Schrödinger's Theatre - Sixty Symbols

[raghr]

Ah, Schrödinger's Theatre, you don't know if the students are dead or alive until you look inside.

[PATSICK]

@raghr  !!

[cornflake1559]

please check out my channel

[joninacann]

wait, if it is the non-periodic nature of DNA that makes it so effective as an information storage unit, wouldnt it be possible for the newly discovered quasi crystals to be used in much the same way? specifically the interesting trait is that they are both repeatable with variation inherent in the design

[ElectricFlame75]

If this guy was one of my teachers, then I would like school a whole lot more.

[ramchand45P6]

These videos are really great. If only i have an internet connection that is blazing fast, I could've downloaded all of these videos. Mr. Brady, do you have a downloadable compilation of all your videos?

What i do with this stuff is that i download them, convert them into mp3 format, put it on my phone, and listen to it before i go to sleep. I made them my playlist too. Professor Moriarty is a great physicist and explains everything concisely. I wish i can download all of this in torrent.

[0ElectricWizard]

@ramchand45P6 If you look on iTunes U they have a podcast channel which, I believe, will include all their videos which you can download in bulk.

[rgrannell1]

I was in that lecture theatre...I snuck in for an astrology lecture (I actually go to NUIG xD)

[Cerberus889]

He had lectured there before... and hadn't.

Also, his students probably failed their course... and didn't.

[ramchand45P6]

@Cerberus889

LOL. you're overusing the concept. haha.

[Dragnf1y]

This isn't relevant to the video, but what does the name Sixty Symbols refer to?

What are those sixty symbols?

Inspiring video by the way, I've decided to read Schrodinger's book.

[TheErinTaylor]

You guys should do a video with Ben Miller!!

[tradcat84]

Love this video! Also, Philip= stone cold fox. Just sayin'.

[managarm1349]

ah wie ich unseren schilling vermisse...

[tasilbhurn]

lol pause it at 0:00 hes putting his trollface on.

[ieatatoms]

As a biochemist, embarrassingly I was unaware that Schrödinger was involved in biology. Will have to hunt down a copy of What is Life. Fantastic video.

[cuntylishus]

I got accepted for Trinity to start an MPhil next month, but I can't afford to go anymore :(

[Direkin]

Wait, wait, wait... a politician who was interested in something that actually required thinking? No!

[langov3]

Don't worry Philip, I actually like the Irish accent. Not really a deal breaker for me.

[tubalooney]

not Schrodinger.... Schroedinger. The umlaut changes the sound of the *O"

Schroedinger, Schroedinger, Schroedinger...

for goodness sake Moriarty!!!

SCHROEDINGER!!!!!! Jeeeeeez

S C H R O E D I N G E R

SCHROE-OE-OE-OE-OE-OE-OE-OE-OE­-OE-dinger

as in Koenig, Loewe, Moewe why can't he pronounce his name properly???

I didn't hear any of the piece because every time he said his name it made me wince! SCHROEDINGER

[Moriarty2112]

@tubalooney I know. I know! Sorry to cause you such pain.

But listen to my accent. I have enough problems pronouncing English words correctly, let alone getting the hang of the umlaut! As I mention in another Sixty Symbols video, my five year old daughter (born and raised in Nottingham) continually corrects me on my pronunciation of "three". Those "th"s are tricky enough for me; the subtleties of the umlaut are beyond the pale!

It's not just Deutsch I mangle. :-)

All the best,

Philip

[tubalooney]

@Moriarty2112 Hi Philip! Actually after I'd wriiten that I listnened to your piece again and loved it!

Hmmmmmm the umlaut on the o, I was thinking about the vowel sound. It's just like the sound in "bird" or "turd" or "herd" so perhaps thinking about Schr"ur"dinger might help? I don't want to put put a turd in Schrödinger but it could work for you! Love all the work that you Brady and all the professors make at Nottingham. Fantastic.

All the best Phillip

[ashwinnarayanVlog]

@Moriarty2112 I actually like your accent. It's something I don't hear often but it's... nice to listen to you speak.

[Mp3Astra]

@tubalooney I'd say that was a slight overreaction.

[Razzfazz87]

Please make your audio more audible. It's horribly silent compared to everything else.

[TomatoBreadOrgasm]

As a biochemist I really can't give you physicists the ideas Schrodinger discussed in this lecture (if it were Gamov... Maybe). I'm not saying it wasn't influential, but he certainly wasn't the first to look at biology this way. I hate to bring up Pauling (I REALLY do, so many biochemists misplaced their brains near death), but he and his colleagues across the world beat Erwin by at least 5 years.

That aside, Schrodinger was a poet scientist, and physicist are lucky to have such a forebear.

[Moriarty2112]

@TomatoBreadOrgasm Hi. I agree entirely and this is why I was very careful to state in the video (twice!) that Schrodinger doesn't present any truly original ideas in "What is life?".

All the best,

Philip

[TomatoBreadOrgasm]

@Moriarty2112

That's true. Sorry, I think my defensiveness is showing...

[mrdabbleswithpotion]

i think i'm taking another nap to lucid dream. the most profound things in this univers and consciousness can all be answered by dreams .

[mrdabbleswithpotion]

watson's a racist.

[waterspindle]

You're Irish? ! I'm not watching you videos anymore! =P -_- totally kidding. Sorry, Philip Moriarty. Don't tell anyone, but you're my favorite among the other very wonderful narrators of the wonderful sixtysymbols... =)

[ReasonSharp]

@WhiteSerpentz It was and it wasn't dead.

[jamma246]

Cool, I'm studying aperiodic patterns at the moment!

[johnclavis]

As always -- thank you for a thought-provoking and entertaining video!

[1Cortexiphan]

I only watched this video to hear Prof. Moriarty's voice/accent. I can't help it.

[ipodvidoe]

Grabbing the book tomorrow, driving an hour each way to the only bookstore that carries it!

[PDB254]

Death is *NOT* an equilibrium state.

Take 3 options.

"Live", "Kill", or, "Let live & possibly be killed".

Shortened to:

L,K,LlbK

Here is the nash equilibrium.

L vs L = 3,3

K vs LlbeK = 2,0

LLbK vs LlbK = 1,1

The "Equilibrium" is "LlbK".

[Moriarty2112]

@PDB254 Equilibrium in the context of game theory is different from its meaning in thermodynamics. Life requires that we are held out of thermal equilibrium with our surroundings.

In Schroedinger's words: "After that the whole system fades away into a dead, inert lump of matter. A

permanent state is reached, in which no observable events occur. The physicist calls this

the state of thermodynamical equilibrium, or of ‘maximum entropy'."

Best wishes,

Philip (speaking in video)

[PDB254]

@Moriarty2112 Hi Philip.

I guess his use of the term "dead", confused me.

When a *person* is "dead". That does not mean they are in thermal equilibrium. Far from it.

The trillions of cells that made that person, are converted (decayed) by living bacteria.

As far as I am aware, thermal equilibrium of a living person, couldn't happen in our natural environment. You'd have to (seal) them away, and then wait, (Long after *death*) for equilibrium.

Hope that made sense. PDB ;-)

[Moriarty2112]

@PDB254 Hi there. Great point - you make perfect sense and I agree entirely. Indeed, if you get hold of a copy of "What is life?" (Google "What is life? Schrodinger .pdf" will bring up the link), you'll see that Schrodinger made a very similar point to that you've made. I guess that I should have said "dead and decayed" rather than just "dead". But, as you say, even that doesn't quite capture the essential thermodynamics.

All the best,

Philip

[mrdk216]

5:27 ....who say and why do u think death is the equilibrium state?...why maakes u say that?????

[pikuorguk]

The Closed Captions add a whole new dimension to this.

[TheJay9002]

busted a fat load of spunk to this video

[SimonForryan]

you. yes you. reading this comment... You're a wanker.

[hunterbender]

As a physics-minded chemical biology major..I am surprised none of my professor ever brought this up. Definitely on my reading list now

[540merlin]

@2:20 - that's not Schrodinger, that's Q!

[dylanlawless1]

Get down to UCC!

[pbezunartea]

Thanks for the video!

[captaineggman]

This is great, I've had almost all my physics lectures in this theatre. Thanks for making a video about it!

A Trinity Theoretical Physics Student

[imalwayswatchingu00]

Cool vid.

[odourpreventer]

Doesn't low information content mean high entropy?

[Moriarty2112]

@odourpreventer I can understand entirely why you might say this - you allude to a very important distinction. However, in the video I mean information content in the sense of the minimal amount of information required to represent a pattern. It's difficult to explain this in 500 characters (PM me if you want more information) but the Wikipedia page entitled "Entropy (Information Theory)" has a nice example. I'll cut-and-paste it into the next comment.

Philip

[Moriarty2112]

@odourpreventer "Treating the [Fibonacci] sequence as a message and each number as a symbol, there are almost as many symbols as there are characters, giving an entropy of approximately log2(n). So the first 128 symbols of the ... sequence has an entropy of approximately 7 bits/symbol. However, the sequence can be expressed using a formula [F(n) = F(n-1) + F(n-2) for n={3,4,5,...}, F(1)=1, F(2)=1] and this formula has a much lower entropy and applies to any length of the Fibonacci sequence."

[odourpreventer]

@Moriarty2112 OK, thank you for your answer. It seems like the word "entropy" can mean many things. In data mining (part of my field) it basically means information retrieval efficiency. Low entropy = high efficiency.

[jombo222]

Boring. Jim Al-Khalili already debunked Schroedinger's cat in one of his TV programs (on Youtube).

[Z6U6Z6U]

@jombo222 schroedinger's cat was meant to be debunked, that was the point.

[ZEDZOR2]

@Z6U6Z6U Yeh it turns own nothings decay is random,according to data just out this year Uranium's decay rate is seasonally predicated.

[AntiProtonBoy]

You all missing the point; the cat is definitely inside the box. The question is whether the cat is alive, or not! :P

[Jackey0105]

"First Taoiseach" "What?!" "Taoiseach..." "What's that...?" lol

[8DX]

Sigh. Having a PM interested in science? Envy, man, envy. Also thanks for the informative video. Reading various books one comes to the conclusion that often a book containst nothing new, but the way it which it is written can emphasize something we've known all along, but never realised.

[heyandy889]

Love it. One more book for the reading list!

[AntiProtonBoy]

They should erect of bronze statue of a box with a cat inside.

[eaturfeet653]

@AntiProtonBoy how would you know if they cat is even in there? it is simultaneously there and not OoOoOoOoO

[8DX]

@AntiProtonBoy Heh, lol. Or NOT. The production process should be such that two cat statues of equal weight (one dead, one alive) should be created and an automatic system should deposit them in a bronze box, which is then sealed without looking inside.

[laputahayom]

@AntiProtonBoy

or maybe not a cat.

[mccdotedu]

aperiodicity????? jk lol.

[mccdotedu]

Prof. Copeland is my favorite :)



[damianpaz]

While the guys where in there filming this video they were neither dead or alive.

[Zdawg2324]

KATZ!



[culwin]

@resinatedhuman Brady should have a channel AperiodicVideos

[gmtbrs]

Rigtho then, Taoiseach has to be sent across to the wordsoftheworld group pronto! What a ripper of a word!

[sixtysymbols]

@gmtbrs nice cross promotion!!!

[myhandsarebananas]

Question: Can there, or are there any more colours then the ones we already know. Just trying to think of a new colour is mind boggling

[changspaman]

@Crazyegg1234

it's just some YouTube counter glitch that happens every now and then... i THINK when there are suddenly too many views around the world the "views" gets messed up but "like/dislikes" don't

[Crazyegg1234]

Ummm....at the time that I'm writing this, the video information says that video only has 302 views, while at the same time it has 349 likes, and 1 dislike.......I'm pretty sure that doesn't quite add up....

[NilsMcCloud]

Schrödinger. After my course Quantum Mechanics I he's become one of my personal heroes.

[askninjasks]

What is life? Baby, don't hurt me.

[Suscida]

How can you dislike this video, i just don't understand, its incredible were being given this for free!

[AntiThe1stGuy]

This morning I found out that I was accepted into Trinity College to study Theoretical Physics, and will be starting the course in about a month. I was also in Trinity College earlier today to see the Book of Kells as a cousin is visiting from England. And now after just arriving home and turning to youtube a see a video about a lecturer of theoretical physics in Trinity College by a person visiting from England, with reference to the Book of Kells. Now thats a coincidence. Thanks for the video.

[nybotheveg]

@AntiThe1stGuy gratz on getting accepted :P

[pauldve]

Why is Dublin the biggest city in Ireland?

(Yes I said it.)

[SchumiUCD]

@pauldve Because no one wants to live in Cork.

[ASKaPHYSICIST]

If you're in that theater, nobody knows if you're dead or alive till they open the door.

[bimblinghill]

A scientifically literate politician.. just imagine.. *sigh*

[john37309]

Interesting video. I never knew Schrödinger spent so much time in Ireland.

