Scott Aaronson: The Greatest Unsolved Problem in Math

In this episode Curt Jaimungal talks with computer scientist Scott Aaronson about the frontiers of quantum computing, computational complexity, and the deep philosophical questions surrounding AI, consciousness, and free will. The conversation weaves through topics such as Turing universality, the no‑cloning theorem, superdeterminism, and the challenges of defining consciousness.- 00:00:00 - Introduction- 00:02:27 - Turing universality & computational efficiency- 00:12:35 - Prediction and free will- 00:15:16 - Newcomb's paradox- 00:23:05 - Quantum information & no‑cloning- 00:33:42 - Chaos & computational irreducibility- 00:38:33 - Brain duplication, AI & identity- 00:46:43 - Many‑worlds, Copenhagen & Bohm interpretation- 01:03:14 - Penrose on quantum gravity & consciousness- 01:14:46 - Superposition explained- 01:21:33 - Wolfram physics critique- 01:31:37 - P vs NP explained- 01:53:40 - Classical vs quantum computation- 02:03:25 - The "pretty hard" problem of consciousnessSPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal (early access to ad‑free audio episodes!)- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything- TOE Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerchRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/1ZpGCQoL2Rk- Scott's Blog: https://scottaaronson.blog/- Newcomb's Paradox (Scott's Blog Post): https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=30- A New Kind of Science (Stephen Wolfram): https://amzn.to/47BTiaf- Jonathan Gorard's Papers: https://arxiv.org/search/gr-qc?searchtype=author&query=Gorard,+J- Boson Sampling (Alex Arkhipov and Scott Aaronson): https://arxiv.org/abs/1011.3245- Podcast w/ Tim Maudlin on TOE (Solo): https://youtu.be/fU1bs5o3nss- Podcast w/ Tim Palmer on TOE: https://youtu.be/883R3JlZHXE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices