Why We Can Exist | Crash Course Pods: The Universe #2

Head to policygenius.com/crashcourse to get your free life insurance quotes and see how much you could save.
In Episode 2 of their journey through the history of the universe, Dr. Katie Mack and John Green discuss the fundamental forces of nature, the tiny ovens we know as particle colliders, and how we all can exist.
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
3:17 - Particle colliders
5:45 - Protons
14:00 - The Fundamental Forces
20:33 - The Theory of Everything
27:12 - The Higgs Field
34:46 - It's Incredible That We Know This Stuff
***
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
Thanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:
Leah H., David Fanska, Andrew Woods, DL Singfield, Ken Davidian, Stephen Akuffo, Toni Miles, Steve Segreto, Kyle & Katherine Callahan, Laurel Stevens, Burt Humburg, Perry Joyce, Scott Harrison, Mark & Susan Billian, Alan Bridgeman, Breanna Bosso, Matt Curls, Jennifer Killen, Jon Allen, Sarah & Nathan Catchings, team dorsey, Bernardo Garza, Trevin Beattie, Eric Koslow, Indija-ka Siriwardena, Jason Rostoker, Siobhán, Ken Penttinen, Nathan Taylor, Barrett & Laura Nuzum, Les Aker, William McGraw, Vaso, ClareG, Rizwan Kassim, Constance Urist, Alex Hackman, Pineapples of Solidarity, Katie Dean, Stephen McCandless, Wai Jack Sin, Ian Dundore, Caleb Weeks
__
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Instagram - / thecrashcourse
Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
Twitter - / thecrashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@Vertebray]

“We’re just a bunch of atoms temporarily organized into consciousness” You are the best life insurance salesperson 💀

[@PandeMist]

Literally David Hume in a nutshell

[@Vertebray]

Love how well Dr. Mack explains the crazy complexities of the universe! So much we still don’t know (and don’t know that we don’t know!) and it’s awesome that we have really smart people working on answering those fundamental and existential questions

[@OrigamiMarie]

And I love how, through it all, John is just John. Interested, fascinated, and rather opinionated about the usage of language.

[@chandragreenberg9109]

I absolutely love the graphics for this show. John and Katie as talking stars, them sitting in camping chairs in the corner looking at the night sky.... and then I backed the video up several seconds to hear something I'd missed, which revealed that the sky graphic is rotating imperceptibly slowly and that made me love it even more.

[@DudeWhoSaysDeez]

We need more conversations like this. If two experts in a field are talking, it leaves out the audience, so thank you John for asking questions that we are wondering about.

[@tobywilson]

I did my PhD in cosmology and particle theory, so I'm familiar with the material being covered here... But Dr Mack has an incredible way of truly making me feel the weight of that knowledge in a way that I haven't really considered before. I guess you grow to take things for granted, and forget just how amazingly fruitful the collaboration of science has been.

[@Juniper-111]

I love how John's anxiety acts as a barometer for the inherent complexity physics. It both suggests that it's ok to struggle with physics and that its ok for the picture to complex. Not everything has a perfectly elegant theory and we still must try to understand the world in all its complexity.

[@The_Serpent_of_Eden]

Oh, and also a lovely quote from Alan Watts: "Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence." We're literally Big Bang protons experiencing ourselves!

[@toxicbagel]

4:40 Okay, but...what if particle colliders were called "cosmological origin generators" instead? We could even call them "COGs" for short and talk about them as our way to explore the initial machinery of the Universe. 👀

[@jamesmorseman3180]

Particle colliders are already a cool enough name as it is

[@jennifersaar1611]

I find our smallness within the grand scale of the universe very comforting. Our problems loom so large, but when you think about the fact that earth is just a tiny, tiny part of a much greater whole, it really puts things into perspective.

[@avivastudios2311]

How would that be comforting. It still feels huge to your mind. And your mind is what's having an experience, not the universe.

[@benh66]

I had a little giggle when she said, word for word, “a quark is a fundamental constituent of matter”

[@gibberishname]

I've listened to all of The Anthropocene Reviewed, and Dear Hank & John, and now this. podcast, The Universe. No matter WHAT podcast, no matter WHAT episode, John's transitions to life insurance ads are PERFECT!

[@misslayer3340]

I'm studying for my neuroscience degree and I have to take a few physics classes next semester. I know it's mostly math, but listening to stuff like this is really helping relieve some anxiety I have about it. Ive started to change my attitude from the dreaded "having to take physics" to the semi excited "getting to learn physics".

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

Start studying or reviewing calculus now.

[@blobberberry]

Hopefully you get to learn some new math, too! It's the language that empowers us to communicate the details of mind-blowing physics like this :)

[@pinkcupcake4717]

John played the Quark Song and I instantly responded. It's been yearsssss since I last intentionally listened to it but I know that chorus by heart.

[@GregMcNeish]

There's something so powerful about John's meek, monotone "wow" in response to some new piece of knowledge. We get other, bigger reactions, that perfectly mirror what I'm feeling, but in that soft, simple "wow" you can really feel the gravity (pun intended) of John's revelation. It's like it lands in a place that's too deep to even register emotionally. There's a profound reverence in that moment, where human emotion and expression is insufficient to capture what's happening. Absolutely loving this podcast. Can't wait for more.

[@bkffr4100]

Let's enjoy this episode before Hank issues a copyright strike for his song.

[@LawTaranis]

You can tell how well someone understands a subject by how well they can explain it to someone who doesn't understand it. Dr Mack understands this stuff very well.

[@danieloneal7137]

I dunno. There are a lot of incredibly smart and talented people who make really lousy teachers. Being a good communicator is its own skill; some folks got it and some don’t. Dr. Mack definitely does.

[@abbysweat9202]

These first two episodes have been just great at helping me get my head around all these things i kind of know. Reminds me of the Carl Sagan quote "WE are a way for the universe to know ITSELF". MY HYDROGEN UNDERSTANDS BIG BANG THEORY. HOW COOL.

[@bananafax]

I think it was Sabine Hossenfelder that gave me the really profound revelation that quantum mechanics and the standard model of physics are just mathematical models. They both have a lot of predictive power, but they both seem to break down under certain circumstances. Think of a model kind of like a perspective on the true nature of the universe. From the perspective of the models, things like particle-waves, quantum tunneling, and gravity just don't seem to make a lot of sense. However, in another model of the universe all of these quirks of the model could be obvious and plain. Maybe the universe isn't necessarily unintuitive and strange. Maybe we just don't have the right paradigm(s) yet.

[@mattkuhn6634]

The strangeness of gravity and incompatibility of the equations of QM and Relativity all but guarantee that we don’t have it all correct - it seems more likely than not that we have at least one fundamental misconception that we are still assuming.

[@maxmetodiev641]

I know Sabine

[@brittanyh5390]

My 11 year old aspiring astrophysicist with an anxiety disorder is laughing and marveling along with you both through this series. It's been a refreshing reminder for us both that anxiety can be a stepping stone on our journey to discovery! Your candidness about those feelings has been eye-opening for him, John. Thank you.

[@ehname1]

I am ecstatic about this podcast, the first two episodes have been exactly what I hoped they would be and I can't overstate how much I love them. I'm so excited to see where this series goes 🫶

[@reginat5749]

I really love this, I'm barely able to comprehend, but I enjoy this immensely. That being said, everytime someone says 'quark' I hear it as Quark, which is a kind of dairy product in German. I'm easily amused. ☺

[@Beryllahawk]

I always think about a 1970s (ish) progressive rock album called "Quark Strangeness and Charm" hehe

[@Noelle__vibes]

I can't believe such a complicated thing can be explained so coherently, cool!

[@TatianaBoshenka]

I can't love this enough! It hit me when thinking about this episode that the good, goodness, like studying and learning about the universe and how it came about and what it's made of and all that stuff, that goodness is just so good that no badness can even hope to compete. Goodness has already won, we're just watching and working on the playing out of the details. Goodness is delicious. Profound thanks for this!

[@HannahWoodardLockaby]

So appreciative of this podcast. Who knew particle physics was so achingly beautiful? I love gaining a better understanding of our universe, even if I will only ever understand it on a very basic layperson's level. It almost feels worshipful to ponder these things.

[@debrachambers1304]

The music in these reminds me of the score for Apocalypse Now.

[@juliegolick]

I love how every time John is like, "Okay, so I think I understand it. It's like THIS, right?" and Dr. Mack takes this deep breath and you know she's about to complicate things again.

[@thelanavishnuorchestra]

To have John and Dr. Katie talking cosmology is pretty amazing. It's pretty much perfect.

[@ponyote]

Yay, episode 2! Strap in, we're learning stuff.

[@petermiller8727]

This series just makes me very happy.

[@laurenr842]

Maybe microcosmos can also exist in podcast form so I can lose my microbial unknowns anxiety 🥺 thanks for the physics John and Dr Mack

[@acetheenby1475]

The way that he sounds like he's trying to hold back a smile or a laugh during the ads is hilarious to me.

[@alexisthinking]

When it comes to things that bring people joy, I don’t think there’s much that brings people more joy than policy genius ad reads do John.

[@doughilton]

Please do more of these! These are phenomenal!

