Lex Fridman interviews Jim Gates, a theoretical physicist and professor at Brown University working on supersymmetry, supergravity, and superstring theory. He served on former President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

He is the co-author of a new book titled Proving Einstein Right about the scientists who set out to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity.

This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.

EPISODE LINKS:
Jim Gates wiki: http://bit.ly/2ZlFdv0
Proving Einstein Right (book): https://amzn.to/34WLizp

OUTLINE:
0:00 – Introduction
3:13 – Will we ever venture outside our solar system?
5:16 – When will the first human step foot on Mars?
11:14 – Are we alone in the universe?
13:55 – Most beautiful idea in physics
16:29 – Can the mind be digitized?
21:15 – Does the possibility of superintelligence excite you?
22:25 – Role of dreaming in creativity and mathematical thinking
30:51 – Existential threats
31:46 – Basic particles underlying our universe
41:28 – What is supersymmetry?
52:19 – Adinkra symbols
1:00:24 – String theory
1:07:02 – Proving Einstein right and experimental validation of general relativity
1:19:07 – Richard Feynman
1:22:01 – Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
1:30:20 – Exciting problems in physics that are just within our reach
1:31:26 – Mortality