The Big Picture: From the Big Bang to the Meaning of Life - with Sean Carroll

The Big Picture: From the Big Bang to the Meaning of Life - with Sean Carroll 1,138,913 viewsNov 22, 2017 The Royal Institution 1.22M subscribers Award-winning scientist and writer Sean Carroll ties together the fundamental laws of physics governing the workings of the cosmos with the everyday human experience we all share. Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe Buy Sean's book "The Big Picture" - https://geni.us/9FoV The talk, given at the Royal Institution in October 2016, will take us on a breath-taking journey from the origin of the Universe, through the evolution of life and consciousness, to the eternal question of what it all really means. Dr Sean Carroll is an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology. He has written a variety of popular science books along with textbooks and has long been interested in the biggest questions in astronomy: Where does probability come from? How does time work? What is dark matter and dark energy? Watch the Q&A: https://youtu.be/KEt5XQuE_cY This lecture was recorded at the Ri on 17 October 2016. The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-po... Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link. Buy The Royal Institution merchandise $14.71 Teemill $24.52 Teemill $24.52 Teemill $49.03 Teemill $18.39 Teemill $24.52 Teemill 1,145 Comments rongmaw lin Add a comment... The Royal Institution Pinned by The Royal Institution The Royal Institution 4 years ago Important announcement : we've dropped the audio levels on our deafening intro! On a scale of mouse whisper to jet plane, how's it sound? 294 A.Plosky A.Plosky 2 years ago It is always such a pleasure to listen to Carroll's lectures. 54 Colin Flannery Colin Flannery 3 years ago So grateful to the RI for producing and publishing these online. Great stuff. 45 The Royal Institution quintessenceSL quintessenceSL 4 years ago Always pleased to hear Sean Carroll talk. 277 Manuel Bolivar Manuel Bolivar 4 years ago Sean has a particularly poetic way to convey extremely complex ideas. His last words in the lecture made realize that there are plenty of subjects that are worth to be involved with. Thanks for posting. 8 Mark Stanbrook Mark Stanbrook 4 years ago Been a fan of the RI lectures for many many years and this was one of the best presented, most lucid and informative of them all. Thank you ever so much! 66 The Royal Institution Rob Rob 4 years ago I can't get enough of Sean Carroll. I think he's the best science communicator that we currently have - he is simply brilliant, has a subtle sense of humor, a great communicator, great voice, patient, well-intentioned, genuine, and very logically consistent. And yes, I did read "The Big Picture". 17 Kieran Garland Kieran Garland 4 years ago My favourite public communicator of science, doing his thing. Great talk, thanks for sharing. 253 The Royal Institution alexQw33 alexQw33 1 year ago Thanks for posting this incredibly, eye opening lecture. We need more scientist in the world to help humans understand the universe and how little we are in the great order of things. Thank you science people!!! 6 Blues Dragon Blues Dragon 1 year ago I'm always on the lookout for Sean Carroll lectures. He is an amazing speaker with a pleasant voice that is calming. This one is fantastic. My only problem is that I wish I would have found this one earlier. It's in my saved videos now. I'd like to add that I love the RI channel, thank you. 7 The Royal Institution Manuel Basiri Manuel Basiri 6 months ago This is one of the best lectures from Sean and one of the best from RI overall. Thank you. Andrea La Delfa Andrea La Delfa 3 years ago Wonderful lecture. Very pleasant and informative. Well done R.I. and of course a big thank you to Mr. Sean Carroll. 4 The Royal Institution clemguitarechal clemguitarechal 4 years ago It was an incredible lecture ! Thank you Royal Institution for this pearl of a conference, so interesting. You made my day - and probably a big chunk of my whole life would never be the same thanks to some of the great ideas featured in this video. What a gift ! 