Testing Eric Weinstein's and Stephen Wolfram's Theories of Everything | Ethan Siegel & Tim Nguyen

Astrophysicist Ethan Siegel and mathematician and AI researcher Timothy Nguyen discuss theories of everything: what form they should have and how they are to be evaluated and tested in the real world. This is in part inspired from the recent proposals by Eric Weinstein and Stephen Wolfram, both of which Brian Keating has professed interest in experimentally testing at UC San Diego. Also discussed is the obligation that those proposing scientific theories have towards holding their work to the scrutiny of the scientific community. This sheds light on the controversy behind the Weinstein-Keating Geometric Unity research program over the pseudonymity of Theo Polya. #theoryofeverything #physics #mathematics #ericweinstein #wolfram Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/timothynguyen 00:00 : Introduction 00:27 : Brian Keating's testing of theories of everything 04:14 : Three challenges for any theory of everything 08:18 : Encouragement to pursue theories of everything 11:06 : Losing the Nobel Prize lessons, Geometric Unity, the Theo Polya controversy, Lex Fridman 13:33 : Are there any circumstances in which a scientist should ignore feedback? 19:25 : You need to do the hard work of trying to knock down your own theory 21:28 : Penrose's conformal cyclic cosmology 22:48 : Kepler as a scientific role model 28:27 : Responsibly accepting feedback 29:45 : Brian Keating on the how the scientific process works and Ethan's thoughts Background Material: Brian Keating on experimental tests of Theories of Everything: https://youtu.be/AzsZO3_WhDA?t=3330 Brian Keating plans on re-enacting the Shelter Island Conference to study Geometric Unity (Lex Fridman): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGwJLXzHs8&t=10414s Eric Weinstein's Geometric Unity paper: https://geometricunity.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/Geometric_Unity-Draft-April-1st-2021.pdf Stephen Wolfram's Theory of Everything: https://www.wolframphysics.org/ Timothy Nguyen & Theo Polya. A Response to Geometric Unity: https://timothynguyen.files.wordpress.com/2021/02/geometric_unity.pdf Twitter: @iamtimnguyen Webpage: http://www.timothynguyen.org