What's the Big Idea? (Brian Greene), 2008

[durhamcharles1]

amazing!

[VoLCoMzYaDiGG]

Brian Greene

Carl Sagan

Neil Degrasse Tyson

Richard Feynman

Richard Dawkins

Michio Kaku

Albert Einstein

All these men, deceased and the living, are the ones who should have and should currently be the leaders of the human race. Not these moronic, ignorant, filth like obama and bush and blair and putin. These men are the ones who fail to grasp the reality of life. Remove minorities, we are all human. We must remove religion, one of the LARGEST segregating factors of our species and race.

[RCSiberia]

@VoLCoMzYaDiGG Steven Hawking :) you forgot to include him :)

[VoLCoMzYaDiGG]

@RCSiberia man i know, i had forgotten a few people like Oliver Sacks, Steven Hawkings, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Jill Bolte Taylor, Robert Winston and Brian Cox...

[ladyboylizard]

@VoLCoMzYaDiGG , you also forgot ed witten

[KamuzXDriver]

@VoLCoMzYaDiGG And recently, Brian Cox :)

[l3lip]

@Trent211000

You just love spewing tripe, don't you?

[09Ti08]

Can't stop calling his name in my heart! I

[nikanj]

Why is it that in western culture men seem to be so much more interested in physics than women? Among my friends the subject of physics often crops up at the dinner table at which point all of the women lose interest. I'd dismiss it as a statistical anomaly but I think it's much more widespread. These are intelligent women by the way and they're interested in biology and nature. What's so off-putting about physics?

[rssbsagartan]

gr8..........really brian green u r my idol

[DelbyC]

Brian strangely reminds me of Ken Jeong, anyone else pick up on the similarities ?

[rondby]

7:27 - 7:35 How bored are these guys?!

[remoraid7]

As physicists, we see our surroundings in terms of equations and laws.. These laws allows us to know how to avoid harm and danger in many ways.. In fact, Newtonian classical physics are all we truly need to avoid getting into harm's way, not even relativistic speeds are required for the equations.. Never underestimate a physicist's mind, we even know how to avoid death in an atomic bomb..

[remoraid7]

Wrong.. That's because understanding physics helps you get the whole picture.. Physics is probably the most fundamental of all sciences, of which you can gain a deep and comprehensive understanding of the workings of our universe.. By seeing ourselves as an infinitesimally small speck in an infinitely large universe, we restore a humble position to our own existence..

[wdd3]

so... it´s ok to steal from Sir Ken Robinson now ?

[drkwhy]

Ken Robinson and Brian Greene need to team up and revolutionize the education system. The way they talk about the elegance of learning and how the ideal school system should be gives me such a great satisfaction that there are others out there that realize that learning the concepts and embarking on a scientific journey is more important than letter grades. We need a change; a lot of great minds are getting steered away due to lack of interest.

[x1plus1x]

spectacular speech! Please never stop spreading the message.

[g0tcadaver]

"The wonders of the cosmos transcends everything that divides us."

[g0tcadaver]

Oh man. Great ending line.

[archdevilneverfails]

is brian greene a jew?

if yes then i don't recognize him as a scientist.

[Sockheadableful]

@archdevilneverfails Is your indispensable ignorance ever present in your mind? Its like asking a well functional ,high quality green cup over some rugged, broken, absolutely putrid blue cup just because that cup is green. Discrimination only bring irrationality to the argument of life.

[archdevilneverfails]

@Sockheadableful Its not ignorance its the truth,Jews are incapable of interpreting science,arts or anything beautiful and creative.

go read Shakespeare,Dostoyevsky,Nopole­on,Hitler,Christopher Columbus,Niche and many many more great European minds,all of them agree that jews are a filthy gypsy race that hates everything and tries to destroy and pollute the western civilization,as they're doing now by filling the west with filthy emigrants and trash from all over the world,so they feel at home.