2 Collins Balcombe Collins Balcombe 4 years ago Amazing video. I’m buying the book now. Thank you for all that you do. 5 DBM Motion Graphics DBM Motion Graphics 1 year ago What a great speaker. I don't have a science background and much of the quantum stuff I can barely wrap my head around but I find it absolutely fascinating. Going to hunt out more of Sean's lectures now. uw10isplaya uw10isplaya 4 months ago Wow, this was fascinating. I've been on a weeks-long rabbit hole of the standard model, dark matter, dark energy, black holes, quantum fields, quantum mechanics, string theory, etc. Basically anything and everything cosmology/astrophysics/particle physics. I love the perspective this particular video gave. Specifically, the section about "The purpose of life is to hydrogenate carbon dioxide" and the section about the connectome of the C. Elegans, the "self-awareness neuron", and the theory of water vs land imagination advantage. Absolutely fascinating. Scott Wengel Scott Wengel 3 years ago i think this may be one of the most efficient or important 1-hour lectures a layperson could listen to 58 Charles Quinn Charles Quinn 3 weeks ago I’ll just say “this lecture was awesome!”. Thank you so much for stimulating the particles in my head. 😃👍🏻👍🏻 Fardeen Rafiq Fardeen Rafiq 3 years ago Sean Carroll is a great explainer! I love hearing his lectures 4 general lobster general lobster 3 years ago (edited) The explanation of life, evolution and consciousness from the perspective of the second law of thermodynamics is frankly mind blowing. How a person could convey this in one hour is remarkable. I will be thinking about this for the rest of my existence as I slowly radiate infrared energy into my surroundings—doing my part to carry out the ultimate purpose of life in the context of this greater universe. The purpose of life is simply to live in this narrow bandwidth of time and space where we facilitate the conversion of energy into higher entropy states. What a satisfyingly simple concept to elevate us from the daily chaos of our individual lives. 10 LunElendil LunElendil 4 years ago Ever since i saw the series "Dark Energy Dark Matter", Sean Carroll has been the person i recommend to anyone as the most well-spoken physicist ever. Cheers! 52 Nature's Whisper Nature's Whisper 4 months ago Great talk, even if I think his views on free will are naive at best. I love how Sean explains complex things! 1 Terry Pullen Terry Pullen 4 years ago Thanks to the crew at Royal Institute for another superbly produced video. I also very much liked the lecture. 2 LoRe ZampaDeFerro LoRe ZampaDeFerro 1 year ago Always a fantastic way to explain easily complex topics. A great lecturer and professor indeed. FifthnLincoln FifthnLincoln 1 year ago Totally enthralling speaker, very enjoyable and entertaining as well as informative and thought provoking. 1 Jeff Wells Jeff Wells 2 years ago A truly wonderful lecture by a brilliant scientist! Had to watch it straight through despite intending to do so in sections, it was so compelling. 2 The Royal Institution primovid primovid 2 years ago I think this is one of the best "physics" lectures I have ever heard. It is the most comprehensive and covers all the most challenging subjects, such as consciousness, free will, time, life, etc.--and all with the most recent experimental evidence. Absolutely brilliant big picture. Everyone human should watch this. 5 Dhiraj Fernando Dhiraj Fernando 3 years ago (edited) Superb! Amongst the best science communicators of our time. Up there with Jim Al Khalili, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Lawrence Krauss. 1 My OpenMind My OpenMind 4 years ago Sean Carroll (the physicist) is one of the best science communicators out there. He understands his subject matter so well that he can explain it in simple terms to his audience. A rare talent among senior academics in my experience. (B.t.w. Sean Carroll the evolutionary biologist is also another of my favorite speakers) Can we have the two Sean Carroll’s on the same stage talking about cosmic and biological evolution from their perspectives. The two should meet somewhere in the middle around abiogenesis. 1 James. Scotland, UK James. Scotland, UK 4 years ago Was just looking for more of Sean a few hours ago and couldn't find any new ones then... this :D Did something mysterious happen? Of course not. Was it just a coincidence? Of course it was. Hopefully he has something to say about the many worlds theory, I heard him talking about it on sixty symbols and the way he goes into it had me captivated and my jaw on the floor. 3 Tim Mohr Tim Mohr 3 years ago this is highly informative and inspiring to me in so many ways... so glad to find this channel! 3 The Royal Institution Hussain Razik Hussain Razik 3 years ago Sean Carroll is truly a public science speaker with clarity and purpose in his talk. 1 daffidavit daffidavit 3 years ago (edited) I recently watched a YT video from Dr. Paul Sutter. He amazed me because he was able to explain what a particle was, particularly an electron. He described it as a disturbance in a field. He held out his hands and made a large swath of motion to simulate a field of something smooth in front of him. Then, in front of this smooth something of a field, he made a small wiggle with his hand. That wiggle of his hand in the field he previously painted in front of him was an "electron". So I said to myself, "wow". That funny moment reminded me of a joke by the American 1980s comedian, Steven Wright. He told a story about when he came home one evening and noticed that all of his living room furniture was suddenly replaced with an exact replica of all his preexisting furniture. After pondering the moment he looked at his living room and said "Wow". That's the feeling he also got when he suddenly sat on his chair and accidentally tipped back too far, but caught himself before he fell backward. He said, you know that feeling? Well I feel that way all the time. Well, Steven Wright and Sean Carroll have a lot in common. They both make me feel the same way when I listen to them. 6 Shankar Kurtakoti Shankar Kurtakoti 2 months ago We should listen to this speech more than once to understand at least part of the knowledge he has imparted. 👍👍👍 1 Caden N. Caden N. 4 years ago You speak and explain physics so beautifully, professor. 8 James Benedict James Benedict 1 year ago Hello Dr. Carrol, I was going to write something totally different after hearing about all the 'bad news'. However, I changed my mind after hearing you in the last 2 minutes of your presentation. That gives me hope to survive as a human being and look forward for the 'good news' tomorrow will bring! Good job! Bravo!! RD C RD C 1 year ago Loved the lecture. Would only add that "to have the choice to make what we like of our existence" only means that we will make A choice. There will never be right or wrong choices. Only hopes and regrets. Jon Bona Jon Bona 3 years ago My favourite communicator of science! A brilliant man with a gift for teaching. 13 Jayarava Attwood Jayarava Attwood 4 years ago I think this might be the best version of this lecture. I've watched several versions of it. Sean seems to take emergent properties more seriously in this one (not mere epiphenomena but real). 14 Raster Raster 2 years ago This is the best presentation I have seen from The Royal Institution. Sean Carroll is an intellectual treasure. Cheers! The Royal Institution Adonay Pichardo Adonay Pichardo 3 years ago this man's persona/character/showmanship, vibes just like Richard Feynman's. that's a compliment. 64 Apollo Jetic Apollo Jetic 3 months ago My brain hurts after this but I am very grateful to learn something new and very appreciative of the knowledge and perspective Sean Carroll brings to his lectures. Thanks for posting. Jim Willis Jim Willis 4 years ago Excellent presentation! Speaking to the audience! 2 Jon Stewart Jon Stewart 2 years ago Excellent talk. I liked his tentative suggestions about the evolution of consciousness, but perhaps the issue of why it actually feels like something to process information in this way wasn't highlighted as the profound mystery it is. Similarly, I liked that he mentioned free will, but I felt that we were being asked to accept a fairly glib "compatibilism saves the day" manoeuvre to get past it. I'm not suggesting he should have delved into these topics, but they perhaps deserved highlighting as more profound gaps in our understanding the everyday world than he lets on? 