. Maybe I'm a weird guy, but I don't I don't decide. To write a book, usually the book comes to me and I just have to sit down and write when I have time."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 473.319,
      "index": 17,
      "start_time": 443.353,
      "text": " So this year it's two and I run it past my publisher and they thought, yeah, let's do two books this year because you haven't done anything three years. I was on a holiday, so now I have to compensate. Professor Modlin, people already know about the John Bell Institute because it will be in the introduction, but even though it will be there, can you please outline what it is and what your ongoing challenges are and why it's important for physics for there to be an institute like this?"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 503.268,
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      "text": " Sure, I'd be glad to. So it's the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics and it's devoted to the foundations of physics, which is a field that, as I like to say, is a kind of orphan in terms of the standard academic structure of universities because physics departments don't teach courses in foundations of physics and the people who do it are divided"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 533.797,
      "index": 19,
      "start_time": 503.916,
      "text": " among physics departments, math departments and philosophy departments. So it just doesn't really have a home. And so what I was basically trying to do was find a home for it. The governing board by charter has two physicists, two mathematicians and two philosophers. So we're trying to bring in people with these different backgrounds and provide a venue in which they can talk to each other and have workshops and have summer schools."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 553.234,
      "index": 20,
      "start_time": 534.224,
      "text": " The physical place right now I'm in the middle of trying to secure a physical location for it in Croatia and we're trying to raise funds and maybe be able to partner with the University of Split if we're lucky to do that and then just"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 582.125,
      "index": 21,
      "start_time": 553.985,
      "text": " provide a home for it because it doesn't have a home. It just hasn't fit into the curriculum and doesn't fit in many normal funding channels. If you go to the National Science Foundation and look for money for something like this, it doesn't fit in the programs they have set up. I've been doing that for the last five years. It was first getting the people together, which is the most important thing."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 611.664,
      "index": 22,
      "start_time": 582.398,
      "text": " And now this technical, this logistical part of trying to find a physical location where we can set up, which we have the location, but we need to see if we can acquire it. So all of that's going on right now and we'll see how it comes out. And links to all of what's been mentioned will be in the description as usual. Bernardo did the 2022 Nobel Prize disprove so-called local realism. Why or why not? And then Tim, you'll respond afterward."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 628.575,
      "index": 23,
      "start_time": 612.193,
      "text": " I can only speak for my own perspective because in foundations of physics you can find people espousing any position with this regard. Some think it disproved nothing, some think it disproved only occulties, some think it disproved physical realism, some think it disproved both."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 658.558,
      "index": 24,
      "start_time": 629.07,
      "text": " My personal position is that it did disprove not only locality but physical realism. And I say physical realism because I'm a realist. I just don't think that reality as it is in itself is amenable to description by physical quantities. So I think physicality is the result of measurement, but there is an objective thing that is measured. It's just not amenable to physical description. I think that that has been proven."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 688.592,
      "index": 25,
      "start_time": 659.019,
      "text": " physical realism in particular. I mean, everybody talks about Bell inequalities, but there are Tony Leggett's inequalities as well from his paper in Foundations of Physics 2003. And some of those inequalities that have been experimentally shown now to be the case, they sort of zero in on physical realism independent of locality. And those inequalities have been shown to be the case. So, you know,"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 715.452,
      "index": 26,
      "start_time": 689.053,
      "text": " Large classes of non-local hidden variables theories have been refuted. Based on those experiments alone, you could say, well, Bohmian mechanics is still in the race, but there are so many other excellent reasons to get rid of, to not even consider Bohmian mechanics. It doesn't have a relativistic extension and arguably any relativistic extension of Bohmian mechanics would destroy the"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 740.742,
      "index": 27,
      "start_time": 715.794,
      "text": " The particle nature that the marble like nature of particles in Romeo mechanics and extend everything back to feuds. So, yeah, I think physical realism and locality are both disproven unless one is prepared to entertain sometimes grotesque theoretical fantasies. All right, professor, my response."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 770.06,
      "index": 28,
      "start_time": 741.169,
      "text": " That was silly. What he said was just silly. You have several theories. The GRW theory will predict the results of these experiments. The Many Worlds theory will predict the results of these experiments in so far as you can understand it. A pilot wave theory, whether you're using particles or fields, you can have a pilot wave theory using fields if you prefer them. That will predict the results of these experiments. They're all non-local theories."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 797.039,
      "index": 29,
      "start_time": 770.64,
      "text": " The experiments refute locality. How could a physical experiment refute whatever? I don't know what you mean by physical realism, that there's a physical world. How could you do that? All of those theories can describe the laboratory in purely physical terms, can give you dynamics for the things in purely mathematical physical terms, and will predict exactly what happened. The results of those experiments"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 826.305,
      "index": 30,
      "start_time": 797.551,
      "text": " I'm sorry, let me finish."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 852.415,
      "index": 31,
      "start_time": 826.971,
      "text": " So that's just stupid. Okay, hold on. Professor, you're finished? Yeah. Okay. Kurt, I'm not sure I want to do this. Somebody who already starts by saying this is just silly when 80% of the community takes these statements seriously. This is a non-physicist. Let's start from that. No, let's not start physical research."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 877.227,
      "index": 32,
      "start_time": 852.773,
      "text": " who did not win the Nobel Prize last year. So if that's how he's going to behave, I'll stop right now. We even have an interaction. I love you, man. I really love you. But this is not an appropriate start. This is not there's no sense of collegiality or respect. I'm up."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 905.009,
      "index": 33,
      "start_time": 877.227,
      "text": " for a hard engagement, but not an engagement whose first word is, this is just silly. No, I have no respect for you, sir. I'm going to leave. I love you, man. I really didn't want this, but this is not something I'm willing to do. There is no sense of professional cordiality or respect in this. Okay. And he's repeating things that are just stupid."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 914.872,
      "index": 34,
      "start_time": 905.009,
      "text": " To say that the many worlds theory explains the results of these experiments is a great task theoretical fantasy so i'm not going to participate in this."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 940.282,
      "index": 35,
      "start_time": 915.384,
      "text": " Okay. So I'm sorry. Maybe you can interview us separately, but I'm not going to interact with this individual. You're the one who started it. Okay. You started with this thing like theoretical fantasies. You started with the insulting language and I'm not going to sit here and listen to it and not give the truth. Okay. I'll keep in touch with you. Okay. Take care man. Love you."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 959.275,
      "index": 36,
      "start_time": 944.189,
      "text": " Alright, well that was rather unfortunate. Sometimes there are clashes between ideas, sometimes between personalities, sometimes there are misreconings, sometimes misunderstandings. This just happens and is part of the process. Both Tim and Bernardo said it was okay to air this and so"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 976.101,
      "index": 37,
      "start_time": 959.582,
      "text": " There we have it. It was my understanding that Tim was saying that the ideas proposed by Bernardo were silly rather than Bernardo himself. And I hope that both parties can come to see this as a mere misconstruence, a mistranslation. And the floor to resolving this is open. The door is open. The theories of everything door is open. If both would like to come on again."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 994.701,
      "index": 38,
      "start_time": 976.101,
      "text": " Certainly both will be coming on individually, so Tim Maudlin will be coming on in a few months. And there's a new system here on toe where you can leave a question by typing the word query with a colon and then the questions. This applies to any episode. Like I mentioned, like if you want to leave a question for Lou Elizondo when he comes on next, if you want to leave a question for Jonathan Oppenheim or Edward Franklin,"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1017.705,
      "index": 39,
      "start_time": 994.701,
      "text": " I've also started this tradition where on every episode or every other episode I'll highlight a comment and read it because hey if you're like me then you don't have many people to speak to about these subjects outside of conversing online and digitally. This is my way of not only highlighting a certain comment but also encouraging the community that we've established. The last time it was Bijou's comments about there being no wave function of the universe at least from one point of view"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1034.872,
      "index": 40,
      "start_time": 1017.705,
      "text": " Dear friends, as I sit down to write this, I want to express my deepest gratitude, your support,"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1059.121,
      "index": 41,
      "start_time": 1035.094,
      "text": " Engagement and the passion for the Theories of Everything podcast have been the driving force behind this endeavor. We've built a community that shares a fervor for science and philosophy. And for that, I'm eternally grateful. Truly. Despite our 240,000 subscribers and the vibrant community that we've built, the past 11 months have been challenging. Behind the scenes, our channel has been grappling with financial struggles."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1077.705,
      "index": 42,
      "start_time": 1059.121,
      "text": " Our content, deeply rooted in science and philosophy, unfortunately falls into a category that doesn't fetch the highest ad revenue on YouTube, to say the least. This isn't just our struggle. Even Sabine Hassenfelder recently mentioned a similar issue. During 2023, I've been working harder than ever, which I didn't think was possible."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1106.305,
      "index": 43,
      "start_time": 1077.705,
      "text": " often at the expense of personal and family time. The effort that goes into each Toe episode is immense. I pour my heart and soul into researching and studying for each episode to ensure that we deliver the most in-depth and high-quality content, forcing myself to watch myself even, which is extremely cringe-worthy, as you can imagine, so that I can improve on each episode. Despite my love for studying for Toes and the joy I derive from interacting with our guests and community, the financial returns have been far from promising."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1112.09,
      "index": 44,
      "start_time": 1106.766,
      "text": " This letter is a discussion or disclosure by me on what's been going on behind the scenes at Toll."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1137.961,
      "index": 45,
      "start_time": 1112.278,
      "text": " Our struggles have been exacerbated by issues with sponsorships, which were once a significant part of our revenue. Despite the promise of good returns, the sponsorships recently turned out to be a financial setback. Unforeseen expenses such as poor deals that we weren't aware of until later, writing scripts, dealing with the sponsor intermediaries, acquiring products for review that were sent across the border, and then paying our dedicated editor have strained our resources."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1163.183,
      "index": 46,
      "start_time": 1137.961,
      "text": " There were even instances where we unknowingly did sponsored spots for free, believing that we were being paid. That's right, for free. This is unheard of. However, I take full responsibility for these mishaps and I sincerely apologize for any disruption they may have caused to our content. I've had and still have no podcasting mentors nor connections. Zero. Everything's been built from the ground up."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1183.336,
      "index": 47,
      "start_time": 1163.609,
      "text": " I've learned some hard lessons along the way. There were several times when we interviewed large names and they didn't so much as tweet about Toe. Despite them promoting other podcasters, I would be disingenuous if I were to pretend I'm not a tad bit hurt, but that's just how it goes. Luckily, the depth and breadth of our content have always been a point of pride at Theories of Everything."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1206.937,
      "index": 48,
      "start_time": 1183.336,
      "text": " In fact the guest themselves invariably remark on air and off air how this is the most thorough the most in depth of any conversation with them out there. Wonderfully even the comments section seem to echo the sentiment of man oh man that's fantastic i believe in quality over quantity at least for toe and work to ensure that every single episode is not just informative with meticulous time stamps."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1231.971,
      "index": 49,
      "start_time": 1206.937,
      "text": " but also thought provoking and engaging. Hearing from you and the community about how TOA has ignited intellectual curiosity, changed lives, inspired you, helped you through your own dark nights, and provided a platform for discussions that might otherwise be out of reach fuels my commitment. It's an honor and a privilege. I too know what it feels like to be lonely in this space of physics, math, AI, consciousness,"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1261.357,
      "index": 50,
      "start_time": 1231.971,
      "text": " without anyone to talk to who doesn't look at you like a nerdy quantum quirkster other than, say, virtually. To keep Toe alive and thriving, we're working on several projects. So for instance, number one, we're developing an artificial intelligence tool to recover old audio and improve the sound of episodes like the old Chomsky episodes. Number two, there's a lost lecture of Stephen Wolframs from MindFest that we're recovering the audio from by developing, again, an AI tool. And this tool should prove helpful for future podcasts as well."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1287.756,
      "index": 51,
      "start_time": 1261.357,
      "text": " Number three, we're working on translating our episode into different languages to reach a wider audience. You'll now see there are several accurately captioned languages. Number four, I would like to do more in-person interviews. Number five, I would like to do compilation episodes on specific topics from several guests. So usually you have one guest speaking on several topics. What about if we just said, hey, does quantum mechanics give rise to consciousness? Yes or no? And then we have every guest on that subject."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1306.596,
      "index": 52,
      "start_time": 1287.756,
      "text": " Or, hey, what is the physics of free will? And we have every guest on that subject. Most channels of our size have teams, but Toe doesn't. It's just me and the editor, and we each work more than full time. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the darling angel that is my wife, of course. Without her, there would be no Toe. There may not even be a Kurt."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1335.896,
      "index": 53,
      "start_time": 1306.596,
      "text": " You'll see many other youtubers interviewing the same people, and that's because it pays significantly more to go with what works. On toe, I've purposefully chosen not to interview high profile guests that I feel like are featured on the podcast circuit repeatedly. Now, the positive side of interviewing people repeatedly is that it opens you up to massive connections and influence. But on the deleterious side, I feel like it would sacrifice a modicum of character in my likely wrong opinion. Instead, I've opted to bring hidden gems like Michael Levin."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1365.896,
