# Max Tegmark on Reddit (u/MaxTegmark)

Part of Scientists on Reddit, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-07. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/scientists-on-reddit/max-tegmark

Max Tegmark: MIT physicist, author of Our Mathematical Universe.

- Reddit account: [u/MaxTegmark](https://www.reddit.com/user/MaxTegmark/) (AMA only)
- How we know it's theirs: [The 2017 r/IAmA AMA, posted from this account](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6x0s6p/)
- Where they post, in the records we retrieved: r/IAmA (81), r/PhilosophyofScience (1), r/philosophy (1), r/artificial (1), r/science (1)
- Known activity in the posts we found: 2014 to 2017
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tegmark

## Moments

### u/MaxTegmark in r/IAmA, Aug 30, 2017 · Explains things

Replying to a redditor:

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

> 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! :-)

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6x0s6p/comment/dmc7qoy/ · 54 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/MaxTegmark in r/IAmA, Aug 20, 2014 · Normal redditor

Replying to a redditor:

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

> 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.

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2e3t77/comment/cjvtzu0/ · 7 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/MaxTegmark in r/IAmA, Aug 20, 2014 · Explains things

Replying to a redditor:

> 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?

> 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 is way ahead of ours, simply because the laws of physics ban bypasses.
> :)

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2e3t77/comment/cjvwehs/ · 11 points as of Nov 7, 2026

### u/MaxTegmark in r/IAmA, Aug 30, 2017 · Explains things

Replying to a redditor:

> 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?

> 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. :-)

Full thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/6x0s6p/comment/dmc8lif/ · 51 points as of Nov 7, 2026