Are You a Boltzmann Brain?

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Was an incredible drop in entropy responsible for the Big Bang? If that’s the case, this would lead us to conclude that a great many other things are possible, including the likelihood that you are a Boltzmann Brain. Try The Great Courses Plus at ow.ly/4anY30acloO
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Previous Episode:
The Oh My God Particle
• The Oh My God Particle
The second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that everything moves towards a state of greater entropy, but it is low entropy that enables galaxies, stars, planets and human beings. The lowest entropy state that we’re aware of in our universe was right before the Big Bang. The entirety of our own universe was condensed to a microscopic size. What caused this extreme low entropy? If it was caused by a random fluctuation in particles that implies that a great many other things are possible due to the random fluctuations of particles. One of the strangest of those possibilities is that of the Boltzmann Brain. If the Big Bang was caused by random entropic fluctuations then it is much more likely you are a Boltzmann Brain than that you are a human being.
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[@RichMitch]

U: Are u a boltzmann brain? Me: I've been called worse

[@seriousbusiness2459]

Think I'm gonna need to put bolts in my brain if I watch this video any further.

[@matthewevans3718]

Haha that’s good

[@niro56]

@@RichMitch fuck you pseudo intellectual rubber duckie bitch

[@tyranttitanium5721]

@@niro56 Is there context?

[@rsmania01]

@@tyranttitanium5721 nope

[@burnttoast6974]

Human: “Are you a Boltzmann brain?” Boltzmann brain: “Are you?” Human?: “.......”

[@ezekiel7061]

*cue VSauce Music*

[@jtorelli7341]

@@ezekiel7061 underrated comment.

[@jamieg2427]

Your smart quotes are on.

[@PistonDriven]

Yeah It's impossible to know what can't know

[@chaytonhurlow840]

God is like a Boltzmann brain, his son is Jesus.

[@bend7746]

The best part about an entropy-based big bang is that given infinite time, there's no reason it shouldn't happen again eventually. It makes the heat death of the universe less morbid, seeing it as a part of a cycle instead of the end of everything

[@worldprops333]

heat death is less likely than a billion boltzmann brains forming.

[@misterx6276]

Cold death is infinitely more likely.

[@annihilist1983]

K-pax

[@FrensKafka]

I think that's why it's so easy to believe and why we need to be cautious when believing it. It just feels good in addition to not being falsifiable

[@Geogustus]

Isn't that more terrifying? Stuck in a perpetual loop of destruction?

[@Moonz97]

I liked this video, statistically speaking.

[@shaunsurname8275]

I like the Chinese, statistically speaking

[@chiyokoChan69]

Aesthetically speaking

[@Soloohara]

Moonz97 lol

[@rsmania01]

@@chiyokoChan69 ah-

[@LuisSierra42]

I'm just a random arrangement of particles with the simulated memory that i wrote this comment

[@Exurb1a]

Amazing as always, you bloody Browncoats.

[@anjulichaudhary1325]

exurb1a I understand all your videos about dealing with anxiety but one of the worst kind of anxiety is caused by existential crisis like these aaaah am I a boltzman brain?should I even cater to this thought?Help me

[@SidV101]

anjuli chaudhary the video you just watched says you're not

[@SidV101]

Also ILY exurb1a

[@JOAOPENICHE]

hi there

[@khalede7530]

exurb1a checked out your SoundCloud... the rocket song almost made me inhale my food. lmao

[@EmeraldView]

I love how with infinity anything that can happen will happen.

[@kyjo72682]

It's worse than that. ;) This isn't limited to "happening". Everything that can exist exists. Every conceivable mathematical object. Our 4-D space-time continuum being just one of them.

[@Aurinkohirvi]

I will be back! Somewhere, some time.

[@flyingpenandpaper6119]

Not quite. Consider Liouville's constant. It is irrational and transcendental, its decimal expansion is infinite and non-repeating but it never contains any digits other than a 0 or a 1. You will never find a 2 in Liouville's constant, no matter how far you search.

[@dylanhume1093]

I don’t think this is necessarily true if the possibilities of things that can happen is nonfinite

[@dylanhume1093]

@@flyingpenandpaper6119 i would argue this does not invalidate the statement. A 2 appearing in Louisville constant would appear under the list of things that can’t happen.

[@L7Mcmacdaddy]

I don't care if I'm a Boltzmann brain so long as my memory continues to stimulate my mind with "other" people to live alongside. MY BOLTZMANN BRAIN IS SUPPORTED BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU, THANK YOU.

[@bluelobster8963]

Wrong, you are support8ng my boltzmann brain.

[@7thquark309]

What's the probability that a portion of my hard disk bits rearrange themselves into a complete Half Life 3 program ? At this point I'm feeling that I would have to wait less time than waiting for Valve to produce it...

[@sawc.ma.bals.]

Lmfao

[@COVID-19_Crab]

Mood

[@Boristheborat]

Amen

[@Squidbush8563]

I've always assumed Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was supposed to be a Boltzmann Brain. I mean, they even show him literally as a brain that popped into existence.

[@overestimatedforesight]

That's exactly what I thought when I watched it!

[@avenuex3731]

I just thought he reminds me of half the guys who live in Newport Beach.

[@HassanAhmed-rf9xr]

oh yeh I always thought villains with brains were boltmann brains

[@gachabloxgirl3958]

I always thought gods in mythical stories, like Chaos the first primordial god in Greek mythology, were Boltzmann Brains. All of a sudden, "nothing" had a conscious

[@zolo49noname45]

The other possibility I've heard a lot is that Ego was the brain originally inside the severed Celestial head that eventually became Knowhere and that he didn't so much pop into existence as lose his memory of who he was before his traumatic injury.

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

Did you just call me a Boltzmann Brain? You're a Boltzmann Brain.

[@quantashonjamaldigglerbury4934]

thx man

[@puddingninja]

This guy so smart when he farts at one point in time a boltzmann brain is generated just briefly.

[@imakevideos5377]

well, if the multiverse exists and it is infinite, he exists in one where that will happen.

[@fistpunder]

Brain Fart

[@rupertgarcia]

Best comment! Hahaha

[@paulsaints1597]

The Kinetic Theory of Gases

[@blackthorne-rose]

...but is immediately annihilated by an anti-boltzman brain...

[@xeraph02]

Cool. There's a possibility that my brain hallucinated all of this universe and all the people in this universe. That would explain the stupidity of it all! lol

[@MnemonicHeadTrip]

Lmao. That reminds me of last Thursdayism.

[@mythiccyno5382]

And that probability has just been crossed off, why? I decided to reply to you, and even though you may think that this comment may still be considered a fraction of your imagination, behind this comment is a very real person

[@MnemonicHeadTrip]

mythiccyno You can’t really prove that. Through the lenses of my reality I could say that both of you are figments of my mind lmao. But that’s absurd. Can you prove that the universe along with all of your memories weren’t created 5 seconds ago?

[@mythiccyno5382]

@@MnemonicHeadTrip it doesnt really matter at the end of the day, does it? since it doesnt affect anything after all, so while no, i cannot prove it, i dont really need to

[@MrFram]

What if you’re a hallucinated subconscious consciousness inside someone else’s hallucination? Praise our lord Haruhi I say

[@TheADHDNerd]

It's as if millions of Firefly nerds cried out in joy then suddenly burst into tears...

[@AtlasReburdened]

I died a little.

[@maxwyght1840]

Sir James This Boltzman brain did cone into existence remembering said statement and remembered a single tear rolling down its imagined cheek prior to remembering posting this comment.

[@Flatunello]

Two gin-scented tears...

[@cholten99]

Firefly is _15_ freaking years old, only ever had 14 episodes, and people are still making references to it that they expect a lot of people to get (and they do). I played yet another new board game based on it this weekend. Screw Fox - they took a show that could have made them a fortune and ran it into the ground for lack of understanding. But we're still flyin'.

[@gv327]

Firefly wasn't as popular when it was on TV. It gained popularity after it was dropped. Quite like a lot of cult classics.

[@aelolul]

It's astronomically unlikely that I am typing this comment, so I'd say it's safe to assume that I haven't.

[@unanimated7084]

aelolul it’s even less likely(theoretically)for me to reply to your impossible comment

[@ismailabdelirada9531]

I would like to like this comment, but then it would no longer have *forty-two* likes.

[@illuminticonfirmed6248]

i think this comment has 50 likes but i'm gonna safely assume that it doesn't

[@ismailabdelirada9531]

@@illuminticonfirmed6248: Indeed, probabilistically speaking, there are far fewer ways to be x than ~x.

[@medexamtoolsdotcom]

But you did. So there, you have left verifiable evidence to others that you are not a boltzman brain.

