The Big Picture | Sean Carroll | Talks at Google

The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.

Already internationally acclaimed for his notions in modern physics, Sean Carroll is one of the greatest humanist thinkers of his generation as he brings extraordinary intellect to our deepest personal questions. Where are we? Who are we? Are our emotions, beliefs, hopes and dreams ultimately meaningless in the void? Does human purpose and meaning fit into a scientific worldview? Carroll's presentation of the scientific revolution from Darwin and Einstein to the origins of life, consciousness, and the universe is unique. He shows how an avalanche of discoveries in the past few hundred years has changed our world and what really matters to us.

“Weaving the threads of astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and philosophy into a seamless narrative tapestry, Sean Carroll enthralls us with what we’ve figured out in the universe and humbles us with what we don’t yet understand. Yet in the end, it’s the meaning of it all that feeds your soul of curiosity.”
—Neil deGrasse Tyson, host of Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey

Carroll is a theoretical physicist at the CalTech and received his PhD from Harvard. Recently, he has worked on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, and the emergence of complexity. He has earned prizes and fellowships by the NSA, NASA, Sloan Foundation, Packard Foundation, American Physical Society, American Institute of Physics, Royal Society of London, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. Carroll has appeared on The Colbert Report, PBS’s NOVA, and Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, and serves as a science consultant for film and TV. He has been interviewed by NPR, Scientific American, Wired, and The NYT, and has given a TED talk on the multiverse that has more than 1M views.

This Talk at Google talk was hosted by Boris Debic.

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[acerovalderas]

Sean Carroll seems to me to be one of the best popularizers of physics, cosmology and philosophy. He is aware of what is difficult and takes the time to explain it.

[homelander-enjoyer]

Sean Carroll is a beacon of clarity and truth. Thank you good sir!

[MarrowEternal]

Sean is so much more refreshing to listen to than Neil degrasse Tyson. He's humble and doesn't have that heir of self-aggrandizement. He simply wants to teach and he is clearly passionate about education.

[MARKCREEKWATER]

I like this guy: he talks like a real human, without a lot of incomprehensible jargon !!

[manuellopez]

This is one of the best explanations I've ever heard for how the Universe works. It should be inserted into every high-school syllabus.

[DrJeeps]

I love listening to this man speak. He's clear and informative. Thank you Dr. Carroll.

[LoressaClisby]

An outstanding talk. Carroll is one of the best science communicators since Carl Sagan.

[jorgecastro]

Sean Carroll does a great job of showing that particle physics is not incompatible but rather implies the possibility of human scale concepts, such as cause and effect, human thought, and morality. To the best of my knowledge the first person to do that magnificently was David Deutsch. I therefore recommend his books too.

[takefivepaullucido]

Once again, Sean Carroll delivers his thoughts with clarity in comprehensible terms making it accessible for many of us to grasp. Great ambassador!

[rutmm]

The only lecturer/public speaker on Youtube who never says, 'um'. He is great.

[japeking]

I've heard a lot of great lectures...this is the best ever. Thank you.

[amiralozse]

What a great talk!
Sean Carrol truly deserves sitting at Feynmans desk!

[BrandonMather]

Youtube comment sections: The only place where centuries of scientific progress are "refuted" by a few sentences.

[joycemesa]

Sean Carroll is a brilliant physicist. As a future physicist he's my role model.

[Curiousgeorge]

Thank you excellent lecture. I am reading Sean Carroll’s book now and I’m finding it exhilarating!

[Kevin]

He is a great communicator. Very clear and concise. I enjoyed this talk.

[georgepaul]

Marvelous gifted speaker totally organized with vast knowledge in many fields.

[ashleylooksfab]

So many thought provoking points I needed to stop and rewind and rewatch many times to understand what he meant. I'll have to revisit what he said many more times and look into his other lectures!

[MikeEnRegalia]

The usual problem with Google talks: they're edited so that the slides are always only visible for a nanosecond.

[kpwillson]

Sean's book by the same title is, in my opinion, a major step forward for Atheism in the modern world. Atheism and Naturalism have always been challenged by the fact that our "theology" is in many ways trapped inside dense scientific literature. Sean explains our scientifically constructed picture of reality in an approachable way and synthesizes it with our 21st century morals. Poetic Naturalism is the future.