Scientists on Reddit

Max Tegmark

MIT physicist, author of Our Mathematical Universe

How we know it's theirs

The 2017 r/IAmA AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 3 posts and 82 comments from u/MaxTegmark, dated 2014 to 2017, most often in r/IAmA, r/PhilosophyofScience and r/philosophy.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “IamA Max Tegmark – AMA!”

Why are we living in a three-dimensional universe? Is there something special about having three spatial dimensions?

u/MaxTegmark replied

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As described in https://arxiv.org/pdf/gr-qc/9702052.pdf and in my 1st book (http://mathematicaluniverse.org), you can't have stable atoms or solar systems if there are more than 3 spatial dimensions, you don't have gravitational attraction in less than 3, and you can't predict anything if there's more than 1 time dimension, making it pointless to have a brain. So if there's a multiverse where different parts have different dimensionality (as in many models with stringtheory + inflation, say), then you'd probably only have observers in parts with 3 space dimensions and one 1 time dimension - and here we are! :-)

More moments

A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “I am Max Tegmark, an MIT physics professor fascinated by our universe and others, black holes, consciousness, AI and the future of humanity. AMA=Ask Max Anything!”

What has been the weirdest/most interesting thing you've seen/heard of happening on MIT's campus?

u/MaxTegmark replied

The undergrad pranks are mindblowing. One morning, I looked out my office window to see a life-size replica of the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander atop the great dome.

A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “I am Max Tegmark, an MIT physics professor fascinated by our universe and others, black holes, consciousness, AI and the future of humanity. AMA=Ask Max Anything!”

Mr. Tegmark, do you believe that there will be a "bypass" of the theory of relativity that would enable us to reach remote destinations at apparent superluminal speeds? Maybe via such hypothetical technologies such as Alcubierre Drive or something similar?

u/MaxTegmark replied

I'm betting against it. I used to think that this was a pity, but I've changed my mind: it's actually very convenient for us if malevolent extraterrestrials are unable to reach us for billions of years even if their technology…

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A redditor wrote in r/IAmA

On “IamA Max Tegmark – AMA!”

If you were allowed to say crazy things without anybody judging you, what would you say consciousness "actually is?" Do you have any far-out ideas about consciousness that you haven't subjected to any scientific scrutiny yet?

u/MaxTegmark replied

I think that consciousness is the way information feels when being processed in certain complex ways. To me, the exciting remaining challenge is to clarify what precisely those "certain complex ways" are, so that we can predict which entities are conscious. :-)