      "index": 54,
      "start_time": 1335.896,
      "text": " who has astounding theories and studies to the forefront and to delve extensively into them. Therefore, I'm reaching out to you, our loyal subscribers, for support. Your contribution would go a long way in helping us maintain and improve the quality of our content, ensuring the longevity of Toe. If you would like to contribute to Toe, there are two primary ways, both listed in the description. There's number one, Patreon at patreon.com slash Kurt Jaimungal. There's number two, PayPal at tiny URL."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1385.418,
      "index": 55,
      "start_time": 1365.896,
      "text": " In fact, PayPal gives more to the creator. Every dollar helps. It's difficult to underestimate how your support keeps To and myself and my wife going, both financially in terms of the emotional support, knowing there are people who will voluntarily donate something that they could have spent"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1405.845,
      "index": 56,
      "start_time": 1385.418,
      "text": " In innumerable ways, somewhere else. For no other reason than they want to help out. If you already support Toe and want to increase your donation, then of course we would more than welcome that as well. Thank you again for being part of the Toe community. Your continued backing and engagement mean the world to us. Here's to exploring even more theories of everything together."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1431.852,
      "index": 57,
      "start_time": 1405.845,
      "text": " Warm regards, Kurt Jaimungal. PS. If you're ever curious about what future projects there are of Toe, you can always message me with specific questions. Me and or my wife read every single comment and try to respond when we can. There's also a day in the life of a hectic time at Toe and luckily it's no longer anywhere near as shambolic. Despite the turmoil of the past 11 months, they've simultaneously been the most rapturous of my life. It's a blessing. Thank you dearly."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1449.36,
      "index": 58,
      "start_time": 1431.852,
      "text": " Man, thank you. Thank you so much. After the posting of that letter, there's been a flurry of support, not only from you, from the audience, but also from other podcasters. Coincidentally enough, Theo Von, a channel with over 2 million subscribers, just talked about this same issue happening to him"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1470.759,
      "index": 59,
      "start_time": 1449.36,
      "text": " on his channel with being cheated over sponsored deals and also waiting approximately a year before saying anything publicly because we're not allowed to. Here's a 65 second snippet from September 20, 23 on Theo Von's channel link in the description. Uh, so yeah, you can keep that money. Um, but you can't get me to shut up, man. Yeah. I mean other podcasters wanted to say this shit right now, but can't say it."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1502.671,
      "index": 60,
      "start_time": 1473.558,
      "text": " The way that people are able to cheat and lie and manipulate the system. It's just fucking kind of sad, man. Yeah. But I just wanted to speak up for myself, man. I've waited a year to speak up for myself. They put us through so much bullshit. And I don't know if there's other people over there that did it, too. And maybe we'll get more information. I don't know. Yeah, I wouldn't do that to somebody. And they did it, man. They did it to me. Some of these people's podcast is all they had, man. And these motherfuckers did that, bro. So I'm sorry about that."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1529.582,
      "index": 61,
      "start_time": 1502.978,
      "text": " And I'm sorry for them and yeah, I'm just happy to have a voice for myself And that's one thing that we built here that that he had nothing to do with he had nothing to do with In fact, he stole on our backs once and I'm not letting these people do it to me two times So for anybody that had to take that but that sucker deal over there this boy I'm speaking on behalf for all of us man because I know that some of you guys have said to me that you wanted to say some of these same things and I"
    },
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      "end_time": 1544.462,
      "index": 62,
      "start_time": 1529.684,
      "text": " notes in the person he's speaking about has nothing to do with toe i just want to make that clear though we've gone through what's similar one comments of the over 500 like man this post alone has more comments on it than when i ask for questions for yosha bach or for noam chomsky"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1572.09,
      "index": 63,
      "start_time": 1544.787,
      "text": " Holy moly. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So now the following comes from an email which was precipitated by the YouTube community post that I just shared. Actually, it was by my thank you email to this person. Hi Kurt. The decision to donate was entirely motivated by gratitude for the great conversations and information your channel has brought me in terms of feedback. Maybe what I value most about toe is the depth that you're willing to go to for the complex topics. It's clear that you genuinely want to understand the nuances of each and attempt to reconcile with similar and competing ideas."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1600.128,
      "index": 64,
      "start_time": 1572.09,
      "text": " I love that you're willing to bring up the competing theories and complimentary views, even get people to foster many sharing ideas like Michael Levin and Yoshi Bach, two people I'm a huge fan of. That said, sometimes I feel like you put a bit too much pressure on yourself in terms of preparation. I love that intent, but it struck me as a bit excessive. And I'm sure you're aware for the need for balance and probably agonize over it. Just know that I don't expect you to have an encyclopedic knowledge of decades of some person's work just to adequately interview them. I understand how tricky this balance must be, though."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1615.759,
      "index": 65,
      "start_time": 1600.128,
      "text": " I'm going to comment on that in one moment, but just here's one more that touched my heart. And this one is by James Mackie. Thank you for all your work. It's meant a great deal to me. In 2015, I was sleeping on sofas, listless and destructive. Now I have my PhD at the London College of Music coming up."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1637.073,
      "index": 66,
      "start_time": 1615.759,
      "text": " I'm lecturing this year at Durham College and I'm pleased with who I am today. Much of what I like about myself, I've modeled on the values I see in yourself and your interviewees. Serene, sincere, kind and concerned, I found a tremendous consolation discovering the academic community with you over the last five years or so. You've been a role model and introduced me to several many other role models."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1658.831,
      "index": 67,
      "start_time": 1637.073,
      "text": " The comments that I'm going to start reading at the end of the episodes aren't always just effusive thank you comments to me. They're generally going to be about other podcasts and ideas and theories, but because of the preceding YouTube community posts that I just mentioned, I thought it was apt to talk about this. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. Also with regard to the pressure and the reason why I study so hard, it's not actually because I want to have the best quote unquote interview."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1675.401,
      "index": 68,
      "start_time": 1658.831,
      "text": " It's because the goal of the theories of everything podcast is in part in large part for me to understand every theory and in order to do so I study super hard because I'm speaking with the author of a theory and I don't want to waste this opportunity in other words the production of a podcast is the side effect."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1693.78,
      "index": 69,
      "start_time": 1675.401,
      "text": " of me just trying to understand theories, particularly theories of everything, the largest theories. So that's not something I've made clear and I hope this helps demystify the reason for why am I putting on so much pressure to study for each guest. It's not just to have a great interview because maybe I could study half as much or even 20% as much. It's because I want to understand the theories."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1720.196,
      "index": 70,
      "start_time": 1693.78,
      "text": " There's also playlists so if you want you can look in the youtube description there's several playlists for toe you can click on that so you can go through episodes one by one if you like every episode on toe is edited so there's no large spikes in the volume or loud jumps with music so that people can listen as they sleep because i know i used to listen to podcasts as i sleep and i would dislike when they would just quote someone and then the levels were obscene and it would wake me and then i couldn't fall back asleep because i'm worried it's not going to happen again"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1747.346,
      "index": 71,
      "start_time": 1722.295,
      "text": " If you personally want to message me, to get in contact for whatever reason, for sponsorships, for donations, for support, just telling me what Toe has meant to you. If that's what you want, then you can email me directly at toe.com. Thank you so much for all your support. Thank you."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1760.316,
      "index": 72,
      "start_time": 1748.2,
      "text": " The podcast is now concluded. Thank you for watching. If you haven't subscribed or clicked that like button, now would be a great time to do so as each subscribe and like helps YouTube push this content to more people."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1790.572,
      "index": 73,
      "start_time": 1760.606,
      "text": " You should also know that there's a remarkably active Discord and subreddit for theories of everything where people explicate toes, disagree respectfully about theories, and build as a community our own toes. Links to both are in the description. Also, I recently found out that external links count plenty toward the algorithm, which means that when you share on Twitter, on Facebook, on Reddit, etc., it shows YouTube that people are talking about this outside of YouTube, which in turn greatly aids the distribution on YouTube as well."
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1811.357,
      "index": 74,
      "start_time": 1790.572,
      "text": " Last but not least, you should know that this podcast is on iTunes, it's on Spotify, it's on every one of the audio platforms, just type in theories of everything and you'll find it. Often I gain from re-watching lectures and podcasts and I read that in the comments, hey, toll listeners also gain from replaying. So how about instead re-listening on those platforms?"
    },
    {
      "end_time": 1840.674,
      "index": 75,
      "start_time": 1811.357,
      "text": " iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whichever podcast catcher you use. If you'd like to support more conversations like this, then do consider visiting Patreon.com slash Kurt Jymungle and donating with whatever you like. Again, it's support from the sponsors and you that allow me to work on toe full time. You get early access to ad free audio episodes there as well. For instance, this episode was released a few days earlier. Every dollar helps far more than you think. Either way, your viewership is generosity enough."
    }
  ]
}