Sól’s Reviews > Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions > Status Update

Despite all our limitations, however, I have to say we have come a remarkably long way. We are the first species on our planet that has taken evolution into its own hands. No longer are we selected by our natural environment, we shape the environment to our own needs. Whether we are any good at this is another question.

The most reasonable explanation of consciousness, it seems to me, is that it's related to the way some systems-like brains-process information. We don't know exactly how to define this process, but this almost certainly means that consciousness isn't binary.

To me, quantum mechanics is the prime example for what can go wrong with using intuitive language for abstract math.

I am very much a math person, and personally I don't see the need to translate math into everyday language. Abstract mathematical structures, I think, are best dealt with on their own terms. They don't need to be interpreted, and they don't need to make intuitive sense. They don't have to be "like" anything else because in most cases, they are not. The whole reason we use this math is that there isn't anything else

A good scientific theory is one that allows us to calculate the results of many observations from few assumptions.

It is a curious fact that mathematics is "unreasonably effective" in the natural sciences, as Eugene Wigner put it so unforgettably.