5 minute summaries
1 quote, 3 ideas & 1 question from each episode
__________
9 Jul 2021
2hr 5mins
FEATURING
Owltail Summaries
1 quote, 3 ideas & 1 question from each episode
_________
#198 – Sara Walker: The Origin of Life on Earth and Alien Worlds
9 Jul 2021
2hr 5mins
Quote
"I am not my atoms. You are not your molecules. We are part of the current moment of a billions-year-old lineage since the origin of life"
Ideas
1
You have to let go from your past views in order to learn something new.
Part of growing means accepting that you were previously wrong.
Often in physics, your professors tell you things that are known as facts of the world. But what they don't tell you is that many of those facts emerge from the human mind, where many past facts that were taught were in fact updated.
We often think of physics and other sciences as an autonomous thing that exists in the universe and tells us how it works. But in reality, all of these theories have been created by humans to help explain things that are regularities in our everyday experiences.
Often in physics, your professors tell you things that are known as facts of the world. But what they don't tell you is that many of those facts emerge from the human mind, where many past facts that were taught were in fact updated.
We often think of physics and other sciences as an autonomous thing that exists in the universe and tells us how it works. But in reality, all of these theories have been created by humans to help explain things that are regularities in our everyday experiences.
1
You have to let go from your past views in order to learn something new.
Part of growing means accepting that you were previously wrong.
Often in physics, your professors tell you things that are known as facts of the world. But what they don't tell you is that many of those facts emerge from the human mind, where many past facts that were taught were in fact updated.
We often think of physics and other sciences as an autonomous thing that exists in the universe and tells us how it works. But in reality, all of these theories have been created by humans to help explain things that are regularities in our everyday experiences.
Often in physics, your professors tell you things that are known as facts of the world. But what they don't tell you is that many of those facts emerge from the human mind, where many past facts that were taught were in fact updated.
We often think of physics and other sciences as an autonomous thing that exists in the universe and tells us how it works. But in reality, all of these theories have been created by humans to help explain things that are regularities in our everyday experiences.
2
Much of our innovation and creation comes from the history of what we already know.
Our creativity and imagination were things that were once represented in our minds and on pages that we drew, like rockets and flying machines. And the existence of planes and rockets nowadays was in part casually created because we could've imagined them.
So there are some things in the universe that don't exist in the universe yet, but we can imagine them, and that may cause us to create them to exist in the future.
Then there are things that our minds are not yet capable of understanding or conceiving, where even the language we use may not be the right words to think about them.
So there are some things in the universe that don't exist in the universe yet, but we can imagine them, and that may cause us to create them to exist in the future.
Then there are things that our minds are not yet capable of understanding or conceiving, where even the language we use may not be the right words to think about them.
2
Much of our innovation and creation comes from the history of what we already know.
Our creativity and imagination were things that were once represented in our minds and on pages that we drew, like rockets and flying machines. And the existence of planes and rockets nowadays was in part casually created because we could've imagined them.
So there are some things in the universe that don't exist in the universe yet, but we can imagine them, and that may cause us to create them to exist in the future.
Then there are things that our minds are not yet capable of understanding or conceiving, where even the language we use may not be the right words to think about them.
So there are some things in the universe that don't exist in the universe yet, but we can imagine them, and that may cause us to create them to exist in the future.
Then there are things that our minds are not yet capable of understanding or conceiving, where even the language we use may not be the right words to think about them.
3
People ask me how I make a successful career working on such hard problems. And I reply saying, it couldn't be otherwise.
To be fulfilled, you have to work about things you care about. And that's often more discipline, department and specific problem agnostic than we think.
Because if you don't work on something you really care about, then everything becomes hard. And if you work on something that's deep and meaningful, then nothing will stop you from working hard.
Because if you don't work on something you really care about, then everything becomes hard. And if you work on something that's deep and meaningful, then nothing will stop you from working hard.
3
People ask me how I make a successful career working on such hard problems. And I reply saying, it couldn't be otherwise.
To be fulfilled, you have to work about things you care about. And that's often more discipline, department and specific problem agnostic than we think.
Because if you don't work on something you really care about, then everything becomes hard. And if you work on something that's deep and meaningful, then nothing will stop you from working hard.
Because if you don't work on something you really care about, then everything becomes hard. And if you work on something that's deep and meaningful, then nothing will stop you from working hard.
Questions
1
Can you think of something that you could only come up with because of what you already knew?
1
Can you think of something that you could only come up with because of what you already knew?
What else is in the episode
1
What is life and the origins of life?
1
What is life and the origins of life?
2
How is life the most deterministic part of physics?
2
How is life the most deterministic part of physics?
3
Detecting other life forms and aliens
3
Detecting other life forms and aliens
Who is Sara Walker?
1
A theoretical physicist and astrobiologist with research interests in the origins of life, astrobiology, physics of life, emergence, complex and dynamical systems, and artificial life. She is currently the Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University and the co-founder of the astrobiology social network
1
A theoretical physicist and astrobiologist with research interests in the origins of life, astrobiology, physics of life, emergence, complex and dynamical systems, and artificial life. She is currently the Deputy Director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science at Arizona State University and the co-founder of the astrobiology social network
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