#85 – Roger Penrose: Physics of Consciousness and the Infinite Universe

About this episode

<p>Roger Penrose is physicist, mathematician, and philosopher at University of Oxford. He has made fundamental contributions in many disciplines from the mathematical physics of general relativity and cosmology to the limitations of a computational view of consciousness.</p> <p>Support this podcast by signing up with these sponsors:<br /> &#8211; ExpressVPN at <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod">https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod</a><br /> &#8211; Cash App &#8211; use code &#8220;LexPodcast&#8221; and download:<br /> &#8211; Cash App (App Store): <a href="https://apple.co/2sPrUHe">https://apple.co/2sPrUHe</a><br /> &#8211; Cash App (Google Play): <a href="https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w">https://bit.ly/2MlvP5w</a></p> <p>EPISODE LINKS:<br /> Cycles of Time (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/39tXtpp">https://amzn.to/39tXtpp</a><br /> The Emperor&#8217;s New Mind (book): <a href="https://amzn.to/2yfeVkD">https://amzn.to/2yfeVkD</a></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.</span>&#160;If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to <a href="https://lexfridman.com/ai">https://lexfridman.com/ai</a> or connect with @lexfridman on <a href="https://twitter.com/lexfridman">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman/">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://medium.com/@lexfridman">Medium</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/lexfridman">YouTube</a> where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate it 5 stars on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/artificial-intelligence/id1434243584">Apple Podcasts</a>, follow on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2MAi0BvDc6GTFvKFPXnkCL">Spotify</a>, or support it on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman">Patreon</a>.</p> <p>Here&#8217;s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.</p> <p>OUTLINE:<br /> 00:00 &#8211; Introduction<br /> 03:51 &#8211; 2001: A Space Odyssey<br /> 09:43 &#8211; Consciousness and computation<br /> 23:45 &#8211; What does it mean to &#8220;understand&#8221;<br /> 31:37 &#8211; What&#8217;s missing in quantum mechanics?<br /> 40:09 &#8211; Whatever consciousness is, it&#8217;s not a computation<br /> 44:13 &#8211; Source of consciousness in the human brain<br /> 1:02:57 &#8211; Infinite cycles of big bangs<br /> 1:22:05 &#8211; Most beautiful idea in mathematics</p>