[@rob_i208]

Reminds me of the time I got really really high and thought the only thing that existed was my apartment; everything outside was just something I had imagined.

[@abadgurl2010]

Ironically enough, how can you prove it isn't? :P

[@CKohls]

I actually considered the possibility of this when I was a child, and it terrified me, because if everything suddenly came into existence with all human memories, etc. then it is possible that everything could suddenly go out of existence in the same way... so I stopped thinking about it. But it still sometimes occurs to me. And each time it does, I am disturbed and try not to think about it... until the next time. It's a haunting idea. Literally. It haunts me.

[@darkpotato6577]

I thought I was the only one who had these types of existential crises as a kid

[@CKohls]

@@darkpotato6577 Judging by the number of replies to my comment, I guess it's just the two of us.

[@hhgj9033]

Nah me too

[@Crossfirev]

you three are part of a larger population of people that have experienced this, as I am also had this occur within myself :)

[@DiegoSita]

Same here. It's actually happening right now lol

[@billmalcolm4291]

Thank god I didn't manifest as a bowl of petunias again

[@MMXX_CE]

I've been looking for just one person who thought the same thing.

[@jackemled]

I feel the same, I always manifest as a tardigrade in a universe filled with constantly looping vapirwave music.

[@LuisAldamiz]

It does not matter how you manifest: if you are truly that bowl of petunias, a petty human named Arthur Dent will kill you accidentally.

[@maximkusanagi1147]

Bill Malcolm ... *Again*???

[@captainteeko4579]

Or a whale... HELLO GROUND

[@jonathancapps1103]

As interesting as this series is, I'm most fascinated with seeing the growth and subtle evolution of your beard, and the additional air of authority it grants you.

[@htoodoh5770]

timwins31 If you look like that, then I could understand why he kick you.

[@brandonwei2430]

The Boltzmann Beard?

[@ptte7010]

+timwins31 trust me, its your face not the beard

[@SamTheEnglishTeacher]

@timwins31 if you need a beard to feign authority, you deserve neither

[@mjburger7881]

@@SamTheEnglishTeacher nice. Pile on the beardless nerd !!

[@andrewperrin6135]

I was once walking around on acid and kept "waking up into reality." I kept thinking what kind of existence might I have been in a second or two ago. I'm pretty sure this Boltzmann guy must have had a similar experience.

[@daniyil4843]

Really late response. I did acid for the first time some weeks ago and remember that my consciousness just ceased to exist for some time, and I appeared in the bathroom. It was one of the most unexplainable things that's ever happened to me. Is this similar to what you're talking about?

[@user-fs8hk7qs9d]

@@daniyil4843 One... Chill out with the acid. Just stick with weed. Two, this guy probably didn't even remember he wrote this comment. Try to remember a comment you wrote over two years ago. Super unlikely. It's unlikely if this guys account is even active still.

[@colecool3946]

Nunchucks All drugs can be good or bad in specific scenarios, I was heavily addicted to weed my first semester of college failed most of my classes and had some pretty severe mental health issues. First time I tried acid it woke me up and made me realize how I was ruining my life, I stopped smoking for sometime and got my life back on track. Acid saved my life, don’t listen to the stigmas that it’s always “scary” or “dangerous” it can be very beautiful and very therapeutic.

[@daniyil4843]

@@colecool3946 Yea I'm sure it can and it was for me but for some reason everybody seems to think that smoking weed is totally fine and normal. I don't see how. Too many people are becoming like what you described, severe potheads. I know kids who can't sleep without weed

[@adanbrito1325]

That's how I felt with edibles

[@jasonakers6538]

Wow, my Boltzmann Brain is really going the extra mile to wake me up to the *true* reality.

[@Maddin1313]

Spenny: Why do you always have to break my stuff? Kenny: ... Entropy.

[@mjburger7881]

I prefer Kenny vs Benny myself.

[@krovek]

“Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.” -Douglas Adam, Hitchhikers Guide this just seems fitting

[@danzigvssartre]

I randomly configured my atoms into a state of low entropy in order to get to work today.

[@Anon2150]

I love how, in order to have an honest and thorough conversation about our brain's consciousness, we must also draw from our understanding of the nature and origin of the universe.

[@aspektx]

Also, thank you for providing an intermediate level science to the masses program. Don't dumb it down! My brain hurts in all the right ways when you folks are presenting difficult material at a slightly more advanced level.

