1
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Hello. I'm Stephen Hawking.

2
00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:15,049
I am a physicist,
cosmologist and a dreamer.

3
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Even though I can't move
and I have to talk through a computer...

4
00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,649
I am free in my thoughts.

5
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Free to tackle the big issues
to study the universe.

6
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Such as: what is the meaning of life?

7
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Is there a reason we exist
here on our limited world?

8
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On this quest we will find out
what it is to be alive...

9
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to be able to think...

10
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to be human.
To the limits of reality.

11
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Watch.

12
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Offer 6K BOX/1 year Live TV 145 euros!
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13
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Man is a curious creature.

14
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We wonder things
and search for answers.

15
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But can we make the biggest
answer question:

16
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What is the meaning of life?

17
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It seems like a philosophical question...

18
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but I don't think philosophy
of this time.

19
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I think it's science
the key.

20
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Science has everything
changed.

21
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Not just the world around us,
but how we see ourselves.

22
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One should not underestimate
how far these discoveries go.

23
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First, they force us to be healthy
to put reason aside.

24
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If we treat people well and objectively
view...

25
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We see a pretty special one
creature.

26
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We live, love each other
and enjoy.

27
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And sometimes we break the law
or we exhibit bad behavior.

28
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We all have hope and
dreams and wishes.

29
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When we search for the meaning of life,
we must first accept...

30
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that all this is no more
then physics.

31
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The entire universe works according to
the laws of nature, such as gravity.

32
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These laws are decisive.

33
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From the workings of atoms to
collisions of huge galaxies.

34
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I see no reason why we humans
be an exception to the rule.

35
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After all, we are all physical
seen the same...

36
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and work according to the same principles.

37
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So the challenge is to explain
what man actually is...

38
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and how we are as small insignificant ones
beings in relationship...

39
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to the enormous, ancient and beautiful
universe...

40
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that created us.

41
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Only then can we discover
whether there is a meaning to our lives.

42
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And maybe what that sentence is.

43
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The first person to progress
wrote about this thorny question...

44
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was a man: René Descartes.

45
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You may know Descartes as
the father of modern philosophy...

46
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but I consider him a pioneer
and forefather of science.

47
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According to Descartes, man existed
from two separate components:

48
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The body and the mind.

49
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He made accurate drawings
of the anatomy of the body.

50
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He regarded it as a complex one
biological machine.

51
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But he was convinced
that the mind was different.

52
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He proved that with one
simple but thoughtful experiment.

53
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He tried to introduce himself
that he had no physical body.

54
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As if he were wandering around like a shadow.

55
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That wasn't difficult,
although it is a bit strange.

56
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Then he tried to introduce himself
that he had no spirit.

57
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But that didn't work.

58
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Because how can you do without a mind
imagine something?

59
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He summed it up nicely with the sentence:
I think, therefore I exist.

60
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He thought the mind and the body
were two very different things.

61
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And how they are related to each other
is the next step...

62
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for a scientific basis
to find the meaning of life.

63
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Descartes was also with this
ahead of its time.

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He said the mind was connected
with the body through the epiphysis:

65
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A small lobe above the spinal cord.

66
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Although he wasn't entirely right,
he was close.

67
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We now know that the thinking mind
controlled by the brain:

68
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This is such a complex organ,
that I can't reach it with my hat.

69
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The human brain is more complicated
than you think...

70
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but you couldn't think anything
if it wasn't.

71
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It contains just as many brain cells
if there are stars in the Milky Way:

72
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100,000 billion. It can be done
there are a little more or a little less.

73
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These cells are connected to each other
and have more connections...

74
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than there are galaxies
in our universe.

75
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It seems that the study of the brain
something for neurology...

76
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but since the brain decides
is caused by natural forces...

77
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like electromagnetism...

78
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then thought itself comes down
on physics.

79
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Fast complex physics.

80
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As a physicist I see the human brain
as one of the most beautiful creations...

81
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of the universe.

82
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It is to understand how the mind
is aware of that universe.

83
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And that's how we'll find out
whether there is a purpose to all this.

84
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The ancient Greeks were the first
who wondered...

85
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whether the brain was subdued
to the laws of nature.

86
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This was such a scary thought...

87
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that it lasted almost 20 centuries
was covered up.

88
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If only we had a biological clockwork
are, perhaps there is no intention?

89
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Maybe there isn't one at all
meaning of life?

90
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Let's not be too premature.

91
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A typical human scene
here in Cambridge.

92
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Three people on a day out
on the Cam River...

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who pushes his way
between the university buildings.

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These people, whose bodies are sent
is made by their brains...

95
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can respond to each other.

96
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They can understand each other and their environment
appreciate.

97
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They can even decide if
they sing a song...

98
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or fall in love.

99
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Their world is not without reason.
The opposite even.

100
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Their world is full of meaning.

101
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For them is even a simple look
full of meaning.

102
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So much so that you feel easy
can be carried away.

103
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So to find out where
that meaning lies...

104
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is a problem for science.

105
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That's why we have to ask ourselves
why we have consciousness.

106
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Enter one of the biggest theories
of science: evolution.

107
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We know that all life on Earth
was created from complex molecules:

108
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Amino acids.

109
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These molecules collided randomly
against each other...

110
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and thus the first simple ones were born
living things.

111
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Developed over billions of years
these life forms are increasing.

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Eventually, complex ones emerged
multicellular creatures:

113
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Animals with brains.

114
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Complex animals have brains
necessary to process information.

115
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They have to have the world around them
being able to react and anticipate.

116
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The more an animal itself
is aware of his surroundings...

117
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the more successful it will be.

118
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Eventually it became consciousness
so developed...

119
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that one animal became aware
of itself.

120
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And that's us: self-aware animals.

121
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Animals created by evolution
be equipped with consciousness.

122
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But how is that possible?

123
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How can a biological structure
thinking, feeling...

124
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and give meaning to things?

125
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Not easy questions
to answer.

126
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But there are theories about how
consciousness arose.

127
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In the 70's an unexpected one became
breakthrough made by a mathematician:

128
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John Conway here in Cambridge.

129
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He invented the game Game of Life:

130
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A simple simulation that shows
how a complex thing like the brain...

131
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behaves
by a simple set of rules.

132
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The simulation consists of a grid,
something like a chessboard...

133
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that expands infinitely
in all directions.

134
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Each cell of the grid can be either
light up, what he called 'alive'...

135
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or being dark, which he called 'dead'.

136
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Whether a particular cell is dead or alive...

137
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depends on what happens in it
the eight other cells surrounding it.

138
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Like a living cell, for example
like this one...

139
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no living cells around it
has gone...

140
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he goes by the rules
death by loneliness.

141
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When a living cell is surrounded
by more than three living cells...

142
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those cells will also die
due to overpopulation.

143
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But if a dead cell is surrounded
by three living cells...

144
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he lights up, or in other words he is born.

145
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:13,562
Once you have some living cells
and run the simulation on it...

146
00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:19,130
these simple laws determine what
happens in the future.

147
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The results are surprising.

148
00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:36,768
While the program is running, appear
there are shapes that also disappear again.

149
00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,648
The shapes move across the grid
and bump each other off.

150
00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:51,200
There are all kinds of objects, types
that respond to each other.

151
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:54,808
Some even can
increase...

152
00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,810
just like life in the real world.

153
00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,208
These complex features arise
by simple laws...

154
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that have nothing to do with it
with movement or increase.

155
00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,407
You can imagine something like that
like the Game of Life...

156
00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:19,648
with just a few simple laws...

157
00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,560
very complex features
can produce.

158
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Maybe even intelligence.

159
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,566
There may be a grid of many
it takes billions of cells...

160
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:35,322
but that makes sense. We have
after all, hundreds of billions of cells...

161
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in our brains.

162
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The human brain and meaning
that it creates...

163
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arises from a large complex
system with simple rules.