이규빈 이규빈 4 months ago Astonishing book. Best writer. Amazing lecture. Thanks Ashani Hector Ashani Hector 1 year ago This man is a great speaker. He's clearly passionate about Physics.He seems to have a deep understanding of the fundamental interaction of the particles we are made of and interact with. His judgement seems to be scientifically sound but surely there is a bigger picture that is missing. One of the things I can't understand about quantum physics is whether the equations describes what is happening or simply make predictions. Can an equation be written in such a way that you have an intuitive understanding of what is happening? Work = Force X Distance, say you had no idea what any of these things are but you could produce and measure them in a lab, to prove the equation, great. Its possible that you would think that you could create space using work and force. It's an interesting game you can play with your favorite equation. Assume you have a limited understanding of the variables, you change the limits to see how it affects your predictions. What are some error you could come up with based on that limit without violating the equation. fundamental 1 Tiger2021 Tiger2021 4 years ago What's most underrated in Sean Carrol's lecture is the absence of annoying umm or so, resulting in an orderly and clean (high entropy) learning experience. 203 FullScreenFull FullScreenFull 3 years ago Simply brilliant, thank you so much! 6 The Royal Institution NumbersAndSports NumbersAndSports 4 years ago I see Sean is stepping his suit game up . Very excited for this lecture. I'm pretty much finished with every other one of his on you tube. This is like an early Christmas for me. 17 Carolyn Fahm Carolyn Fahm 1 year ago One of the most beautiful and meaningful lectures I have ever heard. 1 Dhiman Roy Dhiman Roy 11 months ago It's a blessing to even watch Carroll's Lecture 1 Babe Root Babe Root 3 years ago That suit...is the Big Bang! I mean...The Bomb!. Love Sean Carroll. A very well spoken physicist, who has an uncanny knack for explaining his craft to the lay person...i.e...me. Very well done. 5 Breath-Spine-Core Breath-Spine-Core 3 years ago One of the most brilliant scientific presenters of our time. What a lecture. 3 John Nelson John Nelson 2 years ago Great presentation! ..what we know and what we do not are clearly separated. Our universe is NOT a hologram, but can be represented as one.. Black Holes are NOT 'made of information, but can be represented as such. This was MUCH better than listening to other 'genius' lectures. Markus Jacobi-Piepenbrink Markus Jacobi-Piepenbrink 2 years ago Wonderful lecture! 1 Dr10Jeeps Dr10Jeeps 3 years ago I know I sound like a broken record but this is another excellent lecture hosted by the Royal Institution. Dr. Carroll is a very informative and entertaining speaker. The Royal Institution curiosity 2022 curiosity 2022 3 months ago Excellent lecture/ talk! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻💜💜💜 Jose Capuras Jose Capuras 4 years ago BRAVO, Sean!!! Very well articulated and truly enlightening!!! Encore... Encore!!! 2 Paula Pickett Paula Pickett 1 year ago This is one of my favorite lecture of his. 6 Theo Milstein Theo Milstein 4 years ago Everything about this man, this lecture, and this institution is deeply pleasing. 2 The Royal Institution ____ ____ 4 years ago Love Sean Carroll! Thanks for uploading :) 10 Jay Nelson Jay Nelson 1 year ago Great lecture. Thank you Royal Society and Sean Carrol Lenn Lenn 2 years ago (edited) Listening to Sean Carroll talk about science is always such a treat. His ability to communicate complex ideas in a way that is very accessible yet doesn't feel oversimplified or dumbed down is a rare treasure which the scientifically (and philosophically) curious public can be immensely grateful for. Not everyone can become a theoretical physicist and comprehensively understand humanity's best theories about the fundamental nature of reality, but thanks to people like Sean, us non-physicists can at least get a taste of the marvels and puzzles which physical theory has in store for us. I'd also like to express my gratitude to The Royal Institution for making these ideas available to a wide audience. I think it's a real shame how relatively small the audience for these accessible yet scientifically rigorous ideas still is and how large the market for pseudoscience and pop science that has been oversimplified to the point of meaninglessness remains. What you public communicators of science are doing is a very noble thing indeed and it seems to me that you don't receive nearly the amount of praise you deserve for this. Please rest assured that what you're doing has had and continues to have a great impact on the mindset of many (young) people such as myself. Let's hope that this is just the beginning. The Royal Institution Shubham Pai Shubham Pai 1 year ago He explains the physics really good but when it comes to philosophy and connecting physics to meaning of life, he seems falling short. Intellect has a limitation so it will always face a wall 1 Penswordman Penswordman 10 months ago I have always loved reading about or hearing about new advancements in physics. However Carroll needs to explain to me how and why his solid physics and math breaks down at the edge of a black hole and why thoughts and equations of an infinite (?) number or some other multiverse number is used to explain other problems in physics. "In some of these Universes, completely new and different laws of physics may exist", on the one hand, however physics has basically solved beyond many other possibilities. Black Holes have hair if needed, and electrons are here, there and everywhere until observed. THEN they always seem to be a particle. I just won't be corralled with Carroll's inferred level of finality, until the Gray Bearded Sean Carroll of at least one of the infinite Universes comes over here and tells me. Otherwise, these parts of his presentations always sound a bit too much like having an ax to grind. Other than that, I do love the information and Carroll's knowledge. I even easily ignore the sing-song voice which I strongly suspect is a stratagem. But I'm probably wrong; it's entirely possible that it has some other source. Reza Khanzadi Reza Khanzadi 2 years ago Great talk; I wish he discussed about possible effect/interaction of concussions with the particles or the quantum field AI fan AI fan 3 years ago Sean needs to have a 24/7 live feed to the world, so that humanity can have a shot at survival and...well, humanity. 3 Andromeda Design Andromeda Design 2 years ago Very interesting lecture , well spoken . 1 jkonrad jkonrad 1 year ago That suit is an experiment. But seriously, great lecture as always. I’ve almost made it through all of Carroll’s podcasts, he’s one of my faves. 2 The Royal Institution Abel Calde Abel Calde 2 years ago I’ve watched hours and hours of videos of RI these days and by far Sean Carroll is the one I like the most how interesting he makes everything without letting it be boring 🙌🏼 2 Luan Babuza Luan Babuza 2 years ago Gostaria de saber quando teremos um livro de Sean Carroll publicado no Brasil platypao platypao 2 years ago Great lecture! boggo boggo 4 years ago (edited) I was in the audience - I was in the middle of a lot of pain because of my back injury and I still travelled to London and sat there the entire time on a cramped seat to see this and I wasn't disappointed. I remember the rainy evening so well. 30 Sarojini Chelliah Sarojini Chelliah 1 year ago He has presented a lecture and all the praises rained upon him echo my own thoughts but at the same time he has left us wondering about the beliefs we’ve held so far, and how to respond to it as the arguments given appear reasonable. At the same time I feel sad that such a man has finally got to succumb to the eventual fate of all humans. Luis Luque Luis Luque 2 years ago Sean Carroll can decrease universe's entropy every lecture he performs Thirumal Murugesan Thirumal Murugesan 2 years ago Excellent Lecture sir . Great work ! 2 Brandon Hoffman Brandon Hoffman 2 years ago That means I've used more than 10,000 heart beats watching RI this week! If you ask me, its time well spent. Even if at the end of it all you come to the conclusion that humanity has no chance according to current physics. 1 BeachyHed BeachyHed 5 months ago Excellent lecture by Sean Carroll. Great thinker. Andre Sukianto Andre Sukianto 4 years ago as always, thank you for sharing such information, I'm from Indonesia and great talks like this are really hard to find (also expensive) 21 The Royal Institution Owais Ahmad Owais Ahmad 2 years ago Great lecture as you would expect of Sean Carroll but the ending is just brilliant - hats off! 2 Stuart Dryer Stuart Dryer 3 years ago Great teacher. 4 Mark Ramsay Mark Ramsay 4 months ago Another great talk from Sean :)