[@vurve3406]

in theory I could turn into Bill Gates in the next second. Edit: I did!

[@bruno.henrique]

give me money pls?

[@Xanixade]

But the theory also says something about the probable energy that you can actually be. Because such energy you lack, you cannot be Bill Gates. But at infinite you are.

[@shaunsurname8275]

@@Xanixade so technically my fart can be infinitely stinking?

[@Screwyourpolitics]

You're not fooling anyone. You've clearly turned into Alan Tudyk.

[@0xcc32sys_err4]

what were you doing with Epstein ?????

[@EulogizeMe43]

Ive always had a difficult time comprehending the idea of entropy, but Matthew explains it perfectly here. Thank you!

[@goikofinanzas]

firefly. ouch right in the feels.

[@gideonjones5712]

watching this and studying for econ at the same time. regardless of what my brain is, i think im breaking it.

[@shayson1357]

studying is for idiots.

[@gideonjones5712]

shayson1357 studying is for those of us smart enough to know we're idiots.

[@Dedgyblazer]

Gideon Jones ningen

[@cmiller1515]

Gideon Jones Wise words.. lol

[@TheNeilDarby]

Speaking of econ, I just watched this movie on the 08 crisis and how corrupt academic economics is.. you should totally watch it too.. vebup.com/inside-job Oh and look up "junk economics" by Micheal Hudson and "Debunking Economics" by Steve Keen.

[@meacadwell]

My son and I had a discussion similar to this a few weeks ago. We were pondering how our brains are connected to everything else on the quantum level, which, to tell the truth, sounds rather 'Matrix-y". I kept calling it the 'Akashic" field for lack of a better term. I find it fascinating.

[@Desponiaa]

You mean The Akashic records Mysteries of the universe type stuff?

[@meacadwell]

@@Desponiaa I was only calling it that because I didn't know an accurate term to really call it.

[@JordanHeitman]

This is definitely among my top 5 favorites from Space Time! A lot of info that is often missed in daily conversations is neatly packed here. If pointing to videos on KZbin effectively coerced my opponents, it'd be this one.

[@catassistant8104]

AMONG US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@eliassimon666]

That last half-line at 10:20 would make a great pre-drop dubstep sample.

[@Nealpe]

"...But if that arrangement did happen, it would give us the big bang" I wept.

[@viktormedina4631]

Space Time has to be one of the best shows on KZbin. Please keep up the awesome work!

[@lunargeographer]

Before I knew what a Boltzmann brain was, I had an experience on mushrooms that brought me to the idea that I was a disembodied consciousness in a void that imagined all of my memories.. mind blown by this theory

[@TimmacTR]

For approx. the first five minutes I thought "well this is known stuff, nothing new and exciting here..." Then came 4:59 and my mind was blown..

[@LordAmerican]

I know this is supposed to be entertaining and educational, but finals are next week and an existential crisis isn't exactly what I need at the moment.

[@L7Mcmacdaddy]

"I think therefore I am (a Boltzmann brain)..."

[@ellengomm6972]

Billie would low-key say that though

[@farkler4785]

What’s funny is this quote is closely related to Boltzmann brains, the person who said it thought the only certainty was that they exist, as all else could be an “evil demon making them believe something”

[@kyrakia5507]

I have seen so many arguments like this online, but yours is the only one I feel really hit the nail on the head.

[@jessidarc1638]

THAT explains the ghost in my attic!!

[@LuigiCotocea]

So this is why objects move

[@flatplant]

What if all of existence is one Boltzmann brain experiencing separate aspects of itself.

[@secularmonk5176]

Sounds a lot like Eastern mysticism

[@Scottirulez]

Uncle Ben sounds like the spirit in Hegel

[@Synodalian]

*GOD.*

[@bradymichaellowe1234]

It's reassuring to me that the experiences should continue to happen as long as the universe exists.

[@azmanabdula]

What does it say about the universe that we can in fact get particles to do our bidding? We know this is true, we are using a computer -Seth Lloyd The universe allows computation at a "fundamental" level... Basically at all levels... In a variety of ways... Luck?

[@johnhumbug5199]

just a few seconds of explanation on thermo dynamics and now i understand more about it than by hearing similar words from my past professor.

[@wenaolong]

For once I'm actually impressed by something someone said about simulation theory. Those are exactly the applications of the analysis of Boltzmann Brain's which should have been deployed in the analysis of Simulation Theory, and that was the exact approach to use in analyzing THAT idea, which is absurdly misrepresented as "probable". People just don't metathink enough.