164
00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:58,563
So Descartes was right.
Body and mind are different.

165
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:04,050
The body and the brain are made
of natural matter.

166
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:09,326
The mind is a product of this
ever-changing matter.

167
00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:24,449
Our body is the hardware.
Our mind is the software.

168
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,929
Just like the software that makes it
I can say these words.

169
00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:37,724
But that raises a problem:
free will.

170
00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:50,044
When I was young, my father wanted to
that I became a doctor, just like him.

171
00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,607
But I chose physics
to study.

172
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:58,487
When I look back on it, I'm happy
because the way things turned out...

173
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,683
I would be a lousy doctor
have been.

174
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:09,206
So I made the right choice.
Or had I chosen?

175
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Maybe I've been misled by
my own free will.

176
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Because if my mind the strict rules
of nature follows...

177
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was the path I chose
perhaps predestined.

178
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:33,971
Scientists have already discovered
that makes us decide to do something...

179
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can be affected by many things
things. Mainly electricity.

180
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,125
I hope you don't go too soon
gets nauseous...

181
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,801
but imagine if we go to
watch a surgical procedure:

182
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,321
Awake brain surgery.

183
00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,210
It is applied to neurological
treat disorders.

184
00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:05,051
The brain is exposed and
stimulated with electrical probes.

185
00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:13,284
The impulse to touch a foot, hand or...
moving face...

186
00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,404
can be caused artificially
by electrical stimulation...

187
00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:18,921
in certain parts of the brain.

188
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,085
There is in that particular place
only 3.5 volts needed.

189
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,803
The patient thinks he has a choice
has made...

190
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,686
but in fact the surgeon has
done that for him.

191
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,123
Imagine a future where the
doctor with advanced technology...

192
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,528
can control someone's thoughts.

193
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,361
Or maybe someone in love
can be allowed to be.

194
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:55,931
That person would think that he
acted of his own free will...

195
00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,328
but the opposite
is true.

196
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,364
It's all the physics in the brain.

197
00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:08,968
For many people this is
a disgusting thought.

198
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,527
Because it denies our humanity.

199
00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,371
We wouldn't just be machines...

200
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,006
but machines that are controlled
can be...

201
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:21,488
and possibly for bad intentions.

202
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:49,324
Maybe I had no choice when I...
had to choose between physics and biology.

203
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:53,525
Maybe the laws of nature have
determined my career?

204
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,567
Well... not necessarily.

205
00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:05,087
Predictability isn't always it
consequence of the laws of nature.

206
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,611
How a die will roll
it's hard to predict...

207
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,246
even if it is pure physics.

208
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,483
If you apply that to
a really complex system...

209
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,002
predictability becomes impossible.

210
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,728
To see such a system, hoof
you just have to look outside.

211
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:41,282
As you may know, we are
The English are always busy with our weather.

212
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,407
Especially if we want to barbecue in the summer.

213
00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:52,130
Wouldn't it be nice to know for sure
that the weather will be nice...

214
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:55,130
before we invite our friends?

215
00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,000
Predicting a beautiful day
should be very simple.

216
00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:04,569
After all, we know how the atmosphere
responds to heat and pressure...

217
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,968
for clouds and thunderstorms
to form.

218
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,685
But no matter how we do our best
to calculate all the details...

219
00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:23,170
it is impossible to say what for
again it becomes precise.

220
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,046
Instead, we create
weather forecasts...

221
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,845
using simple models
who don't take into account...

222
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,930
with all the little variables.

223
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:47,322
But small variables
can have major consequences.

224
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:53,689
Like a butterfly too hard with
spreads its wings in the Amazon...

225
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,441
maybe the barbecue
could fall into the water.

226
00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,081
It is a complex system.

227
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:20,082
Our brains are too
such a complex system...

228
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,441
just like the Earth's atmosphere.

229
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,291
We settle
according to the laws of nature...

230
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,291
but we can't predict everything.

231
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,291
The mind is like the weather
in our heads.

232
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:41,841
Free will is the process that arises
when this system has to make a choice.

233
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,531
I'll try to explain.

234
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:56,171
Suppose a man wakes up at night
and is thirsty.

235
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,882
Suppose I'm right
about the human brain...

236
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,801
and this man's brain works
according to the laws of nature.

237
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,163
Where does free will come in?
watch?

238
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:17,602
We leave the choice to him.

239
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:23,363
It will be orange juice
or apple juice to quench his thirst.

240
00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:28,202
If he smells the apple juice, be
masses of nerve cells stirred up...

241
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,766
and the memory starts working.

242
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:40,768
He must be thinking of a special one
moment in an apple orchard...

243
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,167
and his decision is made.

244
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,321
So his choice is not surprising.

245
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,603
He had to make a decision.

246
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:55,848
He chose...

247
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,566
and that is what we call free will.

248
00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:04,164
But it all still has
to do with physics.

249
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:09,684
Looking back, I definitely have a choice
made to be a physicist...

250
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,441
and I definitely feel that I
did that of his own free will.

251
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:19,920
Because free will is complex physics
which will come into effect, if we decide.

252
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,403
But if our choices are just physics
is...

253
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,091
does that mean that we are ourselves
to be fooled...

254
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,727
and that there is no meaning in life?

255
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,970
We'll go even further for the answer
and we investigate the issue...

256
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,801
about the origins of reality itself.

257
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:44,363
Reality.

258
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:50,249
Most of us have the same one
opinion about what reality is.

259
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:54,570
The world around us exists
independently of us.

260
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:58,685
It's full of real things
that are really there.

261
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,088
But the science is unraveling
this simple assumption...

262
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,602
which brings us to
the meaning of life.

263
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:17,202
This girl, for example, who is walking
at a busy market in Monza, Italy.

264
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:28,441
Her reality is an abundance
sound, color, taste and smell.

265
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,527
All based on information...

266
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,122
with which her senses
feeding her brain.

267
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:45,089
But once we accept
that the mind is like the weather...

268
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,000
and is determined by still
unpredictable laws of nature...

269
00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:52,488
reality begins to crumble.

270
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:56,645
It gets subjective:

271
00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,206
My reality is different
then yours...

272
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:04,243
or of this fish.

273
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:13,006
His reality is disrupted
through the round fishbowl.

274
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:15,930
Everything is distorted and crooked.

275
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,367
In Monza they found it crucial to fish
to maintain such a distorted reality...

276
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,848
that they even have round fishbowls
prohibited.

277
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,003
As a scientist, I find such a law
unfounded.

278
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,127
Because the image of this goldfish
now different from ours...

279
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:52,609
doesn't mean he's in yet
lives in a distorted reality.

280
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,291
Suppose this goldfish
was some kind of genius.

281
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,443
Even though he sees the world
different from us...

282
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,248
he can still follow the laws
follow nature.

283
00:27:08,360 --> 00:27:14,481
Math would be more complicated
through a distorted perspective...

284
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,285
but that also applies to physics.

285
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:29,325
If this smart fish could figure it out
find out how fast the police motorcycle was going...

286
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:35,891
he could find the right way and the right thing
calculate the moment to escape.

287
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:59,043
One reality is no longer worth it
than the other.

288
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:06,726
And that means reality itself
in the mind of the spectator.

289
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:14,928
If you think about it, it is even
our point of view far from perfect.

290
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:20,444
It looks like human eyes well
can see the world around them...

291
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,568
but in fact they are completely
not so good.

292
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,804
Our eyes see only a little
area with good resolution.

293
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:37,687
An area the size of your thumb
when you stretch your arm.

294
00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:46,602
The eyes send electrical signals
to the brain below the optic nerve.

295
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,769
The area where this nerve
attached to our eyes...

296
00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,204
means we have two blind spots
in our field of vision.

297
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:58,530
But we don't see a blurry world
with two black holes.

298
00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:04,564
That's because of the incredible organ:
our brain.

299
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:11,688
Our brains fill in the gaps
and distort the eye signals...

300
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,930
into a three-dimensional model
from the outside world.

301
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:24,482
These mental models
we all call reality.

302
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:41,043
How does this realization bring us closer?
the meaning of life?

303
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,441
At first it seems like bad news.

304
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:51,885
When reality is just a model
is in every individual brain...

305
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:54,651
then where is the meaning?

306
00:29:54,760 --> 00:30:00,130
Better said: maybe it is
there is no real reality at all?

307
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:09,809
It seems crazy to our concept
of questioning reality.

308
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:15,609
But to find the meaning of life,
we have to answer that question:

309
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,964
Is there an independent reality
or not?

310
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:33,721
Imagine a scenario like that
straight out of a sci-fi movie.

311
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:43,563
The world around you is no more
then a nice construction...

312
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,287
of unknown superior intelligence.

313
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,767
Your senses are supplied
by a giant computer:

314
00:30:54,880 --> 00:31:00,683
From what you see to what you smell,
hears and feels.

315
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,451
But in fact you have no senses.

316
00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:12,610
Your body does not exist.
You're just a brain in a jar.

317
00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:22,681
It may sound bizarre, but this is
a real scientific statement:

318
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,007
The simulation theory.

319
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:31,365
We only know our reality
being fed...

320
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,370
by a powerful supercomputer.

321
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:42,009
And the simulation is so perfect
that we don't even notice.

322
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,682
But this is the gist of the story:
it doesn't really matter.

323
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:56,610
As Descartes said:
We think, that's why we exist.

324
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,045
The hamburger is nothing anymore
then a computer code.

325
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:13,321
But our desire to eat it
is still our own desire.

326
00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,411
We still have
a feeling of hunger...

327
00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:23,527
our spirit still exists,
even though we are in a simulation.

328
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,771
So about the true nature of reality
there is no point in questioning it.

329
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:36,162
It's simpler to accept that we
but have a certain knowledge.

330
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,562
This table for example.

331
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,242
How do you know if a table is still there?
when you leave the room...

332
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,488
and can no longer see it.

333
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:05,966
Maybe the table is packing up
and disappears out the window.

334
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,928
He can visit
the International Space Station.

335
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,241
Maybe he even flies
to the moon.

336
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:34,482
And all before he returns
in the same place and before you return.

337
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,727
This is of course unlikely
scenario.

338
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,684
But we cannot rule it out.

339
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:52,489
It's simpler to assume that
the table is still there when we are gone.

340
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:57,128
It's our best performance
of reality.

341
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,043
That's basically what science does.

342
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,050
We imagine it best
of how we think...

343
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,766
that the universe works.

344
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,008
The ancient Greeks were the first...

345
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,521
those such scientific models
built.

346
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:21,009
They said that the earth was a big sphere
if he didn't move...

347
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,488
and in the center of the universe
stood.

348
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:30,562
But later came scholars
like Copernicus and Galileo...

349
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:36,961
with a simpler and revolutionary one
model to describe this.

350
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:44,929
According to them, the earth itself rotated
in orbit around the sun...

351
00:34:45,040 --> 00:34:47,691
along with all the other planets.

352
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,962
But you can say both
that it is not true.

353
00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:00,563
Because like all models,
are they models in our heads:

354
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:05,288
The best representation of reality
that we can make.

355
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:13,529
Scientists are making more and more
refined models...

356
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:17,725
and the truth of those models
cannot be determined.

357
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,049
A good example of this
came in the 60s.

358
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:31,931
Scientists came up with a theory
of very small matter: quarks.

359
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:37,046
These quarks would be the building blocks
are of subatomic particles:

360
00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:38,650
A proton.

361
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,126
The theory behind this was...

362
00:35:44,240 --> 00:35:46,811
that these quarks are caused by a force
were kept together...

363
00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,369
which became stronger
if you tried to separate them.

364
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:55,804
As if the quarks were on little rubber bands
were stuck.

