Edward Witten - What are Breakthroughs in Science?

What is the nature of scientific breakthroughs? What are common characteristics among all the sciences? What are specific signs of breakthroughs in physics and biology? Breakthroughs as new ways of thinking, new systems of thought, new perspectives for seeing the world. What distinguishes breakthroughs from normal good science? What drives breakthroughs? How is science driven by breakthroughs?

Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist and the Charles Simonyi Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, 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.

[pauljohnson]

I'm here because Eric Weinstein said: "I am terrified of this man!”

[shmookins]

I love how this man talks. No filler sounds (like 'ummm' and 'ahhh'), no repeating of words a few times during a sentence.
Just clear continuous talking.

[kfkaesqu]

The fact that this man got a bachelor's in history (minor in linguistics) and went on to become one of the greatest physicists in human history is absolutely wild to me.

[pedroportela]

This man could easily be a Sherlock Holmes villain. The way he speaks, moves his hands....an eerie calmness

[colinbrown]

I saw him walking through the halls of my campus one day. Dude is so imposing even without speaking. What a legend.

[Leopar]

When he is saying we understood all 5 string theories are different aspects of the same theory, he means HE understood and then shared with the world

[kurt]

"To the best of our present understanding." This is the most important part of the entire conversation.
Humility drives scientific discovery exponentially faster than arrogance. -me

[mickeybrumfield]

I'm glad we've got Dr. Kuhn to ask the questions.

[spinnetti]

I didn't think somebody that smart could dumb down his thoughts simple enough for us normal people to grasp - well done! :)

[paulahaddon]

He is truly mesmerising, his voice is so soothing. I could listen to this beautiful man all day.

[aminzahedim.]

Please more of Prof. Witten on the channel; he’s greatly elaborate, very precise, and uncanny at foreseeing what questions might be forming in one’s head 👍🏻👌🏻🙏🏻

[vm-bzcd]

what a treat to listen to (arguably) the smartest guy on this planet! 👏

[travislankford]

I could listen to Dr. Witten talk ad nauseum. Fascinating mind and how he can convey incredibly complex topics in terms relatively understandable to others. More Dr. Witten please :)

[cowboybob]

A universal truth was spoken at 12:20 - the one about critics of a theory not working hard on a competing theory or suggesting one.
That said, the subject of the interview understands the importance of peer review.

[jdghgh]

I watched this video without understanding anything being said. I knew this after only a couple minutes, and continued to watch regardless, as well as knowing that I wouldn't understand the rest.

[michaelzumpano]

OMG, Dr. Witten is so clear, concise and comprehensive! He gave us a 1000 foot view of the landscape of String/M Theory in 12 minutes! And he completely destroyed his critics in the process. It might take a hundred years for everyone to appreciate what an incredible body of work he’s developed.

[aarrvindmbd]

Edward is less of human and more of a mathematical expression himself ...the iron man of maths.

[harryseldon]

Listening to Prof. Witten is an adventure in common sense thinking. I could listen to him all day. Thanks for posting.

[riskybusiness]

I met a guy very similar to Witten at a social event. It was just an informal gathering of strangers around the same age there to find/make new friends. He was sitting off to the side wanting to join in but he was intimidated. I introduced myself and 'attempted' to start a conversation - talk about difficult. Everything was math, his work, his teachings, the advanced math/calc/physics books he's had published for college students etc. I wanted to help make him feel comfortable so I asked if he could teach me some baby algebra. (I hate math) he looked up, with one of his of books in hand and said, "I'm not sure I can". Turns out he was right. He lost me at the letter x.

There was an interesting article asking Air Force fighter pilots if they could fly a Cessna 172. Three said no and one said he could probably do it but not safely. It's crazy how the math professor and pilots were so advanced they couldn't do the fundamental basics of their profession.
* of course they could fly the small plane once they were familiar with it. And obviously my arithmetic instructor could figure a way to stoop down, way down to my pea brain level and convey those horrific rudimentary algebraic formulas.

[Skeluz]

What an amazing human. I absolutely love his almost religious notion of "our present understanding" knowing well that science is an iterative process that takes a long time to deliver the goods, so to speak.