The Big Picture: From the Big Bang to the Meaning of Life - with Sean Carroll
Award-winning scientist and writer Sean Carroll ties together the fundamental laws of physics governing the workings of the cosmos with the everyday human experience we all share.
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The talk, given at the Royal Institution in October 2016, will take us on a breath-taking journey from the origin of the Universe, through the evolution of life and consciousness, to the eternal question of what it all really means.
Dr Sean Carroll is an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology. He has written a variety of popular science books along with textbooks and has long been interested in the biggest questions in astronomy: Where does probability come from? How does time work? What is dark matter and dark energy?
Watch the Q&A: • Q&A The Big Picture - ...
This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 17 October 2016.
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Important announcement : we've dropped the audio levels on our deafening intro! On a scale of mouse whisper to jet plane, how's it sound?
Just about right, thank you!
thx! it was needed :)
drop the gain with another 4db and it will be more equal with what follows.
Definitely sounds better.
What joyous news! Thanks! It's much better than before, though I'd still lower it a tad.
I can't get enough of Sean Carroll. I think he's the best science communicator that we currently have - he is simply brilliant, has a subtle sense of humor, a great communicator, great voice, patient, well-intentioned, genuine, and very logically consistent. And yes, I did read "The Big Picture".
Lol he is a fraud
Always pleased to hear Sean Carroll talk.
quintessenceSL one of my favorite physicists.
I wish he was my teacher. He's a master at presenting very complex concepts in a way even a dum dum like me can understand.
I could listen to him for hours
Yes! Very objective intelligent and rational!
Have you heard of Richard P Feynman?
So grateful to the RI for producing and publishing these online. Great stuff.
It is always such a pleasure to listen to Carroll's lectures.
You really like pleasure
@@ravishoul1432and you do too
Sean has a particularly poetic way to convey extremely complex ideas. His last words in the lecture made realize that there are plenty of subjects that are worth to be involved with. Thanks for posting.
This is one of the best lectures from Sean and one of the best from RI overall. Thank you.
i think this may be one of the most efficient or important 1-hour lectures a layperson could listen to
I think this may be one of the most accurate comments in this comments section
Thank you, god and emptiness came first, then life., somple
My favourite public communicator of science, doing his thing. Great talk, thanks for sharing.
Tony Davidson definitely better than Krauss
@@louiscyphre7230 I like Krauss. He's an alright guy.
@Dan Solomon Nah, tissue just ruins the drain. hehehe
Sean is a brilliant mind but if he honestly wants to know the meaning of life then it's getting ridiculous. He simply doesn't know and the man from the bakery nearby doesn't either. Sean should stick to physics, where he's a real expert.
@@theconnoisseur2346 you’re a very bitter being this evening aren’t you
I'm always on the lookout for Sean Carroll lectures. He is an amazing speaker with a pleasant voice that is calming. This one is fantastic. My only problem is that I wish I would have found this one earlier. It's in my saved videos now. I'd like to add that I love the RI channel, thank you.
As a philosopher Sean is 3rd class. Very naive.
@@theconnoisseur2346 There are different profiles in science, Sean shows a prominent one, he could lack some traits but excels in others. Just as any human.
this man's persona/character/showmanship, vibes just like Richard Feynman's. that's a compliment.
As a philosopher he is 3rd class. Very naive.
@@theconnoisseur2346 can u elaborate
@@theconnoisseur2346 that’s because he is a Scientist.
@@johnnycharisma162 There are scientists who were very good philosophers for example Einstein and Heisenberg. The modern generation has a lack of general education.
@@theconnoisseur2346 ok boomer
What's most underrated in Sean Carrol's lecture is the absence of annoying umm or so, resulting in an orderly and clean (high entropy) learning experience.
Samantha Heron Low Entropy.
Low.
I think Sapolsky would say so alot, and his lecturing is a work of art
Samantha Koizumi Actually he does have that, but it isn’t annoying because we’re more interested in his lectures.
Yes, very little filler words. Obviously a well-practiced art. Public speaking of this sort is top-notch.
We feel a rare beauty in his speeches. Always aesthetically satisfying, intellectually edifying, and morally ennobling.
That suit...is the Big Bang! I mean...The Bomb!. Love Sean Carroll. A very well spoken physicist, who has an uncanny knack for explaining his craft to the lay person...i.e...me. Very well done.
My favourite communicator of science! A brilliant man with a gift for teaching.
I have watched this video more than 1000 times online. I downloaded it and listen to it before I sleep and while sleeping to an extent I dreamt meeting Sean Carroll here in Kenya when he came for a science conference in Nairobi and we met on the streets and I asked him questions about entropy. When my morning alarm went off I felt like crying because that was one of my most beautiful dreams in 2023. This video and the book the Big Picture made me view life differently. Especially the 3 billion heartbeats we experience. Humility 💯
Listening to Sean Carroll talk about science is always such a treat. His ability to communicate complex ideas in a way that is very accessible yet doesn't feel oversimplified or dumbed down is a rare treasure which the scientifically (and philosophically) curious public can be immensely grateful for. Not everyone can become a theoretical physicist and comprehensively understand humanity's best theories about the fundamental nature of reality, but thanks to people like Sean, us non-physicists can at least get a taste of the marvels and puzzles which physical theory has in store for us. I'd also like to express my gratitude to The Royal Institution for making these ideas available to a wide audience. I think it's a real shame how relatively small the audience for these accessible yet scientifically rigorous ideas still is and how large the market for pseudoscience and pop science that has been oversimplified to the point of meaninglessness remains. What you public communicators of science are doing is a very noble thing indeed and it seems to me that you don't receive nearly the amount of praise you deserve for this. Please rest assured that what you're doing has had and continues to have a great impact on the mindset of many (young) people such as myself. Let's hope that this is just the beginning.
You speak and explain physics so beautifully, professor.
Been a fan of the RI lectures for many many years and this was one of the best presented, most lucid and informative of them all. Thank you ever so much!
As a philosopher he is 3rd class. Very naive.
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
Dr. Carroll's delivery of complex ideas is razor sharp and refreshingly uncluttered. Outstanding presentation.
Sooo Goood!!! Sean Carroll must win the Noble Price of having the great capacity to elaborate the Universe and its nature. Thank you Dr. Sean Carroll for such beautiful lecture.
Sean Carroll is a great explainer! I love hearing his lectures
This is one of my favorite lecture of his.
I was in the audience - I was in the middle of a lot of pain because of my back injury and I still travelled to London and sat there the entire time on a cramped seat to see this and I wasn't disappointed. I remember the rainy evening so well.
You were a lucky man indeed to have seen what I would argue to be one of the best, most informed and comprehensive lectures on life, science and the intersection of the two.
@@primovid ; Ken Wheeler.
It's a blessing to even watch Carroll's Lecture
Thanks for posting this incredibly, eye opening lecture. We need more scientist in the world to help humans understand the universe and how little we are in the great order of things. Thank you science people!!!
Simply brilliant, thank you so much!
Ever since i saw the series "Dark Energy Dark Matter", Sean Carroll has been the person i recommend to anyone as the most well-spoken physicist ever. Cheers!
as a physicist he is also a great communicator!
... And his wife, Jennifer oulette! Please do not forget to mention her! Women, all too often, are forgotten, ignored, or dismissed by the idiot public and thus fade from consciousness and into obscurity, and young girls lose their very important role models, left to struggle without encouragement or hope against the disparaging remarks, sexist arrows and verbal barbs of the imbecile, anti-intellectual majority in order to pursue their deeply felt objective of achieving greater understanding of the nature of reality. Sources : my childhood 😢
Feynman was better
As a philosopher Sean is 3rd class. Very naive. Should stick to physics, where he's competent. Otherwise we have a little boy trying to explain the world, rather ridiculous.