365
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:03,764
This model also meant that you never...
could see a single quark.

366
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:07,969
Some were skeptical at first.

367
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:12,722
If you have something by definition
can't see...

368
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,286
does it even exist?

369
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:21,288
Does it make sense to say?
that quarks are real or not?

370
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:31,605
In huge particle accelerators such as
this one at CERN in Switzerland...

371
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:36,851
are scientists on the hunt for
quarks and other subatomic particles.

372
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,362
By letting protons collide
colliding at enormous speeds...

373
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:46,522
we can control the behavior of the smallest
studying particles in nature.

374
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:50,361
Although we don't use quarks directly
can see...

375
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:55,202
we have seen evidence of this
the behavior according to the quark model.

376
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,170
Do quarks actually exist?

377
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:11,006
They only exist as a model
that works.

378
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,691
That's all we know.

379
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:19,889
This is called the concept of
model-dependent reality.

380
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,324
And that takes us directly
to the meaning of life.

381
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:34,251
In my opinion, the
science has taught us something special:

382
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:39,446
We humans are complex biology
machines that behave...

383
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:46,011
according to the laws of nature.
Our brain strengthens our consciousness...

384
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:51,126
by a special network of
interacting nerve cells.

385
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:56,962
That creates awareness
a three-dimensional model...

386
00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,969
from the outside world:

387
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,210
The best imaginable model
that we call reality.

388
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:09,805
This reality is much more than us
see around us every day.

389
00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:18,530
Large ground and space telescopes
have broadened our understanding.

390
00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:22,440
We can see further into space...

391
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,531
and build a larger model
than ever before.

392
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:32,840
As we go further and further
peering into our cosmos...

393
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:37,284
our reality has also grown
and still growing.

394
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,888
Where we once saw holes in the sky...

395
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,483
we now see distant stars like our sun.

396
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:49,649
Many with their own planets and moons.

397
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:57,522
Then we discovered distant
galaxies with billions of stars.

398
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:03,366
We have looked into the past.

399
00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,848
All the way to birth
of the universe itself.

400
00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:23,161
This 13.7 billion year old
history of the universe...

401
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:27,126
exists as a model in our minds.

402
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:37,121
But where does that take us?
the meaning of life?

403
00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:40,847
I think the answer is clear.

404
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:47,042
The sentence itself is a different model
of reality...

405
00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,721
that we build in our brains.

406
00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,521
Take this mother and child.

407
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:06,600
They each create their own
reality bubbles in their consciousness.

408
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:10,930
The youngest can do a detailed
creating a mental model...

409
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:12,769
of his environment.

410
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:21,244
Even if he doesn't appreciate the fact
that he is on the fifth floor.

411
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:29,525
The mother's reality becomes
also sent by her mind.

412
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:36,364
For her, love is for her son
as real as the phone in her hand.

413
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:42,044
In short: the brain is not alone
responsible for reality...

414
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:48,440
but also for our emotions
and meaning.

415
00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:58,563
Love and honor, right and wrong...

416
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:02,162
belong to the universe that we
create in our heads.

417
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:07,241
Just like a table, a planet
or a galaxy.

418
00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:13,685
It's remarkable to think
that our brain...

419
00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:19,523
in fact it is a collection of particles
works according to the law of physics...

420
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:25,124
has the wonderful ability to
not just seeing reality...

421
00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:28,050
but also gives it meaning.

422
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,450
The meaning of life
is what you make of it.

423
00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:46,884
Personally, I think that's everyone
gives meaning to the universe.

424
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:56,650
We are, like cosmologist Carl Sagan
once said:

425
00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:00,207
The universe beholds itself.

426
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:13,804
Meaning can only exist within
the limits of the human brain.

427
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:19,086
In this way the meaning of
life isn't somewhere out there...

428
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:21,931
but it's just between our ears.

429
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:29,531
In many ways that makes us:
the Lords of Creation.

429
00:42:30,305 --> 00:43:30,160
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