Jim Gates: Supersymmetry, String Theory and Proving Einstein Right
Jim Gates (S James Gates Jr.) is 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. If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/ai or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, follow on Spotify, or support it on Patreon. This episode is presented by Cash App. Download it (App Store, Google Play), use code “LexPodcast”. Episode Links: Proving Einstein Right (book) Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. 00:00 – Introduction 03:13 – Will we ever venture outside our solar system? 05:16 – 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