What's invisible? More than you think - John Lloyd

TL;DR

We can't see or understand many important things in the universe, including gravity, consciousness, and the human genome.

Transcript

Translator: tom carter Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar (Circus music) [Ted N' Ed's Carnival] [John Lloyd's Inventory of the Invisible] [Adapted from a TEDTalk given by John Lloyd in 2009] June Cohen: Our next speaker has spent his whole career eliciting that sense of wonder. Please welcome John Lloyd. (Applause) [Hall of Mirrors] The question is, "What is... Read More

Key Insights

• 🫥 The invisible is often intertwined with the unknown, and there is still much we don't understand about the universe.
• ❓ Our limited ability to see or understand certain aspects of existence highlights the vastness of our ignorance.
• 🫥 Many invisible phenomena, such as gravity and consciousness, play crucial roles in shaping our world.
• 🫥 The invisible can be both fascinating and perplexing, challenging our understanding of reality.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why can't we see or understand gravity?

Gravity is one of the least understood fundamental forces in the universe. Despite being all-powerful, it remains invisible and mysterious to scientists.

Q: Why can't we read each other's minds?

Consciousness is an invisible phenomenon that allows us to interact with the world but prevents us from directly accessing the thoughts of others. Despite technological advancements in artificial intelligence, we still have no understanding of how consciousness works.

Q: Why is the human genome invisible?

The human genome is an invisible and complex structure within our cells. Initially thought to contain 100 thousand genes, it was later discovered to have just over 20 thousand. This makes it peculiar, considering rice has more genes than humans.

Q: Why is time considered invisible?

Time is an invisible concept that cannot be directly perceived. Some physicists argue that time does not even exist, but rather it is a convenient construct for mathematical calculations.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Many important things in the universe are invisible, such as gravity, consciousness, and the human genome.

• The closer we look at things, the more they disappear, and if we look at the substructure of matter, there is nothing there but energy.

• Time, the future, the past, and the grid on which we hang are all invisible aspects of our existence.