[Sockheadableful]

@archdevilneverfails Yes, but not all are like that, can you tell me which person in power would not give in to corruption, blandness and absolute evil relative to our eyes, and as for the authors, shakespeare may be confused because during the victorian age, not many people are as sharp and analytical as people of today(same argument goes to columbus); as for Napoleon and hitler they are tyrants( though sharp in mind), even in mein kampf we (I)observe the writings in that particular

[Sockheadableful]

@archdevilneverfails is authored by an extremely angry man, and as for napoleon i have no right comment about him because i do not know what his writings are basically. but for dostoyevsky , i am ever appalled if he commented on such a thing, it is illogical and blind to judge a group of people solely by their religion. Jewish people had done so much for this world , but i would call them solely by their religion though, i would call them solely by their ethnicity; you do not call a jewish

[Sockheadableful]

@archdevilneverfails german without knowing his/her religion, jewish do you? You'd call him a german; if you really want to specify i would rather call them the hebrew people , but not jewish- plus theres christian hebrews. The people who are jewish have done a lot to the human race, people like Einstein, Marc chagal, Carl Sagan, Niels Bohr, Jonas Salk and the list goes on. Do not be blinded by the stereotype my friend, there is good in the world , you just got to find it in ways that you

[Sockheadableful]

@archdevilneverfails suspect it to be

[BlankVellum]

@archdevilneverfails Are you a moron? If yes then I'll proceed to pity you.

[Exirion1]

@archdevilneverfails What's your frustrations with jews. The facts that many famous scientists are jewish? Get a life dude...

[goldenageism]

he is a  pianist too

[dedanoe]

me against the rest of the world? no actually, it is not me it is you for unlike you i am one with the world and so you are all defeated.

[darkfunkychimp]

I'm going to see him in London next week!!! Very very excited!

[strech6ft3]

love this very inspiring I would rather have science as a foundation for life than religion, the difference being belief with questioning, as apposed to belief with out question, for it would take a childless mind to tell us where we are going wrong

[valhala56]

He is so right. I'm 54, 12 years od school learned 0 about Science. I started learning about Science on my own after school just reading Issac Asimov and other Sciene writers of the 70's. Then picked up some good intriguing Science courses in college, Nova, then of course the Internet it really blew off the charts.

My main point is in Public school they DO A PISS POOR JOB OF TEACHING SCIENCE.

Your better off just supervising your kid on the internet if you want them to explore Science.

[macmarty2025]

Really fabulous!!!!!

[trollinnole]

i had the exact same discussion with my roommate the other night on how ridiculous it is that one must complete a liberal studies requirement in which one takes history, philosophy, music, arts, etc. type classes, yet there is no requirement for science or math classes. its an absolute shame that so many teachers let their students do so poorly in math with the excuse that it isnt for everyone. more power to you Mr. Greene, and i must say, your books are incredible.

[Bwazenn]

that was absolutely exhilirating.

[nevertheless123]

Here is the next big idea...

Throw in some buzzwords about extra dimensions and curved space, and people get interested and you are famous . But with absolutely no chance of finding proof or evidence for string theory in a million years, there is no way you can be disproved!! Brilliant new idea!!!

[darkfunkychimp]

@nevertheless123 A little bit harsh? Does he really strike you as the sort of person who's interested in lifting buzzwords from science to get rich quick? He doesn't me. String theory has its problems, like any cutting edge idea that has ever ben produced. A lot of people would strongly agree with you that it is untestable, and a lot of people would strongly disagree with you. But there's no reason to think that any of them are dishonest. They're prepared to take a risk, which is great.

[nevertheless123]

@darkfunkychimp its not about rich, but fame. academics love that at any cost.

[Charmander3535]

His over exaggerative gesticulations give me a good chuckle whilst listening to his interesting speech.

[G0BSRMFE]

This guy is my fucking hero I wish to go to Columbia U. And study physics

[PopGoesExistence]

I love Greene!! I even have a t-shirt with his face on it lol!!

[ormaguda1]

Brian Greene isn't just a scientist but someone who is able to translate science and make it intersting. His speech has a remarkable human value. His book "The Elegant Universe" is a sort of "door" into key concepts on modern physics available to anybody. I'm thankful for it.

