[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.97,0:00:04.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm thrilled to be talking to you\Nby this high-tech method.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.17,0:00:08.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of all humans who have ever lived,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.10,0:00:12.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the overwhelming majority\Nwould have found what we are doing here
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.74,0:00:15.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,incomprehensible, unbelievable.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.76,0:00:18.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because, for thousands of centuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.78,0:00:21.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the dark time\Nbefore the scientific revolution
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.74,0:00:23.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Enlightenment,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:23.57,0:00:26.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people had low expectations.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.56,0:00:29.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For their lives,\Nfor their descendants' lives.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.60,0:00:31.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Typically, they expected
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.47,0:00:35.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nothing significantly new\Nor better to be achieved, ever.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.85,0:00:41.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This pessimism\Nfamously appears in the Bible,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.86,0:00:46.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in one of the few biblical passages\Nwith a named author.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.09,0:00:49.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's called Qohelet,\Nhe's an enigmatic chap.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.17,0:00:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wrote, "What has been is what will be,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.13,0:00:58.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what has been done\Nis what will be done;
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.74,0:01:01.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is nothing new under the sun.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.14,0:01:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is there something of which it is said,\N'Look, this is new.'
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.38,0:01:10.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,No, that thing was already done\Nin the ages that came before us."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.43,0:01:16.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Qohelet was describing a world\Nwithout novelty.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.25,0:01:20.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,By novelty I mean something new\Nin Qohelet's sense,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.55,0:01:23.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not merely something that's changed,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.20,0:01:26.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but a significant change\Nwith lasting effects,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.72,0:01:28.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where people really would say,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.92,0:01:30.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Look, this is new,"
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.92,0:01:33.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and, preferably, "good."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.06,0:01:38.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, purely random changes aren't novelty.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.94,0:01:44.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,OK, Heraclitus did say\Na man can't step in the same river twice,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.17,0:01:46.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it's not the same river,\Nhe's not the same man.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.31,0:01:51.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if the river is changing randomly,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.42,0:01:53.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it really is the same river.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.31,0:01:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In contrast,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.79,0:02:00.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if an idea in a mind\Nspreads to other minds,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.42,0:02:03.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and changes lives for generations,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.23,0:02:04.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is novelty.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.40,0:02:08.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Human life without novelty
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.35,0:02:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is life without creativity,\Nwithout progress.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.50,0:02:15.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a static society, a zero-sum game.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.71,0:02:20.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was the living hell\Nin which Qohelet lived.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.42,0:02:23.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like everyone, until a few centuries ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.23,0:02:28.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was hell, because for humans,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.86,0:02:32.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,suffering is intimately\Nrelated to staticity.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.98,0:02:35.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because staticity isn't just frustrating.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.44,0:02:38.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All sources of suffering --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.47,0:02:42.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,famine, pandemics, incoming asteroids,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.76,0:02:46.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and things like war and slavery,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.30,0:02:51.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hurt people only until we have created\Nthe knowledge to prevent them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.63,0:02:56.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a story in Somerset Maugham's\Nnovel "Of Human Bondage"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.96,0:02:58.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about an ancient sage
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.77,0:03:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who summarizes the entire\Nhistory of mankind as,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.53,0:03:06.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"He was born,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.10,0:03:08.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he suffered and he died."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.30,0:03:11.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it goes on:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.03,0:03:15.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Life was insignificant\Nand death without consequence."