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
Wonderful lecture. Very pleasant and informative. Well done R.I. and of course a big thank you to Mr. Sean Carroll.
I think this is one of the best "physics" lectures I have ever heard. It is the most comprehensive and covers all the most challenging subjects, such as consciousness, free will, time, life, etc.--and all with the most recent experimental evidence. Absolutely brilliant big picture. Everyone human should watch this.
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
@@theconnoisseur2346 Examples?
@@primovid he won’t, I’m sorry. Too much thinky hurts The Connoisseur head, he in lots of threads.
Thanks to the crew at Royal Institute for another superbly produced video. I also very much liked the lecture.
Sean Carroll (the physicist) is one of the best science communicators out there. He understands his subject matter so well that he can explain it in simple terms to his audience. A rare talent among senior academics in my experience. (B.t.w. Sean Carroll the evolutionary biologist is also another of my favorite speakers) Can we have the two Sean Carroll’s on the same stage talking about cosmic and biological evolution from their perspectives. The two should meet somewhere in the middle around abiogenesis.
This is an awesome channel and I can't but be grateful to all those who make it possible. It's a real privilege to be able to enjoy this level of curated lectures online. And for me, among all this incredible material this particular talk really stands out. Hat off to you! 🎩
The beauty of the internet! For a Ugandan to have access to such a lecture!
I've read some comments and it seems like everyone loves this guy and that all his lectures are like this. Well, this was my first of him. Thanks Sean and thanks RI, my mind is in very high-entropy state after this. Not a very good thing to watch this before sleeping, cause now all I can do is to think about meaning of life and stuff
What a great speaker. I don't have a science background and much of the quantum stuff I can barely wrap my head around but I find it absolutely fascinating. Going to hunt out more of Sean's lectures now.
Amazing video. I’m buying the book now. Thank you for all that you do.
Sean Carroll is truly a public science speaker with clarity and purpose in his talk.
this is highly informative and inspiring to me in so many ways... so glad to find this channel!
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
Always a fantastic way to explain easily complex topics. A great lecturer and professor indeed.
I see Sean is stepping his suit game up . Very excited for this lecture. I'm pretty much finished with every other one of his on you tube. This is like an early Christmas for me.
It was an incredible lecture ! Thank you Royal Institution for this pearl of a conference, so interesting. You made my day - and probably a big chunk of my whole life would never be the same thanks to some of the great ideas featured in this video. What a gift !
As a philosopher Sean is 3rd class. Very naive.
Numerous variations after the original Corona virus and 4 doses later, listening to Dr Carroll s lecture make surviving the pandemic more meaningful. Thanks for the effort and keep up the good work. From Hker worldwide
Sean Carroll's voice is very soothing when contemplating such tremoundously awesome theories
I saw Sean Carroll in the name I pressed the play button at the speed of light
i disliked your comment at speed greater than speed of light , now can"t handle my infinite mass
Yes!
@@adarshchaturvedi3498 I was present at your birth yet I am younger than you
In some sense, you did, because pushing the button is done via electromagnetism.
At the rate of induction.
This talk is a joy to listen to. Professor Carroll places exceptionally complex topics into bite-sized palatable morsels that even peeps like me can explore, so as to better understand how some of the things in the universe work. Thank you for sharing this talk.
Sean needs to have a 24/7 live feed to the world, so that humanity can have a shot at survival and...well, humanity.
Seen, and listened to, quite a lot of Sean Carrol for the last few years and I'm extremely impressed of all his knowledge on physics, science and much more.. Plus superb communication skills.
What a great communicator.
Excellent presentation! Speaking to the audience!
One of the most brilliant scientific presenters of our time. What a lecture.
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
What a great talk man!
I’ll just say “this lecture was awesome!”. Thank you so much for stimulating the particles in my head. 😃👍🏻👍🏻
Superb lecture!
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation. Only for believers.
Hello Dr. Carrol, I was going to write something totally different after hearing about all the 'bad news'. However, I changed my mind after hearing you in the last 2 minutes of your presentation. That gives me hope to survive as a human being and look forward for the 'good news' tomorrow will bring! Good job! Bravo!!
Everything about this man, this lecture, and this institution is deeply pleasing.
Sean is a brilliant mind but if he honestly wants to know the meaning of life then it's getting ridiculous. He simply doesn't know and the man from the bakery nearby doesn't either. Sean should stick to physics, where he's a real expert.
One of, if not the, best lecture I've ever heard on the fundamentals of life the universe and everything
Great teacher.
We should listen to this speech more than once to understand at least part of the knowledge he has imparted. 👍👍👍
BRAVO, Sean!!! Very well articulated and truly enlightening!!! Encore... Encore!!!
Not quite an encore but we do have this second excellent talk by Sean - kzhead.info/sun/kpybmNh9nnRugKc/bejne.html
Totally enthralling speaker, very enjoyable and entertaining as well as informative and thought provoking.
omg omg Sean Carroll .. Clicked immediately when I saw the title, he's one of favorite cosmologists
Raynold Cherry 💃😀Mine too. I play his videos on my earphones at night bc it's the only way I can sleep😴😋🤗
He is no cosmologist.
He is a theoretical physicist not cosmologists not the same at all
cuz he dumbs it down for americans
@@vicioussyd6870 you're not a bass player
I recently watched a YT video from Dr. Paul Sutter. He amazed me because he was able to explain what a particle was, particularly an electron. He described it as a disturbance in a field. He held out his hands and made a large swath of motion to simulate a field of something smooth in front of him. Then, in front of this smooth something of a field, he made a small wiggle with his hand. That wiggle of his hand in the field he previously painted in front of him was an "electron". So I said to myself, "wow". That funny moment reminded me of a joke by the American 1980s comedian, Steven Wright. He told a story about when he came home one evening and noticed that all of his living room furniture was suddenly replaced with an exact replica of all his preexisting furniture. After pondering the moment he looked at his living room and said "Wow". That's the feeling he also got when he suddenly sat on his chair and accidentally tipped back too far, but caught himself before he fell backward. He said, you know that feeling? Well I feel that way all the time. Well, Steven Wright and Sean Carroll have a lot in common. They both make me feel the same way when I listen to them.
CAa
One of the most beautiful and meaningful lectures I have ever heard.
Agreed, Prof. Carroll is a brilliant teacher.
Sean Carroll is my fav theoretical physicist.
Love Sean Carroll! Thanks for uploading :)
Simply Great!
As a philosopher Sean is 3rd class. Very naive.
This is the best presentation I have seen from The Royal Institution. Sean Carroll is an intellectual treasure. Cheers!
Oh boy are you in for a treat, he's coming back here in January and we'll make to sure film it and put it on the channel - www.rigb.org/whats-on/events-2020/january/public-something-deeply-hidden
Thankyou for this !
I like how he doesn't apologise for the use of an equation
New favorite YT Channel.
Kid Icarus Have you seen PI lectures? They're just like this .
As a philosopher he is 3rd class. Very naive.
Excellent Lecture sir . Great work !
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation. Only for believers.
i enjoy these lectures as a lay man non eductated in physics person the info is actually understood by me and i can grasp the understanding ;wish this guy was my science teacher i would have studdied physics more
I’ve watched hours and hours of videos of RI these days and by far Sean Carroll is the one I like the most how interesting he makes everything without letting it be boring 🙌🏼
We couldn't possibly pick favourites ourselves, but if we did, he'd definitely be in our top five.
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation. Only for believers.
@@theconnoisseur2346 since you are The Connoisseur I guess you have all the answers. Drop the mysteries of the universe Mister
@@abelcalde78 That's exactly your personal problem: You have the illusion, that on the basis of the current scientific knowledge you can solve the big questions of the universe. This is utterly naive and probably nobody can really help you. Once again: Sean is a brilliant mind but his speculative philosophy is 3rd class.
@@theconnoisseur2346 what is real?
Great insight on complexity vs entropy
Wow!! What a gifted teacher and speaker!!
I'm going to CERN to soak up in the field particle collider. this show and other, from RI in particular charge me up further closer to the speed of light. Delightfully enlightening. Thank you.
as always, thank you for sharing such information, I'm from Indonesia and great talks like this are really hard to find (also expensive)
Andre Sukianto fellow indonesian, hi
aidil mubarock ahahaha never thought I would see another indonesian here!
what made u watch this?
aidil mubarock first thing first, I've subscribed to The Royal Institution, and the title is really intriguing, and another thing, it's Sean Caroll 😁 what made you watch this?
i hear him from joe rogan podcast, and would like to hear more of him explaining theoretical physics cuz his explanation quite easy to digest
Brilliant man and an excellent speaker! 👌👌
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
Thanks RI and Professor
I chose to buy your book after listening to you, Mr. Carroll.
I think this might be the best version of this lecture. I've watched several versions of it. Sean seems to take emergent properties more seriously in this one (not mere epiphenomena but real).
As a philosopher Sean is 3rd class. Very naive.
That was wonderful, thank you RI
As a philosopher RI is 3rd class. Very naive.
Fascinating talk
Carroll has to be one of the best speakers out there. Such a pleasure to listen to.
I am in awe of the way Prof Carroll presents and engages his audience. He is knowledgable and charismatic. He uses humour effortlessly and in context. He eschews disfluencies like no other. He is an absolutely brilliant communicator and educator.
That was a fantastic lecture, there is sort of an entropy of information occurring too
Superb! Amongst the best science communicators of our time. Up there with Jim Al Khalili, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Lawrence Krauss.
Love Sean
Was just looking for more of Sean a few hours ago and couldn't find any new ones then... this :D Did something mysterious happen? Of course not. Was it just a coincidence? Of course it was. Hopefully he has something to say about the many worlds theory, I heard him talking about it on sixty symbols and the way he goes into it had me captivated and my jaw on the floor.
Wonderful lecture!
Cogent and informative, unlike so many KZhead “science” posts.
And....this is why boom mics are horrible. When they slip, they strike the face and ruin the talk. A properly mounted lavalier mic won’t do this. I don’t know why boom mics have become so popular. They are visually distracting as well. Tech is supposed to get smaller and LESS obtrusive, not more.
Agree...
I’m a little confused. Why did he use the Higgs (@25:50) as an example when he was trying to convey that we’ve discovered all particles that affect us in our ordinary lives? He says it decays in a zepto second and if there are other undiscovered particles that decay similarly fast or faster then they wouldn’t affect us. But my understanding is that the Higgs, even though it decays very quickly, does profoundly affect us since it gives mass to all the particles that make up our world.
The Higgs field gives us mass, but surprisingly it's excitation, the Higgs boson, has nothing to do with mass giving
Excellent talk!
I love Sean talks😍
Great lecture 😄
Too much speculative physics without real empirical foundation.
@@theconnoisseur2346 i’m so glad you just learned the word speculative and you’re really working in into your vocabulary, i’m sure your copy and paste buttons really getting work.
@@internalizedhappyness9774 You definitely should improve your English ! And then you can start trying to think as an autonomous brain. Caroll is a brilliant head but in philosophy he's simply too naive. His world view is that of a teenager with heartache. But he will grow up some day, I am very confident about this.
@@theconnoisseur2346 bro talk about para social relationships bro doesn’t even know who you exist and he still has enough motivation to make you copy and paste 1000 comments throughout the whole section it’s more fun to track you down and talk to you because you responded off of a year old comment and what 18 minutes or so
@@theconnoisseur2346 tell me more about my intellectualism being insufficient P.s I edited a mistake for you, I hope it makes you proud. I’m just dying to hear it.
Sean Carroll rightfully sits at Feynmans desk. From one great physicist and teacher to the next...
THANK YOU DR.SEAN CARROLL...!!!
Great lecture. Thanks