[@jenm1]

This is what simulation theory is though.

[@meltheofficegamergirl9772]

I like living in a reality where I can enjoy your content. :)

[@jassisme6659]

Mel Theofficegamergirl how do know that you live in reality? can you prove it.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

JASS is me, define 'reality.'

[@melparadise7378]

which reality? How do YOU define reality? :D

[@ishouldbestudying251]

Mel Theofficegamergirl stop ripping off Stephen Hawkins

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

Ops! Using so many random-moving objects in a video makes any compression algorithm lazy. Momentarily, you did look like a you had a Boltzmann face ;)

[@firelow]

Gustavo Valdiviesso shiit i just watched a video about that a few days ago. had something to do with snow I think...

[@cluckeryduckery261]

Gustavo Valdiviesso nice catch. i was thinking what does he mean... and why are we now attempting to hide the host's identity

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

BMAN488877 Thanks, I guess? :P

[@BlackXxScopez]

it was by tom scott, and it was that if there are tons of fast moving/randomly moving objects on screen like snow or confetti, it had to allocate more bitrate just to the motion instead of the detail of what you're actually looking at.

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

Cluckery Duckery On any rate ;) this show is awesome and although spacetime/modern physics is definitely cool, but the sporadic classical physics episodes are just as good. I watch from the beginning, and one of the best episodes is the one on how Tides really work, with Gabe. I can only hope the budget cuts doesn't affect the show. #ILovePBS

[@Raptor.2017]

Captn-Spaulding / Loves, Matt O’Dowd ! Sows seeds in the mind with every delivery of his Quantum perspective. Could listen and watch Matt’s delivery for hours! Cheers !!

[@plantae420]

This is the reason why I love thermodynamics. It has so many interesting topics.

[@BenTajer89]

I think the problem with this idea, is that it assumes that the probability of a brain arising through evolutionary processes is low enough that it allows spontaneous boltzman brains to be more probable. There is an idea that local complex structures arise spontaneously, and will tend to increase in complexity as long as they are in a system which is far from equilibrium, and as long as this this increase in complexity leads to an increase in flux. Examples of this phenomenon include convection cells, hurricanes, whirlpools, and life itself. If we incorporate this idea, then brains are likely to arise as a byproduct of low entropy situations, where the ambient environment is far from equilibrium. It seems to me, that if this is the case, the probability of producing a brain through this process should be much higher then the possibility of one arising spontaneously arising, even if the probability of a spontaneous brain is higher than that of a spontaneous galaxy or universe. For a much more scientifically rigorous account of the basis behind this line of thinking, check out this paper. They do not talk about brains, but it is a very interesting look at the relationship between complexity and entropy. It also looks at open systems which are far from equilibrium, something which classical physics neglects, but which describes both ourselves and the planet on which we live. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0895717794901880

[@DeathBringer769]

Good comment.

[@KitsuneSoftware]

If you have only finite time to create brains through evolutionary processes, and infinite time to create spontaneous Boltzman brains, it's very easy to assume that there is a higher probability of the latter. I think you have to show that the integral of the probability with respect to time as t→∞ is finite for your argument to work, but I do like that you came up with it.

[@SuperStriker7US]

SCIENCE BITCH!

[@atscub]

It's not that probability of spontaneous brain is higher than the probability of a brain being created by evolution. It is that spontaneous brain is extremely more probable than spontaneous Big Bang which creates a Universe, that in turn allows an evolution that would create a brain. Evolution assumes the Big Bang already happened.

[@RandomDude85]

ES458 sigh

[@nastyniko1]

that firefly references hit me right in the feels.

[@kit_the_inevitable]

10:16 oh my gosh that happened at the same time as an alarm drill on my tv went off and I thought sum was happening for a bit

[@drainedeyes4268]

One of the best titles for a video I've ever seen on KZbin. How could I not click?

[@cosmonaut6443]

Within 27 seconds I was already rethinking my existence.........................................good vid

[@benslater6785]

cosmonaut then you should rethink your intelligence because your an idiot.

[@ProfessorPottsy]

Ben Slater Was your rude and hateful comment necessary? In my opinion, no it was not necessary. What facts do you have to base this assumption that he is an idiot? I don’t see any facts unless you personally know Cosmonaut outside of this KZbin comment. So if that’s the case then the facts I’ve found state that you’re the only idiot here for calling Cosmonaut an idiot without any justifiable facts. Have a good day sir.

[@sandeepps6013]

Had to watch it 3 times to understand it well. As always a awesome episode !

[@LeethLee1]

This makes me happy, this makes me learn. Congrats!

[@creperheper128]

iv been looking for a good explanation of boltzmann brains, thanks!

[@vacuumdiagrams652]

If I'm a Boltzmann Brain, I'll make a prediction: I will cease to exist in the next few minutes with extremely high probability. I'll let you know how that turns out.

[@vacuumdiagrams652]

Nope, still here! Boltzmann brain hypothesis falsified.

[@rstriker21]

Vacuum Diagrams but how do you know right now you're not a Boltzmann brain that just formed a moment ago with pre existing memory?

[@rstriker21]

Vacuum Diagrams Boltzmann brain isn't falsifiable which means it's not worth much scientifically but worth a lot philosophically.

[@vacuumdiagrams652]

But I can test for that possibility too. I estimate the probability that I would form with that memory due to chance alone. It's extraordinarily small (there are many more other possible memories that don't seem a priori disfavored in any way). It's much more likely that I would form _without_ such a memory, so I reject that hypothesis using the same criterion used to falsify hypotheses in almost every scientific field. When the fine folks at the LHC said that they detected a new particle, "five sigma", what they mean is that a signal just as strong as the observation they made would show up due to chance with a probability of 1 in 3.5 million. That's exactly the same type of criterion that I'm using here, so Boltzmann brains are not unfalsifiable -- they're bona fide falsified, unless we're willing to treat the hypothesis differently than we do every other hypothesis in science.

[@a11ueloheluuhhukkbarhhhurg94]

Vacuum Diagrams agreed

[@ftlengineer]

The Boltzmann brain is a good reason to take the Copernican and Anthropic principles with a grain of salt because it shows there's a quality vs. quantity issue with the assumptions. Sure the Boltzmann brain may have fewer assumptions overall than continuous consciousness, but qualitatively those assumptions are far more drastic. Perhaps we should amend Occam's Razor. "The answer with the fewest assumptions is best" isn't exactly correct. "The answer with the lowest (Number of Assumptions * Average Assumption Extremity) is the most consistent with our current knowledge." But then you wind up with heated debates over what is and isn't an extreme assumption; we can quantify assumptions. We can't qualify assumption extremity nearly as well.

[@fridgeanon]

Great explanation of entropy and this universe born due to bigbang induced by (low) entropy (in a high entropy universe) is a very interesting theory, as is the Boltzmann brain

[@jakegrist8487]

Very good video. Thank you. My opinion is that statistical descriptions of a system are historically useful only as a means of approximately describing systems that are only approximately understood. In other words, as a more detailed understanding of anything is acquired, statistical descriptions of that system become progressively less necessary, and are superceded by more accurate math.

[@kcwidman]

I literally just came across this concept for the first time two weeks ago and wanted to know more.

[@letter_n]

Kai Widman ii

[@mikebixler6629]

Alexander Whyte cute!

[@GewelReal]

I came across it 10 minutes ago

[@ComputerLearning0]

Same here.

[@natureboihikes162]

Kai Widman I have been aware of it for quite awhile. It is a very plausible concept that is rather mind-boggling

[@Dendroapsis]

4:35 -You see, THIS is why we need immortality tech.

[@luciferangelica]

you said something about us being most likely to exist in the most likely circumstances, but i've been thinking about something similar lately, and in a way all my life; the most likely place to be on any bell curve isn't the center but just off from the center

[@jackknifer1]

I'm sub because of videos like these. Keep up the good work!

[@laytonrupp2909]

I wish i could see whats inside a black hole without dying but thats a very WARPED idea.

[@feynstein1004]

You tried.

[@tariqb201]

This is the simplest and greatest explanation of entropy I've heard. Thanks!

[@GiI11]

BEAUTIFUL application of Newton's First Rule of Philosophy. Great vid. Stat mech is such an amazing discipline.

[@DanteKG.]

10:17 i was geniuenly freaked out... Like a real trip impulse in my brain that existence is shifting,it held me for a second. I took 1 ear bud out of my ear and was about to throw my phone away.. Jesus Christ that was scary

[@vitaliyhavrylyuk1327]

Nop, I don't need a existential crisis right now, thanks thoe.

[@devrim-oguz]

an* existential crisis

[@Smonjirez]

Don't worry! You're not experiencing an existential crisis, you're just a figment of the imagination of my Boltzmann-brain :D

[@Smonjirez]

You're just as real as any other of my delusional imaginations :V :V :V

[@ElvisWoods]

kant anywon spel anymoore?

[@George4943]

Heny, Speling dusnt mater wen comunikashun hapens×

[@RonPaulBot1234]

Is there like real random in the universe? (probably not going into the quantum level) Meaning for example a particle choosing to move in certain direction based on nothing or external sources or taking some object as a pointer and using it's value to represent his own value like in a computer, random is just a distribution based on the pc time it's artificial , it's an efficient way to mimic complex behaviors and interactions. If I see a tree in X place it's there because a seed fell there, it received light from the sun, nutrients like iron were deposit from asteroids or from volcanos, this iron in turn came from supernovas and it eventually leads to the big bang but it can be tracked and it's a string of results all tied together.

[@AtlasReburdened]

radioactive decay is a truly random process to the extent of my knowledge.

[@garethdean6382]

That is one of the 'big questions' like 'Why are we here'; we observe a LOT of randomness at the most fundamental levels of the universe, but is that 'real' randomness or does it merely seem so? As far as our best models can tel the entire universe is fundamentally random at the most fundamental level, the locations of particles, their changes, their properties when observed, all seem to be random (Within certain limits.) We cannot prove this but then science does not seek absolute truth, only the best model.

[@drumjod]

This video inspired similar thoughts for me, and I think you phrased it eloquently using a tree as an example .

[@dynadude56]

Wow. This vid will keep me up at night for the rest of my life.

[@christianvulpescu1398]

Very good explanation! To me, the Bolzmann-Bain is similar to Descart's Deus malugnus- the evel god, who makes him think that he exists. His approch was to say: "I' m thinking, so I must exist!"

[@silencedandshadowbanned7277]

My gut started hurting when listening to this.

[@eskaldo97]

this is the best video I have ever seen on KZbin

[@ananthakrishnanma6650]

This channel always makes me feel like I have the intelligence of a farting warthog. But I JUST CANT STOP WATCHING

[@yuta2349]

This is one of my favourite episodes !

[@NumberOneNathan]

"The never made season 2 - 8 of firefly" come on particle's i believe in you!!!!

[@JD03]

Does the Boltzmann Brain concept sound to anyone else like a physical version of Descartes "cogito ergo sum"?

[@shaunsurname8275]

No, I don't know what that means but I've seen scarface if that counts. I thought it was pretty good as a film tbh

[@Catmomila]

Not really, why?

[@tarekwayne9193]

@@shaunsurname8275 I think therefore I am.

[@shaunsurname8275]

@@tarekwayne9193 "joo want dis? Ohh kaay! Say hallo to ma liddle frien".......see, better

[@MarsJenkar]

Given that the original quote was closer to "I exist...as a thinking *thing*", it's amazingly close.

[@blackwings2885]

I loved the explanation of how entropy flows into equilibrium. But my brain melted at the Boltzmann brain stuff...basically two thirds of the video...

[@cheapmoviesnow]

I've been thinking about this myself. If particles can randomly pop into and out of existence, and if time is infinite, then some time long after heat death a version of myself with all my current memories perhaps with a container of air around me will pop into existence eventually. This fucks with me because imagine what it would be like to be that version of myself. Just randomly existing in emptiness only to die soon after.

[@johnbrown-dt5tt]

this is what i fear too many lmao ... that even in death ill be resurrected ... or at least someone who thinks they're me which id still consider me !

[@baldwinivofjerusalem47]

I always felt this at random times when I'm alone that the world around me is rendering only when I'm observing it like how it's in a video game. So let me put this here from on of my fav game franchise. *"Nothing is true, Everything is permitted."*

[@beeberry8055]

Do you still feel like this?

[@willbrink]

Had shirts made that said "I fought entropy and entropy won" ;)

[@Henrix1998]

Why this video has Star Trek The Next Generation doorbell sounds all around it? It drives me crazy because it is my notification sound

[@ddorman365]

Thank you Family that is beautiful, peace and love, Doug:)

[@dumpeeplarfunny]

"So, you're telling me there's a chance." - Dumb and Dumber

[@blazer666del]

And so the infinite improbability drive was invented out of thin air..... :)

[@eversogaza5491]

Why is that impossible?

[@blazer666del]

Ever So Gaza it's not impossible just highly improbable

[@Aurinkohirvi]

So it's possible. And hence probably happened and will happen. Might even happen.

[@chumbucket1781]

This video is still his best ever created. So intriguing

[@p.bamygdala2139]

Oh, the sound effects . . . I keep saying “enter” but I don’t have a voice-activated sliding door. Then I look to see who materialized in my room... Also, great vid.

[@simon_jakobsson]

This channel is so wonderful. When astrophysics somehow finds an intersection with philosophy, and you eloquently nerd out about it for ten minutes, that makes for some pretty great content!

[@pressaltf4forfreevbucks179]

I know right. This channel is awesome.

[@kyzer422]

Reminds me a bit of Ego from Guardians of the Galaxy.

[@overestimatedforesight]

The way they show him coming into being in GotG 2 is definitely inspired by boltzmann brains

[@hakankarakurt1100]

The rejection of Boltzmann Brain Hypothesis discussed in the video is basically the same thing as the arguments in Descartes’ Meditations. Very interesting to see it pop up here as well.

[@TalismancerM]

Given how simple the seed of the Big Bang was (a single point of zero entropy) I think it is hugely more likely we live in a Boltzmann Universe.

[@isaacm4159]

True but if the universe is infinite doesn't that mean we are and also aren't due to infinite repeating possibilities.

[@TalismancerM]

@@isaacm4159 Even with infinities - probabilistic *ratios* remain even if the number of those items are themselves infinite. eg Px=0.1, Py=1 in an infinite system. This gives that Event y is 10 times more common than event x. The number of each are infinite but one is 10 times more common than the the other. Good old infinity defies normal commonsense.

[@isaacm4159]

@@TalismancerM Im not good at math so it's hard for me to understand. I imagine you're right though, although I guess it doesn't even matter if we are a brain or not.

[@TalismancerM]

@@isaacm4159 Not a lot...maybe a few generations down the line it might matter when we're corralling galaxies as fuel for black holes to extend our species lifetime billions of years....

[@isaacm4159]

@@TalismancerM Gigachad humanist W

[@AlejandroBravo0]

4:22 doesn't that mean that the thermal death of the universe wouldn't actually be a death?

[@devinH2]

Yes! It just means inactive for a long time.

[@qwertyls8552]

There probably was a billions of these universes, their thermal deaths and unimaginable timespans of nothingness before new Bigbangs...

[@jeremiasrobinson]

Oh shit, this is heavy.... I feel like a universe that just collapsed in on itself.

[@catserver8577]

Ever since I've been learning about these theories I have seriously been experiencing a massive dip in entropy. Pretty soon I will be a mummy with my face pressed up against a window scaring passers-by.

[@mattpapineau8108]

Special time to come, love you.

[@iw43201]

Awesome, let's apply this to transrelativistic gradients now!

[@jkuhl2492]

I think the host might be a fan of Firefly. Not sure though.

[@octemberfury]

I think PBS might be trying to shill for Firefly. Not sure though.

[@briand8090]

I'll say it, I didn't care much for season 6. That doesn't make me any less of a fan.

[@thebigpicture2032]

I sure want that boxed set of Seasons 2 through 8.

[@SamTheEnglishTeacher]

I think he's reddit condensed to human form - and I of course mean that insultingly

[@Ukitsu2]

Being Australian, he could have used Farscape, too.

[@garrethenderson9695]

This channel never fails to give me existential dread.

[@littromney6048]

@ 5:00, my brain was banged....BIG! 🤯

[@gelb14]

The video is really great. I just don't really get how entropy works with gravity. So when talking about our universe you have to consider gravity and then equally distributed gas becomes a state of low entropy not high entropy, right? A huge amount of gas will collapse on its own gravity if it's not perfectly even distributed. Small microscopic changes will make it unstable. Which is what happened in our universe. So when including gravity the formation of galaxies does increase the entropy, doesn't it? You can change positions of stars or galaxies all you want and the universe looks still the same. Now when considering the heat death of the universe, this obviously only happens if we have an universe that will expand forever which seems to be the case. But then I don't understand why gravitationally bound systems would dissipate. Doesn't this heat death just mean the highest entropy state is an empty universe? Because due to the expansion, at some point everything will be isolated from other things so you can't transfer energy at all?