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.27,0:03:21.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And indeed, the overwhelming majority\Nof humans who have ever lived
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.20,0:03:24.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had lives of suffering and grueling labor,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.00,0:03:28.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before dying young and in agony.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.49,0:03:33.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And yes, in most generations
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.73,0:03:37.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nothing had any novel consequence\Nfor subsequent generations.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.73,0:03:45.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nevertheless, when ancient people\Ntried to explain their condition,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.10,0:03:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they typically did so\Nin grandiose cosmic terms.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.79,0:03:53.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which was the right thing to do,\Nas it turns out.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.62,0:03:57.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though their actual\Nexplanations, their myths,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.44,0:03:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were largely false.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.74,0:04:01.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some tried to explain
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.83,0:04:05.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the grimness and monotony of their world
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.39,0:04:10.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of an endless cosmic war\Nbetween good and evil,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.25,0:04:13.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in which humans were the battleground.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.64,0:04:17.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which neatly explained why their own\Nexperience was full of suffering,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.88,0:04:20.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and why progress never happened.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.73,0:04:23.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it wasn't true.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.21,0:04:26.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Amazingly enough,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.40,0:04:29.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all their conflict and suffering
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.15,0:04:34.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were just due to the way\Nthey processed ideas.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.12,0:04:39.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Being satisfied with dogma,\Nand just-so stories,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.39,0:04:41.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rather than criticizing them
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.86,0:04:48.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and trying to guess better explanations\Nof the world and of their own condition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.70,0:04:53.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Twentieth-century physics\Ndid create better explanations,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.36,0:04:55.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but still in terms of a cosmic war.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.57,0:05:00.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This time, the combatants\Nwere order and chaos, or entropy.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.89,0:05:06.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That story does allow\Nfor hope for the future.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.99,0:05:08.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in another way,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.20,0:05:10.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's even bleaker than the ancient myths,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.02,0:05:14.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the villain, entropy,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.82,0:05:18.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is preordained to have the final victory,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.44,0:05:23.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the inexorable laws of thermodynamics\Nshut down all novelty
Dialogue: 0,0:05:23.35,0:05:26.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the so-called\Nheat death of the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:26.98,0:05:31.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Currently, there's a story\Nof a local battle in that war,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:31.15,0:05:35.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between sustainability, which is order,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.12,0:05:38.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and wastefulness, which is chaos --
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.50,0:05:41.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's the contemporary take\Non good and evil,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.58,0:05:44.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often with the added twist\Nthat humans are the evil,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.92,0:05:47.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we shouldn't even try to win.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.58,0:05:48.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And recently,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:48.80,0:05:50.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there have been tales\Nof another cosmic war,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.87,0:05:55.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between gravity,\Nwhich collapses the universe,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.08,0:05:58.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and dark energy, which finally shreds it.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.51,0:05:59.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So this time,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:59.74,0:06:03.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whichever of those cosmic forces wins,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.18,0:06:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we lose.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.16,0:06:10.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All those pessimistic accounts\Nof the human condition
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.16,0:06:12.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,contain some truth,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.49,0:06:14.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but as prophecies,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.45,0:06:17.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're all misleading,\Nand all for the same reason.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:17.96,0:06:22.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,None of them portrays humans\Nas what we really are.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.69,0:06:25.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As Jacob Bronowski said,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.12,0:06:29.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Man is not a figure in the landscape --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.07,0:06:31.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he is the shaper of the landscape."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.87,0:06:33.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In other words,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.05,0:06:37.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,humans are not playthings\Nof cosmic forces,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.52,0:06:40.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we are users of cosmic forces.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:41.09,0:06:42.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll say more about that in a moment,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.89,0:06:47.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but first, what sorts\Nof thing create novelty?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:48.02,0:06:51.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the beginning\Nof the universe surely did.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.20,0:06:54.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The big bang, nearly 14 billion years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:54.29,0:06:57.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,created space, time and energy,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.70,0:06:59.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everything physical.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:59.61,0:07:01.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then, immediately,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.74,0:07:05.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what I call the first era of novelty,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:05.33,0:07:08.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the first atom, the first star,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.16,0:07:09.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first black hole,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:09.70,0:07:11.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the first galaxy.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.83,0:07:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then, at some point,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.02,0:07:18.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,novelty vanished from the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:18.31,0:07:22.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Perhaps from as early\Nas 12 or 13 billion years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.47,0:07:24.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right up to the present day,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.53,0:07:29.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's never been any new kind\Nof astronomical object.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:29.61,0:07:33.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's only been what I call\Nthe great monotony.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.81,0:07:39.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, Qohelet was accidentally\Neven more right
Dialogue: 0,0:07:39.57,0:07:42.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the universe beyond the Sun
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.43,0:07:44.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than he was about under the Sun.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.16,0:07:48.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So long as the great monotony lasts,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.85,0:07:51.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what has been out there
Dialogue: 0,0:07:51.44,0:07:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,really is what will be.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.43,0:07:54.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there is nothing out there
Dialogue: 0,0:07:55.01,0:07:59.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of which it can truly be said,\N"Look, this is new."
