486. The Intersection of Science and Meaning | Dr. Brian Greene

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with physicist and author, Dr. Brian Greene. They discuss the strange conceptualization of “before” the Big Bang, how time might be a microscopic phenomenon, how order existed at the point of the universe's creation, what would happen if you fell into a black hole, and the process of going from understanding to harnessing new insights. Dr. Brian Greene is an American physicist known for his research on string theory. He is a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University and the chairman of the World Science Festival, which he co-founded in 2008. Dr. Greene has worked on mirror symmetry, relating two different Calabi–Yau manifolds (concretely relating the conifold to one of its orbifolds). He also described the flop transition, a mild form of topology change, showing that topology in string theory can change at the conifold point. This episode was recorded on September 9th, 2024 - Links - For Brian Greene: On X https://x.com/bgreene?lang=en Website https://www.briangreene.org/ "Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe" (Book) https://www.amazon.com/Until-End-Time-Evolving-Universe/dp/1524731676 "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory" (Book) https://www.amazon.com/Elegant-Universe-Superstrings-Dimensions-Ultimate/dp/039333810X