[57earthchild]

With a teacher with this kind of enthusiasm, I might have learned science in school. And learned to *like* science. Now that I'm older, I realize what I've missed and am trying to catch up.

[57earthchild]

With a teacher with this kind of enthusiasm, I might have learned science in school. And learned to *like* science. Now that I'm older, I realize what I've missed and am trying to catch up.

[shivarajan]

awesome!

[spotnuk]

thank you Mr. Greene

[fdota]

wow he's so eloquent...... i'm jealous

[SlashRose]

Great speech. Brian Greene is certainly one of the best popularizers of science today, on par with Sagan and Hawking, imo.

[QuantumTheorist]

Nice speech, but somebody give the man a drink of water!

[TimeWarp66]

He needs to stop moving his arms so much. It's painfully clear he's nervous.

Other than that, great speech Brian!

[fdota]

@TimeWarp66 does it matter?

"a life without science can be fulfilling, to be sure, but it is bereft of something that gives experience a rich and otherwise inaccessible element of dimension." just wow...

[jimo1150]

Science is awesome... it is the awesomessst

[Oshyoga]

Wow! Man! it was nice!

[davmccorm]

A brilliant communicator od science. I am a scientist and have read all Brian's books, he has a great talent.

[alvaug2]

What a speaker!

[WastedTourist]

Little kids start out as natural scientists true, but then they begin school and the creative and curious impulses are drilled out of them. Shame.

[tupilia13]

that was awesome

[HabloIrlandes]

Very few physicists are natural communicators, Brian Greene's has a gift for explaining complex ideas simple.

If you havent already, read "Fabric of the Cosmos", brilliant.

[Hornet85]

He's spot-on on everything he mentioned there. I was never interested in physics and mathematics until I left school where I begin to pursue my interest in astronomy by watching documentary and reading stuff, including The Elegant Universe which was hosted by Mr Greene himself. It made me realize how interesting physic is and how important mathematics were to solve these interesting idea. IMO, in school we only blindly learn stuff to pass our exams without seeing the big picture.

[Kitsua]

Wow. I've always liked Brian Greene, but I've never seen him so passionate and inspiring. Fantastic speech, I'm sold.

[Meninx87]

The wonders of the universe transcend the differences that divide us....

[ivkiify]

i love this man!!!!! <3

& love physics ^^

[jeancolmor]

If you can control you'r dream you can shape life., In the dark light have space to existe in all form and explor new orison .in the living with observation you can anticipate others action by influensing the invisible feelds of emotion in the same branch you can make a delibarate action that will armonised time and space .

[phiphers]

666

6

666

636

666

[dooberry20]

wow that was one of the most intense and articulate speeches of science i have ever seen...

[frankystein12]

People can have a low regard for science, that's fine, but just don't expect any more future technological inventions to make your ungrateful ass even fatter in the future if all the other parts of the populace think in the same lines as you.

[23GrandMasterK]

Greene is such a brilliant man.

[IvanMesniaa]

Brian Greene has to be one of my favorite scientists, I sent him an email telling him how much he's inspired me and he got me to give him my address and he sent me all his books.

[TitBizou]

@IvanMesniaa Can you give me his email adess, please ?

[mclssr]

awesome!i wana study under him!any one plz help me out!!

[taurianfontenettefan]

Wow thats one of the best speaches I've ever heard.

[vijishellboy]

I can't believe some people can dislike this talk :O

[lola31111]

i absolutely love this guy!

[internetfreak1337]

Who are the physicist he compares to the artist? (from 4:30 to 4:40 )

I'm German and his pronunciation seems a bit strange to me :-)

[lerathalas]

Schrödinger, benzer, gauss riemann

[zzscotty]

Very inspiring speaker.

[aZYLuM12891]

5 teachers have taught me physics for 5 years in school....

but watching this guy's 1 hour documentary "NOVA" made me fall with science...this is the way we should be taught

[bulgariaisnomberone]

I love this guy!

[likejune]

Is there someone who can tell me what the speaker says at 3:04~ 3:07?

Please~~

[bulgariaisnomberone]

@likejune

-How are you drawing the face of god when nobody knows how he looks like?

- In a minute they will know.

[ChalleFoV3]

Needs more views!

[ChalleFoV3]

thanks for the tip!

[Gec1227]

Brian Greene is truly one of the most articulate speakers I have ever heard. What makes his words even more meaningful is the passion and sincerity that he delivers them with. His brilliance as a physicist and educator is only matched by his skill as an orator. Thank you for posting this video.

[dannous]

Tnx alots. I prefer reading in english rather than google-messy-translated italian! For a while i thought was "the minim they will"!!!! (check wikipedia "Minim_(religious_order)" ) :D :D

[dannous]

I love Brian Greene!

Sorry, i'm not American. I don't get much good the story about the girl and face of god. Somebody could translate? Tnx

[CPLains]

The girl said "I'm drawing the face of God", the teacher says "How do you do that when no one knows what God looks like?", then the girl says "In a minute [soon] they will!"

Use google translate if you do not understand ;)

[melese1988]

@dannous It's was a real story but as a joke.

[yadave86]

i am in love with this man...wow...

[nevertheless123]

Oh man. mrq is in this thread too !!!!!

He is everywhere with his EXISTENTIAL QUANTUM.

Folks, let me introduce mrqsilviera. He is a seriously deranged dude who thinks he has a theory of everything, including humans. Watch out he can ramble forever with absolutely no meaning whatsoever.

Just let him be and he might fade away one day.

[TW0T0M]

Yeah Brian Greene is great.

I wonder if you pronounce the e at the end of his name? hehe

[mrqsilveira]

The fundamental principle giving structure and direction to the theory - counteracting Murray Gell-Mann beliefs - is the STRONG PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCE. Paraphrasing Brian Greene, it is easier to think in terms of ACTION than in terms of EXISTENCE.

[mrqsilveira]

Thinking in terms of ACTION:

EACH GENE LOCUS BELONGS INTO A GEODESIC-LIKE STRUCTURE DISTRIBUTED ALONG A HYPERLINKED HYERARCHY OF DISCONTINUITIES IMMERSED IN A QUANTUM GRAVITY FIELD.

[mrqsilveira]

A TOE is likely to possess a weird quality: it should be able to map a hyperlinked hierarchy of discontinuities or singularities, this constitutes the symmetry break given by the evolution of species and the role of DNA in this scenario.

[mrqsilveira]

Let us state the abstract problem:

1. QF is not deriable of any other Model.

2. QF does not explain Gravity.

Synthesis:

1. Either a theory derivable from QF will explain Gravity.

2. Or a theory not derivable from QF will explain Gravity.

A theory not derivable from QF will INTERFACE QF & GRAVITY and explain EVERYTHING.

[AdamGuy17]

Brian Greene is awesome. I love his books, and he speaks with such passion that it renews my own passion for science.

[SaganAppreciationSoc]

Favorite bits:

1:09

4:40

4:58

7:28

7:38

8:04

[ankeraustinmax]

This was awesome!

6:49

[pishdad]

It's all because of our capitalist cookie-cutter approach to human intellectual achievement!! Ever notice that the most creative people end up in the arts- Mozart, Schubert, Back Van Gogh, DaVince, Michelangelo, etc. Science misses a huge bulk of these people today because science is simply created in a corporate oven- limits creative people from engaging in it!!!!

[pishdad]

Human brains are exactly like human bodies- some people are jumpers, some sprinters, some are weight-lifters, some boxers,etc. Our current academic system only accounts for one type of brain capacity- who can get the best test score in the shortest possible time! Period. It's as if jumpers, swimmers, boxers, marathon runners don't even exist!! Thus we are missing the brain power in society that could solve problems that brain 'sprinters' can never solve!!

[pishdad]

The people who advance in science today are simply the ones who can add and multiply the fastest- they get better test grades because tests are strictly based on time & calculations- they have very little creativity, tend to be very very boring, stiff and make science a very dreary subject. That is the problem with science today- it's all corporate!! If science was altheletics all we'd have to watch is the 100 meter sprint!!! So f*&^k the entire science industry and all the garbage with it!!!

[pishdad]

Everything he said is fine & dandy but we're still left with our educational system at hand. What makes science 'nasty' 'boring,' as he said, is not the field itself but the very people in the field. Our system of education is set up for corporate capitalist regurgitation. Unfortunately this discourages many, many colorful flavors of people/artist who would have greatly contributed to science!!! Very unfortunate!!When man finally does all the math just see how destructive capitalism really was!!

[FemmeBleu]

His book "The Elegant Universe" changed my perception of the universe and my life.

[DavidPierce189]

ISP!

[nhh90]

ISP

[superphotonic]

Awesome guy! I'm in love with that speech :P

[GuerrillaForce]

"string theory evangelist"? Boo to that term.

[renormalize99]

6:55

[Vikash137]

the speed of dark!!!! lmao, that was clever

[algohrythm]

He's not drunk or on meth, he's just trying to manifest the enthusiasm and the spirit that hes talking about.

[bosonhunter]

I would like to thank Mr. Greene for this eternally inspiring speech. This world truly needs more people like him.

He makes my teachers look like a bunch of idiots

[chebhamza32]

@bosonhunter agree especially with the teachers look like idiots part

[1dopesikgringo]

haha hell yah! ya boy was hyped up! legitimate points as well...

[thejordan01]

He would be an awesome teacher, just on his enthusiasim alone

[pepper1450]

I know! I would love to be able to take one of his classes.

[bokixxx]

@thejordan01 He does teach, at Columbia.

[winemm]

lol b4 i saw "your books are wrongs" post i was thinkin the same thing. I was goin to myself : he must be on drugs, and then i went to the posts te see if any one supported this claim, and there ya go sum 1 diod, by the way i also noticed the wierd way his voice was a well, or a lisp you may have it before reading that guys post too(wierdddddddd?), maybe its supernatural, maybe its QUANTUM MECHANICS, MUHAAHAHAHHAAH

[tiberux]

Thank you for posting this ...

[YourBooksAreWrong]

nope.. on closer inspection and some input from my drug addict roomate.... he's clearly on Meth in this clip.

[YourBooksAreWrong]

is he drunk ? he's not talking or behaving like i've ever seen him talk before lol.

[yamaha893]

evangelical is putting it mildly.

[igoronline]

Brian rocks, but I didn't know he had that funky lisp.

[TangoDigital]

Man I wish I woulda had teachers like Brian Greene. Then I prolly wouldn't fail so hards at maths & physics.

Only now as I'm grown I understand what science is all about. And I kinda blame my teachers for not showing me at least part of that in school. They always made it so goddamn boring I didn't care about it at all.

[forgotmypassword3]

It's okay. Math is easy to fake. You can prove crazy things, but they mean nothing until there's substance. Unless you speak it, it looks like gibberish. It's cool though. They need people to teach it. This is a very good map.

[forgotmypassword3]

You don't want to create a new Eden.

Elites do control the flow of science. That's why there are homeless and unhappy people to make them shut up. This guy seems like a decent person though.

I look at the people behind Einstein and know so many things...

[poapete]

That was the greatest, most powerful and inspirational speech on science I have ever heard. Thank you very much for posting this.

[USAneedsaChange]

he's a good man, very funny also

[lianrilianri]

The MAIN thing we need to do is hold a higher standard for high school teachers

[secobi]

The largest problem is not the intellect of people but the perspective. An empirical system, any institution no matter if its science, political, business or religious must continually walk a tight rope to remain free of mistaking knowledge with prejudices in order for any said system to grow into prosperity. Although personal perspectives can be a inhibiting factor a greater challenge is beyond that lying in older deeper rooted systems of prejudice external to the individual; a lingering pride_

[secobi]

maybe he was just drunk but he was loaded with high energy there. What he is hinting at with enchanting people with the drama of science and renewed (or just plain new) perspectives is a science unto itself. Its not psychology or sociology, it is something else which has a motive; however this motive is separated from the necessary researchers (those competent of this nameless field) and relevant data. The motive remains uncontainable to confound the situation even more. Just mere hints poke thr

[mrjmaxwell]

If you mute this and draw a beard on him and green fatigues it looks like Fidel Castro giving a speech in the 70's

[lianrilianri]

LOL

[Q8hypermania]

Brian greene is very similar to carl sagan! ..both are famous of their ideas and imaginations. ..unlike Enstien or max planck!

we need true believers in physics.

[dnp97001]

WTF are you talking about! Einstein had no imagination!? It took an Einstein to revolutionize our perception of time and space. You ask any physicist (including Greene) and they'll tell you that Einstein is probably the best and most imaginative physicist EVER. Carl Sagan (no offense) doesn't hold a candle to Einstein. Sagan is an astronomer not a physicist. To claim that Greene or Sagan is more imaginative is utter nonsense. Half of modern physics is due to Einstein!The other half is Planck

[Q8hypermania]

read my comment again! I said : Unlike Einstein or Max planck! don't replay without understanding!

I called them true believers of physics..

[forgotmypassword3]

No, that goes to Euclid, and he did all the work too.

[southernlakesounds]

Brian Greene really means what he says, i emailed him with a question about strings and he emailed me back !!

[ZZTGH]

Wow! this guy could sell ice to an Eskimo

[americaninjustice]

Anyone who does not know basic science is simply illiterate.

[americaninjustice]

So very true. People know pop stars, they know little about the greatest achievements of mankind's rational thought.

[buddhika216]

Brian Greene is one of the best professors

[loveyoutodeathbut]

I think more people just need some encouragement from their fellow man.

[HowBoutUhpssh]

2,314 views? More people need to see this video!

[pmfcal]

Well spoken, Brian!

[Razicator]

Anybody else in ISP?!

[Bodoke124]

He is THE MAN.

[nick317ryan]

Brian Greene is the man! So inspirational and motivational!

[marclab1]

what happened to his tooth?

[sumfamousperson17]

Brian Greene, can I have your babies? :D

[yupiie]

=)

hey maybe I´d like to know you better!

[sumfamousperson17]

Are you Brian Greene?

[Sweetdreamsprelude]

Wish we had more passionate people like Brian Greene , teaching kids .

[pepper1450]

I know, if teachers were more like this man, our education system would not be failing the way it is.

[Sweetdreamsprelude]

I know ... I hated Science in school but at home I messed around and did what I wanted. By 9Th grade I had a college level education in Science .... I never took it anywhere since I went straight to work after school.... My back! LOL

[pepper1450]

The thing that I love about Brian Greene is that he is just so passionate in what he does, and he wants so badly to spread the word of the wonders of science.

[Sweetdreamsprelude]

Oh I know ! School sucked .... All you hear is like two seconds about blah blah oh here is a ton of homework go figure it out bye ......That's how I remember it

[sumfamousperson17]

Gotta agree with you guys; I hated science in school, but once I found popular science books, it's like, "Hey, it's not so boring after all!" ;)

[pepper1450]

That's why we need to reform our education in such a way that students develop a passion for science as well as every other subject. Too many times we're so concerned about the "Almighty Test Scores" that we forget why we're teaching school to begin with.

[yupiie]

Brian Greene is a very good person indeed.

[aadoza]

Well, just any teacher that's not doing the job for money, or burnt out, and who wants to have fun with science and wants to mold the young minds for science.

[playingyoursong]

I love him

[pepper1450]

WOW! Brian Greene at his best! I've always been a huge fan of Brian Greene, but I've never heard him give such an awe inspiring speech like that. I fully agree with everything he's saying.

[alexandroba1987]

I love Brian Greene

[MisterVoltaire]

Excellent speech by Brian Greene.

[MoreisHe]

Rich, and true.