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.65,0:08:01.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nevertheless,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:01.66,0:08:05.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at some point during the great monotony,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:05.85,0:08:09.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was an event --\Ninconsequential at the time,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.56,0:08:11.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even billions of years later,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.78,0:08:15.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it had affected nothing\Nbeyond its home planet --
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.20,0:08:20.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,yet eventually, it could cause\Ncosmically momentous novelty.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:21.28,0:08:24.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That event was the origin of life:
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.10,0:08:28.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,creating the first genetic knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.23,0:08:31.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coding for biological adaptations,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:31.11,0:08:33.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coding for novelty.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:34.24,0:08:38.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On Earth, it utterly\Ntransformed the surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:38.09,0:08:41.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Genes in the DNA\Nof single-celled organisms
Dialogue: 0,0:08:41.52,0:08:43.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put oxygen in the air,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.44,0:08:45.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,extracted CO2,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:45.32,0:08:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,put chalk and iron ore into the ground,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.32,0:08:54.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hardly a cubic inch of the surface\Nto some depth has remained unaffected
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.37,0:08:56.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by those genes.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:56.94,0:09:02.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Earth became,\Nif not a novel place on the cosmic scale,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:02.37,0:09:03.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certainly a weird one.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:04.24,0:09:07.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just as an example, beyond Earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:07.48,0:09:11.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only a few hundred different\Nchemical substances have been detected.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:12.41,0:09:15.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Presumably, there are some more\Nin lifeless locations,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.89,0:09:17.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but on Earth,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.76,0:09:21.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,evolution created billions\Nof different chemicals.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:21.84,0:09:24.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the first plants, animals,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:24.93,0:09:29.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then, in some ancestor\Nspecies of ours,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:29.76,0:09:31.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explanatory knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:31.94,0:09:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the first time in the universe,\Nfor all we know.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.41,0:09:40.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Explanatory knowledge\Nis the defining adaptation of our species.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:41.15,0:09:44.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It differs from\Nthe nonexplanatory knowledge
Dialogue: 0,0:09:44.27,0:09:46.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in DNA, for instance,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:46.53,0:09:48.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by being universal.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.33,0:09:52.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That is to say,\Nwhatever can be understood,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.38,0:09:55.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can be understood\Nthrough explanatory knowledge.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.07,0:09:58.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And more, any physical process
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.90,0:10:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can be controlled by such knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:01.80,0:10:04.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,limited only by the laws of physics.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:05.23,0:10:08.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so, explanatory knowledge, too,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:09.02,0:10:11.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has begun to transform\Nthe Earth's surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:12.79,0:10:18.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And soon, the Earth will become\Nthe only known object in the universe
Dialogue: 0,0:10:18.14,0:10:23.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that turns aside incoming asteroids\Ninstead of attracting them.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.30,0:10:27.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Qohelet was understandably misled
Dialogue: 0,0:10:27.74,0:10:31.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the painful slowness\Nof progress in his day.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:32.11,0:10:36.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Novelty in human life\Nwas still too rare, too gradual,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.42,0:10:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to be noticed in one generation.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.15,0:10:41.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in the biosphere,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:41.12,0:10:44.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the evolution of novel species\Nwas even slower.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:45.14,0:10:47.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But both things were happening.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.03,0:10:54.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, why is there a great monotony\Nin the universe at large,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:54.48,0:10:58.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and what makes our planet buck that trend?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.90,0:11:03.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the universe at large\Nis relatively simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:04.37,0:11:06.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Stars are so simple
Dialogue: 0,0:11:06.43,0:11:09.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we can predict their behavior\Nbillions of years into the future,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.85,0:11:13.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and retrodict how they formed\Nbillions of years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:14.06,0:11:16.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So why is the universe simple?
Dialogue: 0,0:11:16.76,0:11:22.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Basically, it's because big,\Nmassive, powerful things
Dialogue: 0,0:11:22.56,0:11:26.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strongly affect lesser things,\Nand not vice versa.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:27.62,0:11:29.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I call that the hierarchy rule.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.01,0:11:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, when a comet hits the Sun,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:33.26,0:11:35.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Sun carries on just as before,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:35.75,0:11:37.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the comet is vaporized.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:38.66,0:11:40.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the same reason,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:40.54,0:11:47.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,big things are not much affected\Nby small parts of themselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:47.13,0:11:48.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,i.e., by details.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:49.61,0:11:52.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which means that their overall behavior
Dialogue: 0,0:11:52.70,0:11:53.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is simple.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:54.16,0:11:57.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And since nothing very new\Ncan happen to things
Dialogue: 0,0:11:57.58,0:11:59.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that remain simple,
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.35,0:12:04.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the hierarchy rule,\Nby causing large-scale simplicity,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:04.68,0:12:07.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has caused the great monotony.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:08.47,0:12:11.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, the saving grace is
Dialogue: 0,0:12:11.93,0:12:15.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the hierarchy rule is not a law of nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:15.92,0:12:18.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It just happens to have held\Nso far in the universe,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:18.86,0:12:20.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,except here.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:20.14,0:12:25.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In our biosphere,\Nmolecule-sized objects, genes,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:25.12,0:12:28.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,control vastly disproportionate resources.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:28.62,0:12:31.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first genes for photosynthesis,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:31.54,0:12:34.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by causing their own proliferation,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.31,0:12:37.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then transforming\Nthe surface of the planet,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:37.84,0:12:42.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have violated or reversed\Nthe hierarchy rule
Dialogue: 0,0:12:42.33,0:12:46.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by the mind-blowing factor\Nof 10 to the power 40.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:47.39,0:12:51.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Explanatory knowledge\Nis potentially far more powerful
Dialogue: 0,0:12:51.70,0:12:53.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of universality,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:53.36,0:12:55.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and more rapidly created.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.16,0:13:00.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When human knowledge\Nhas achieved a factor 10 to the 40,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.90,0:13:03.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it will pretty much control\Nthe entire galaxy,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:03.89,0:13:05.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and will be looking beyond.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:05.84,0:13:08.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So humans,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:08.29,0:13:12.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and any other explanation creators\Nwho may exist out there,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:12.98,0:13:17.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are the ultimate agents\Nof novelty for the universe.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:18.34,0:13:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We are the reason and the means
Dialogue: 0,0:13:21.03,0:13:27.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by which novelty and creativity,\Nknowledge, progress,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.03,0:13:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can have objective,\Nlarge-scale physical effects.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:33.51,0:13:36.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From the human perspective,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:36.39,0:13:40.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the only alternative\Nto that living hell of static societies
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.62,0:13:45.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is continual creation of new ideas,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.23,0:13:48.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,behaviors, new kinds of objects.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:48.73,0:13:50.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This robot will soon be obsolete,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:50.89,0:13:54.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because of new explanatory\Nknowledge, progress.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:56.20,0:13:59.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But from the cosmic perspective,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:59.43,0:14:04.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,explanatory knowledge\Nis the nemesis of the hierarchy rule.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.75,0:14:07.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the destroyer of the great monotony.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.38,0:14:13.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it's the creator\Nof the next cosmological era,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:13.57,0:14:15.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Anthropocene.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:15.97,0:14:19.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If one can speak of a cosmic war,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:19.36,0:14:22.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's not the one portrayed\Nin those pessimistic stories.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:22.79,0:14:27.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a war between monotony and novelty,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:27.53,0:14:30.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between stasis and creativity.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:31.63,0:14:33.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in this war,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:33.69,0:14:38.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,our side is not destined to lose.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:38.59,0:14:45.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we choose to apply our unique\Ncapacity to create explanatory knowledge,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:45.42,0:14:47.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we could win.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:48.18,0:14:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:50.10,0:14:56.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)