[@hiruluk]

Loving this series! As a professional proton connoisseur, it is really fun to hear John's reactions to all the mind bending facts. ❤

[@davesatxify]

the music used in these two pods/vods is beautiful in a slightly haunting airy way

[@a_tiny_ella]

Once again, a comfort. A sense of healing. I am so happy that this podcast exists.

[@debrachambers1304]

42:18 it's interesting to me when people say things like this about humans. Even when being cynical, the reasons to despair about humanity are about humans hurting humans, presupposing the value of humans.

[@carmillachoate]

I came for the conversation and to get my mind blown but the biggest mind blow moment, that ad trasition

[@brianwaltenbaugh]

I love this series!!! Thanks you two.

[@Patchouliprince]

Love this new podcast! I checked every dang day for this new episode woot woot

[@stoatystoat174]

"Quark, Strangeness & Charm" is an excellent song, and album, by English band Hawkwind

[@Lolalogo]

I was doing a summer internship at CERN the year the Higgs was discovered! The import beer in the cafeteria was Budweiser.

[@jennifersaar1611]

I love this podcast so much.

[@panqueque445]

This series is fascinating. Thank you.

[@user-co8vc5nd7l]

What a great start to my day. I had my morning coffee with you guys and also why cant I have this every day

[@nataliahernes4]

Amazing episode. So complex,yet so well explained and executed. Love how you look at these scientific breakthroughs through a philosophical lense😊❤

[@sabohatorinova7050]

It's very comfortable podcast broo😊😊😅

[@Davlavi]

Another great episode.

[@beneettastalin]

Mad respect to this dude he has been doing this for years😊

[@acetrainer5564]

Is there some kind of anti-higgs that allows anti-matter to exist? Or does the higgs field govern anti-matter as well?

[@atrelpilex1]

wow this was awesome !!! Can't wait to listen to the next podcast !

[@AShoutIntoTheVoid]

This is my new favorite thing

[@isabellawinslow5803]

If anyone would like to hear more of Dr. Mack, she has a talk online from about three years ago at the Royal Institute that I found absolutely lovely:)

[@Inthemains]

I am enjoying this very much!

[@Enn-]

This is great! Thanks!

[@banosja]

Just finished her book. I REALLY hope y'all spend time reviewing her sub chapter, The Infinite Cosmic Treadmill. That section blew my mind.

[@veganphilosopher1975]

Loved this

[@Strange_Nothings]

I enjoyed this episode thoroughly because i haven't done a whole lot of study on particle physics side of cosmology, and learning about quarks was really interesting and exciting. I might have to do some digging about learning about protons and quarks because it has piqued my interest!

[@zackglenn2847]

This is all so strange and complicated and mysterious. It makes me want to study physics even though I literally just graduated in engineering 😅

[@williamjohnson5022]

Question for the knowledgeable, so the Higgs field changes value & as a result physics as we know it rapidly results in an expanding universe. Is there any way to know how long the universe existed prior to that change in the field value or can we not look back before that change because we don't know what the rules were?

[@ThePvPDestiny]

Man I love this so much!

[@Danny_6Handford]

Another great YoutTube on understanding the universe! Very interesting to learn what protons are made from. This got me thinking that there might even be more stuff inside protons than just quarks and gluons. Many Physicist say that gravity is not a force. Sabine Hossenfelder has a good KZbin explaining how gravity is not really a force.

[@F.o.s.t.e.r.]

I listen on a bootleg podcast app and don't know if it shows as a view for you so I wanted to come here and add my appreciation and enjoyment to the din. And also say that John is the perfect compliment for Katie in this series.

[@williambilyeu9801]

So gluons are little bits of glue that hold us and the universe together.😊

[@branolukwesa3538]

The change in the Higgs field reminds me of my memories before birth.

[@radagastwiz]

I was hoping John would bring up 'Strange Charm', but they actually played an excerpt! Love it.

[@The_Serpent_of_Eden]

Another awesome installment, I'm loving this podcast so much! For the folklorists/mythologists out there: "We're here because something broke" hmm yes, the figurative, metaphorical description would be Lucifer the Lightbringer breaking away from the perfection of heaven in his rebellion. We can only exist due to the fracturing of perfection into imperfection--if everything was perfect, you'd have only stasis, and nothing would happen! And the discussion about how physicists like to see different angles/aspects of the same entity/particle reminds me of how many cultures talk about God having different aspects or facets, different ways of experiencing it. As just one example, in some Germanic/Norse pagan religions, you have the Lord (the male aspect, also called the power-wielder) and the Lady (the female aspect, also called the power). Or explore the concept of Indra's Net in Buddhism. God as a multi-faceted jewel is a metaphor you will find in a lot of spiritual writings. Such an awesome series!

[@prtrainor]

Yay!!! I love this podcast! I even love the ads.

[@ajs1998]

Actually LOL'd when he said "8 billion people are currently in existence and 112 came in and then out of existence. We're only here for a little while my friends... And that's why there's life insurance."

[@bodhimofo]

Dr. Mack's explanations are so satisfying, like a steaming hot cuppa quark-gluon plasma.

[@marsp.1620]

MORE OF THIS NOW PLS

[@cutzer243]

Here's a way to imagine how small 10^-12 is: 1 trillionth of the circumference of the Earth is only 0.0015 inches or 0.038mm.

[@robinmoreno76]

So much chaotic yet organized intelligence.

[@gabrielmarciu69]

I cannot listen to this podcast without imagining it as just John Green talking about the universe with Elyse Willems who's coming down from a mild cold.

[@Satoru40_07]

Amazing 🪐✨

[@naota3k]

"Early Universe Simulator" sounds like a very apt description of what particle colliders actually do.

[@Natnizer]

That first Policy Genius ad got me

[@Sugar3Glider]

Wait, are you telling me there's a THIRD Green brother that is a musician?

[@btbesquire5]

"It wouldn't be cosmology if it didn't make me nervous". You and me both, John.

[@mattkuhn6634]

Strap in y’all, sounds like we’re gonna take a trip to the quantum foam today!

[@pyeitme508]

WOW!

[@jonathanbyrdmusic]

These conversations between experts and smart non-experts are very important.

[@dancer8541]

need 3 NOW

[@billyalarie929]

I lol irl at every life insurance ad from john green bc he KNOWS it’s absurd as the thing he (and I, let’s be frank) just learned about the superposition of these particles and, on a much, much greater yet far less evident scale, us.

[@DanielEstrada]

Question: Imagine some scientists are around before this change in the Higgs field. Could they have anticipated that the change was coming, that the weak and EM forces would separate, etc? Could another such event happen in our future? Could electricity and magnetism separate?

[@TheRealPaulMarshall]

@7:50 - This is also where they should have stuck with truth and beauty.

[@Meerkat000]

Finally

[@rachel.6791]

I do often get so much existential dread wondering why I was made

[@giselematthews7949]

You worry too much.

[@Theraot]

I can hear the smile on the ad read. I imagine John Green thinking "ha, I got them with an ad!".

[@Jacob-sb3su]

Is there going to be an episode 3?

[@aR3tardedtiger]

Well, the proton mass thing is beyond just a head scratcher, I'd say

[@mattkuhn6634]

It’s not as incomprehensible as it sounds at first, but it’s definitely weird. Being able to calculate that mass out and apportion it properly is indeed super complex, but intuitively if you understand that E=mc^2 means matter and energy are fundamentally connected, you’ve got all you really need. I hope the chemists and physicists will forgive me for this description (since it glosses over a lot of nuance for the sake of a shaky analogy), but for a better intuitive grasp of it you can think of that “extra” mass as arriving from the energy in the “gluon bonds.”

[@nickcaruso]

Great video. Can’t help noticing that Dr. Mack stopped mentioning the strong force in the discussion of the early universe. One wishes to know more in this regard. Is there really a grand unified theory or is the strong force still on its own?

[@bretnetherton9273]

Awareness is known by awareness alone.

[@surturz]

The kerning between the E and the R on the title is driving me crazy

[@victoriaridgway2286]

I was gonna do homework but I think I need to lay in bed and listen to this instead

[@richardrugg]

Why can't gravity be energy-dependent? Couldn't that potentially explain what we now call dark matter/dark energy?

[@branolukwesa3538]

It's still a big mush of corks and gluons, you can call the mush the "soul" of essense.

[@HeavyMetalYeti12]

As these progress I'm very much expecting a time knife reaction from John at something.

[@Amberpawn]

If we can create an instability in the higgs field demonstrating the boson: Could an instability of the higgs field disrupt the stability of a blackhole resulting in everything we see demonstrating that gravity is a function of the field and not a particle but the nature of existence itself? And would it be a possibility of the "background radiation" at the edge of our current everything is the only place where the higgs field is constant/uniform, or even could the expansion of the universe be a result of such a disruption?

[@Pfhorrest]

So is it not the case that at extremely high temperatures particles just don't couple to the Higgs field because they have too much energy to get "caught" like that, but rather the Higgs field itself changes somehow (dependent on temperature)?

[@TijsHam]

I'm always wondering... The physics of the very early universe seems very different from the physics we see around us today. Is it still ok to not have those differences affect the way time is described? What is time in the context of an ultra hot plasma of pre-matter?