Roger Penrose: Why The Big Bang Was Not The Beginning

Nobel laureate Sir Roger Penrose dismantles standard cosmology, arguing the Big Bang wasn't the beginning and quantum mechanics is fundamentally wrong. He then connects a real, gravitational wave function collapse to the non-computational nature of consciousness and why today's AI can't truly understand. Sponsors: - Get 50% off Claude Pro, including access to Claude Code, at https://claude.ai/theoriesofeverything - I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE Every episode days early, ad-free, plus my essays: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Timestamps: - 00:00 - The Big Bang Wasn't The Beginning - 02:14 - Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC) - 09:12 - The Collapse Problem - 14:31 - A Feeling of Elation - 24:32 - Gödel and Understanding - 37:32 - Gravitational Collapse - 50:05 - Critique of Modern AI - 57:12 - Black Hole Information "Paradox" - 1:04:15 - Wheeler, Wigner, & Witten - 1:15:04 - Richard Feynman in Poland - 1:20:25 - Libet's Timing of Consciousness - 1:32:49 - Three Worlds, Three Mysteries - 1:44:14 - Why Quantum Mechanics Is Wrong Links mentioned: - Stuart Hameroff [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0_bQwdJir1o - Classical Theory [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/9409195 - Rebecca Goldstein [TOE]: https://youtu.be/VkL3BcKEB6Y - The Emperor’s New Mind [Book]: https://www.amazon.ca/Emperors-New-Mind-Concerning-Computers/dp/0192861980 - Fashion, Faith, and Fantasy in the New Physics of the Universe [Book]: https://www.amazon.ca/Fashion-Faith-Fantasy-Physics-Universe/dp/0691178534 - Perturbative Gauge Theory as a String Theory in Twistor Space [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/pdf/hep-th/0312171 - What Is Life? [Book]: https://www.amazon.ca/What-Life-Matter-Autobiographical-Sketches/dp/1107604664 - Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Exdz2HKP7u0 - Why I Don’t Buy the Simulation Hypothesis (Nor Materialism) [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3_lBPMc6JRY - Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics [Book]: https://www.amazon.ca/Consciousness-Quantum-Mechanics-Shan-Gao/dp/0197501664 - Ivette Fuentes [TOE]: https://youtu.be/cUj2TcZSlZc Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices