Edward Witten - Why the ‘Unreasonable Effectiveness’ of Mathematics

What is it about mathematics that it can describe so accurately the world around us? From quantum physics, the very smallest features and forces of the foundations of matter and energy, to cosmology, the very largest structures and forces of the beginning and evolution of the universe, mathematics is the language of description. Why does the physical world follow so faithfully equations of abstract symbols and variables?

Edward Witten is a theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics.


Closer to Truth presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[mastersasori]

Pure brilliance. Imagine winning Math's highest honor while being a physicist.

[holliswilliams]

I emailed Witten with a question and was surprised that he answered me almost immediately, zero ego or arrogance.

[markseager]

I find in listening to Witten, I'm transported into another 'headspace' altogether, simply by the way he speaks; a hypnotic, almost celestial pitch and tenor. it's remarkable really. I can grasp very little of the concepts of which he speaks, but he does seem to effortlessly force you to start to think differently, when walking away from 10 minutes of conversation like this. I would liken it, in a way, as he does, to listening to a beautiful classic piece by Bach, or Chopin.

[fredo]

Just by listening to him you know how much knowledge he has. Truly incredible

[robertschlesinger]

Ed Witten is brilliant and his insight never ceases to amaze me. A very worthwhile video.

[kish]

Incredible to have Witten on. Hope to see more. Thank you for this.

[PDS]

Ed Witten is regarded as one of the most influential intellects of Theoretical Physics/Mathematics by his colleagues and peers in the scientific community. And he's probably one of the nicest, most humble individuals you'll ever meet.

[CleverMonkeyArt]

Don't forget Korzybski's statement: "The map is not the territory". Descriptions of reality are not necessarily properties of it.

[TheGaminggk]

Ed Witten is currently one of the giants of physics. Pure genius.

[haroldfloyd]

Witten is widely regarded as THE scientist among other theoreticians and mathematicians. Listening to him is an education as well as entertaining.

[fahimullah]

OMG Ed Witten on this show! Thanks a lot!

[nunofontes]

The quality of Ed’s communication (signal to noise ratio) tends towards infinity, very few filling words or sounds. Raw genius.

[roundedges]

What I love is he has pretty much the entire history of scientific discovery down pat in his head with the names of the discoverers and how they built understanding off of each other and cites the WAY they thought their way to each idea—including the blind alleys and how they arrived their ideas and then weaves all of it together into a coherent, seamless stream eleucidating sidebars as needed, without getting lost in any one tangent. You get a wonderful sense of the human dynamic, not just the dry facts rules and conclusions derived

[wuschelbeutel]

I've watched a lot of these videos over the years. I appreciate that the host often asks profound questions. Prof. Witten is brilliant and I enjoy his simple and elegant answers.

[quantummath]

It's great to see an intellectual and intelligent human being, wearing a suit, elegantly describing the hard truth and mathematical reality of a theory. This is how scientists used to talk if you Google some interview in the 1990s.
Thanks a lot for this interview.

Big thumbs up from me,
And Subscribed ....

[ichiroakuma]

Notice how Witten avoids saying anything metaphysical, no matter how much the questioner tries to tempt him.

[ritemolawbks]

As much as I love theoretical physics and mathematics; before today, I honestly never heard of Prof. Edward Witten. I used to think that Sean Carroll would always remind me of how I little I know about theoretical physics, but after hearing this guy, I don't even think I know the meaning of "theory."

I don't mean it as an insult, but he sounds unhuman at times and more like a talking textbook or encyclopedia. His behavior, tone, and sharp focus is how I would imagine Isaac Newton explaining his laws of mechanics, optics, calculus, and analytic geometry.

[stephencarlsbad]

I love the unencumbered clarity of thought and commitment to curiosity and truth that isn't embodied by most scientists today. Far too many are engaged with the religious truth of their science as their god-head rather than remaining curious and open to whatever science presents to them as truth via objective observation.

[stianaslaksen]

Great to see Edward Witten here, always interesting to hear him speak.

[erikpeterson]

Ed Whitten is a pure pleasure to listen to. What a great mind. 👍 His last comment was great 🙂