Thanks for a great video Brady and Philip,

John.

[sixtysymbols]

@john37309 you're welcome! :)

[Ciweman]

Nice, I really hope to visit that place one day.

[supersamo95]

I think you and the team should make a top 10 book list chosen by you and all the scientists in your great videos! I'm 15 so I don't know many good science books!

[noodlescratcher]

I'm gonna go ahead and be the first to dislike this video, because as a student I hate having to deal with knowing about scientists that my lecturers fanboy and never shut up about them. I'm at uni to study science, and I couldn't care less about Schrödinger, because there's countless people in history that are 10 times smarter than him and are completely unknown to anyone.

[Eldeeff]

@noodlescratcher And that goes for every other field of expertise on Earth (And off). I'm sure you'll soon get over hearing about famous scientists and come to realise that they did do amazing things. What's good about that is that it was recognized and put to use.

[noodlescratcher]

@Eldeeff I got a question in my exam asking information on the scientist who coined the term homeostatis. And I don't look at someone who discovered something as amazing, because if they didn't, someone else would have.

[abraham2057]

@noodlescratcher You're just jealous no one is going to know who you were after your death.

[Suscida]

@noodlescratcher Ahh you were the disliker, I think considering Schrödinger did make a considerable impact on science and was a good figurehead means he's more than legitimate to be discussed. This series of videos is supposed to be accessible to all, if interest is sparked by this video in some people they're more than free to look up similar physicists.

[njimko23]

@noodlescratcher - it doesn't matter who is smarter, it is who accomplished more. Few people accomplished anything as great as Schrodinger. Even so, you need to understand who they are to understand what they missed. There are many stories of scientists unable to accept something because it contradicted their intuition. Schrodinder is so great because he got past that. Einstein had a hard time with quantum, yet his determination to understand it affects the field even today.

[noodlescratcher]

@njimko23 why does it matter who accomplished more? Someone had to eventually due to the rise in human population. I don't give a damn about this guy, all I care about is the science, because that's what interests me. And I don't need to understand who they are to understand what they missed, because I don't give a shit what they missed. Your argument is that I need to fanboy people because they accomplished alot. Yeah, I'm not gonna do that.

[Memyselfandme]

I really like the style of this video. One person, really knowledgeable and (most of all) passionate about a very specific subject.

[ThePeaceableKingdom]

I read Erwin Schrodinger's What is Life? because it was recommended by Philip Wylie (an important but now mostly forgotten American author) in "An Essay on Morals," which despite the title, is his philosophy of the sciences . It is, just as you described, and easy read, but a profound book...

[rageagainstthebath]

Come on, my personal favorite is prof. Bowley, but I think all of them are great, no exceptions.

[BuickDoc]

For the Americans in the audience: 'gob' = mouth. ie 'gob smacked= hit in the mouth. 'Gob stopper' (from Willie Wonka) = a candy that fills the mouth. 'Goblin' = a monster that puts you in his mouth (to eat you). I mention this because 'gob' is rarely used in American English.

[MrAluminox]

That's passion...what a pleasure to watch and understand.

[JPEEZY9519]

I dont like this guy!, his voice gets really annoying in like the first 30 seconds.

[KingsBlend1]

BRAVO!!



[JingleJoe]

Schrödinger's Theatre, where all the actors might be dead or alive but you won't know untill you watch the play!

[festerwi]

This guy gets so excited about what he does. That is great.

[ipodvidoe]

My favourite Sixty Symbols professor.

[DivergentMind]

@ipodvidoe I agree.

I would love it if they put his lectures on line so we could learn physics from him.

[BurtonRGA7]

im proud to be austrian! :D

and no, it's not because of schwarzenegger :P

[Gytax0]

@BurtonRGA7 Adolf?

[0MJF0]

@Gytax0

loled =P

[edtronic]

just bought the book

[Nashy119]

I like the way Irish universities judge applicants just based on qualifications.

[dubaipete]

I found this episode particularly riveting. Great insight to Schrodinger's genius. And done with passion!

[boldger13]

Go Guinness and Schrödinger!



[Octojoint]

@BuBBaGump014 nope he's dead for sure... we got a definite result on his day of death... if he would have gone into a box on 3. January 1961, one day before his death, wich was sealed and and would not be opened at anytime, then your argument would be valid. xD

[hammythehippy]

did you by any chance go to DCU??! I'm doing my B. Eng in DCU, great college :D

[Moriarty2112]

@hammythehippy I did indeed go to DCU. A great university. I did a BSc in Applied Physics - graduated in 1990 - and also did my PhD there (1990 - 1993). I visit DCU a couple of times every year to meet up with friends in the School of Physical Sciences (including my PhD supervisor) and always thoroughly enjoy going back to my "alma mater".

Best wishes,

Philip

[hammythehippy]

@Moriarty2112 Excellent stuff, always good to meet a fellow DCUer! I'm hopefully going into my final year this coming September, an exam I have tomorrow is what it hinges on! Also, looked through your favourites too, can i just say you have a fantastic taste in music! Opeth are one of my favourite bands of the past few years. Great video again by the way, you have such an obvious enthusiasm for the subjects, it's a delight to listen to you! Keep up the good work!

[Moriarty2112]

@hammythehippy The very best of luck with your exam. Let me know how you get on. Thanks for the kind words about my taste in music and the videos - much appreciated.

I await the new Opeth album with a great deal of excitement. I see that you're an Anathema and a Porcupine Tree fan - great bands. The standout musical highlight for me this year (and for very many years to come) was seeing Rush on the "Time Machine" tour doing "Moving Pictures" (my all-time favourite album) in its entirety!

[IcEye89]

Is that theatre still in use? I am baffled, that there is no writing on the desks and benches, those must be some fascinating lectures there if they keep the students from doodling.

[captaineggman]

@IcEye89 It is indeed still in use. Most physics lectures (roughly 80%+) are held there.

[BuBBaGump014]

Schrödinger is both dead and alive!

[andreirocks1992]

@BuBBaGump014 that's both sad and funny :D

[dd08880bb]

@BuBBaGump014 nah, he's pretty much dead xD

[cloudftw93]

@BuBBaGump014 He might be.

[bobby132231]

@BuBBaGump014 Someone checked: Now he's just dead.

[jgilb100]

@BuBBaGump014 but we observed him dead when he died

[letmedietomorrow]

@BuBBaGump014 When you put him in a COFFIN!!

[RSKueffner]

@BuBBaGump014

So you superpose...

[FHomeBrew]

@BuBBaGump014 He's also in a box, and we also don't know his current state until we look :p

[damianpaz]

Another paradox: What was first, the drawing at 3:26 or the professor drawing it 6:26? ^_^

[BrandonOrozco1995]

Great video as always. You are my favorite Sixty Symbols person.

[BrandonOrozco1995]

21

[LeWydadi]

justin bieber is more popular

[cptIdiot]

@LeWydadi Why the hell are you talking about Justin Bieber in here ?

[mynameisthepass]

@LeWydadi More people want to kill him than these guys, yes.

[SeanOBriain]

Amazing that someone from across the pond would say 'What's that' at the mention of the word Taoiseach. Come on lads, sort it out. You live 80 miles across a sea and don't know anything about Ireland. Tut tut. 

[Jornev]

@SeanOBriain Brady is from Australia though, if I'm not mistaken.

[SeanOBriain]

@Jornev Ah fair enough so. He's forgiven :)

[Moriarty2112]

@SeanOBriain Hi, Sean. I'm pretty certain that Brady knows what the word "Taoiseach" means! Not all Sixty Symbols viewers may have heard the term before so Brady asked me to clarify its meaning.

Thanks for watching.

Best wishes,

Philip

[SeanOBriain]

@Moriarty2112 Thanks for the clarification Philip :) 

[Neueregel]

I love Schrodinger's "What is life" and "Nature and the Greeks" Great books \m/

[Neueregel]

nice vid

[odaymustdie]

Ever wonder what happened to Schrödinger's pussy?

[DaithiDublin]

Aperiodicity. My word for the day. Thanks guys, great video!

[bbqsauceonmycock]

But where's his cat?

[DaithiDublin]

@bbqsauceonmycock It's in a drawer in the desk. ...or is it?

[sterfpaul]

@bbqsauceonmycock The cat is in the box... but is it alive or is it dead? .. both it's neighter

[Tossphate]

@sterfpaul best not to check...

[716saint]

I wonder what will happen to his cat if he had one. XD

[Thecoolbeans92]

Have you ever considered doing a video on asteroseismology?

[okmasko]

phrst!

[Sharkness77]

Typo in the description! :O

Otherwise great vid! :D

[mangoismycat]

ooh a new video!

[Sockheadableful]

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS......