Michio Kaku on Alien Brains | Big Think

Michio Kaku on Alien Brains
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Michio Kaku on what makes a supergenius.
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MICHIO KAKU:
Dr. Michio Kaku is the co-founder of string field theory, and is one of the most widely recognized scientists in the world today. He has written 4 New York Times Best Sellers, is the science correspondent for CBS This Morning and has hosted numerous science specials for BBC-TV, the Discovery/Science Channel. His radio show broadcasts to 100 radio stations every week. Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York (CUNY), where he has taught for over 25 years. He has also been a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, as well as New York University (NYU).
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TRANSCRIPT:
Michio Kaku: If you watch the "Big Bang Theory" on CBS television you see these clueless nerds who are doormats when it comes to the opposite sex, right. And you realize is there any basis in reality? First of all none of my friends are like that and all my friends are physicists, right.
Well there is a kernel of truth and that is some of these individuals may suffer from something called Asperger’s Syndrome which is a mild form of autism. These people are clueless when it comes to social interactions. They don’t look you in the eye, for example. And yet they have fantastic mental and mathematical capabilities. We think, for example, that Isaac Newton had Asperger’s. The greatest scientist of all time was very strange. He had no friends to speak of. He could not carry a decent conversation and yet here he was spitting out some of the greatest theories in the history of science. Calculus. The Universal Law of Gravitation. The Theory of Optics. And we think he had Asperger’s Syndrome.
Now Asperger’s Syndrome is a mild form of autism and in autism we have what are called savants. That is people that have an IQ of maybe 80 but have incredible mathematical and musical abilities. In fact, some of these individuals can hear one symphony and just play it by memory on a piano. Other people could be in a helicopter, have a helicopter ride over Manhattan, see the entire New York harbor and then from memory sketch the entire harbor. In fact, if you want to see it go to JFK Airport in New York City and you will see it as you enter the international terminal. So what is it about these people? Well, first of all a lot of them had injuries to the left temporal lobe. One individual had a bullet as a child go right through the left temporal lobe. Another person dove into a swimming pool and injured very badly the left temporal lobe. And these people wound up with incredible mathematical abilities as a consequence. And so what is it about their brains?
Well Einstein’s brain has actually been preserved. Einstein when he died had an autopsy in which case the pathologist stole the brain without permission of the family. He just realized that he was sitting next to something historic, took the brain, took it home with him, and it was sitting in a jar in his home for decades. He even drove across the country with the jar inside his trunk. And there’s even a TV special where you can actually see the cut up brain of Albert Einstein. And you realize first of all the brain is a little bit different. You can’t tell by looking at it that it’s so remarkably different but you realize that the connections between the prefontal cortex and the parietal lobe - a connection that is accentuated in people that do abstract reasoning is thickened. So there definitely is a difference in the brain of Einstein. But the question is did it make Einstein or did Einstein make this change of the brain?
Are champions born or are they made? That still is not known because people who exercise mental abilities, mathematical abilities, they can thicken that part of the brain themselves. So we know that people who do well in mathematics, brain scans clearly show that their brains are slightly different from the average brain. So in conclusion, we’re still children with regards to understanding how this process takes place. Tonight don’t go home and bang yourself on the left temporal lobe. We don’t know how it works. We just know that in a tiny fraction of these cases people with injury to the left temporal lobe, some of the become super geniuses.
Directed/Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Dillon Fitton

[@bigthink]

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[@MihajloKarlicic]

Big Think videos always make me realise how filthy my computer screen really is.

[@bigthink]

Thanks Mihajlo. Of the hundreds of thousands of comments posted on our videos, this might be our favorite.

[@hugeclockcome1424]

Best comment ever

[@thekid8828]

r u trying to say that black people r dirty

[@YoungsterRZ]

+the kid YOU just did...

[@YoungsterRZ]

the kid I'll let you figure that out

[@bassinblue]

We depict aliens as conquerors because it's what we would do, if we were them.

[@hemosu22]

+David Harrison mind blown

[@LaberintoAzul]

+David Harrison Total agreement.

[@Abracastabya]

Sad but true; and that is how I envision our days in the final frontier will be like unfortunately.

[@Abracastabya]

+Clutch7, We is wombats working on weaponry to start war on the whole wide world willingly, would you like me to go into detail willy?

[@erickk1992]

Or there needs to be a villain else we don't have a thrilling story.

[@DCFanatic7]

This dude blows my mind every time, he's like a philosophical genius. Everything he says is so simplistic if you actually think about, but so intricate and deep.

[@jessebaldwin2661]

Yes, his objectivity is contagious. He knows how to think outside of the box.

[@somi7072]

You're pretty good

[@earlaweese]

*He’s a troll and engages in bad theatre (just like the rest of you).*

[@deathrager2404]

he appears as an agent to debunk aliens.

[@Thesecondcomingpodcast]

How does he blow your mind? He says nothing

[@SpaceAce114]

best explanation about cats i've ever heard!

[@srmtech3608]

@Sarah Smith *2019.. Very Cool!*

[@luna-pc3fk]

Finally someone that knows what they’re talking about

[@richardhammond9757]

The cat is one of the Real truth of our cosmos.. lol

[@orangeorange5177]

Ha haaa

[@deeb3272]

Michio means Cat

[@TheMortal1990]

One of the most intelligent man alive talking about serious things and you people commenting about cats .... so sad

[@thesuperpierre59]

next time he’ll make a example about something only a scientist could understand lol to make those people feel stupid

[@NvRDeadNed]

Did somebody say cats?!?😜

[@YManCyberDude]

Uh . . . He brought it up dude . . .

[@rpylamp8960]

@Victor Gibson take your medicine bruuuuhhh

[@pjip]

👭

[@buzzbang7930]

Charismatic, Influential, are just a couple of words to describe Dr. Michio Kakus oratorical skills. I like listening to him talk, no matter the subject. He seems to have that natural ability to communicate well with others, in laymen terms, at all levels when necessary.

[@deathrager2404]

charismatic, influential, the perfect traits for an agent of lies and debunking of facts.

[@ThePeterH1]

It's also funny that people who report being abducted by aliens describe them so similar to human

[@kikungjonas6120]

It's also funny that the alien technology, as reported by the abductee, is always what was top modern human technology at the time. Aliens mirror human technology or was it simply humans that dressed up as aliens?

[@austinwhite1018]

i was abducted back in April of this yr... i was trying to Astral Project. i couldnt do it so i asked for help in my thoughts... not even 10 min past and i felt this intense presense. so intense that i instanly looked to see what it was (i was laying in my bed meditating) just as i looked up i saw it near the foot of my bed. i could see the General figure of it but could not see what it looked Like cause it had some sort of Camoflouge on... as i looked at it it moved a little closer to my bed and then all of a sudden i felt intense vibrations and my consciousness left my body. i did not have any control over my body. i went through my window and went higher into the Sky. then everything just went blank and i cant remember what happened after that. Take it from me, be careful what u think bc they are listening...

[@austinwhite1018]

***** no. I think u have me confused with someone else

[@austinwhite1018]

***** oh and fyi i was referring to an entity or an Alien that i saw at the ft of my bed

[@ISBE91]

Sadly, because most of them were abducted by humans, masqueraded as aliens

[@jerryg50]

This scientist is terrific. I have a strong physics and engineering education. He makes total sense in everything he says.

[@dancahill9122]

Jerry G. : Yes he is, of course very smart. But he still made at least one stupid comment. At 2:48 he says "if aliens are smarter than us....." Of course aliens will be much, much smarter than us. DUH ! How would aliens travel many light years to study/visit us if they weren't much, much smarter than us ?

[@MarvoloSalazar]

@@dancahill9122 fucking imbecile

[@hejm8421]

@@dancahill9122being an alien are not necessary have to visit Earth.

[@hejm8421]

@@dancahill9122 microbes that exist in other planet, which maybe have different life structure that us Terran, can also be called aliens.

[@thoughtaddict2739]

@@dancahill9122 your forgetting microorganisms from other planets. But let's say it was just highly advanced technological species. One other possibility is that perhaps the reason they are so advanced isn't that they are smarter than, but that their civilization is older than us. Longer the time that sapient beings with a civilization exists = higher the chance of inventing high tech. Higher intellect and building these things means that they would have less time needed to do the task, but if there IQ is the same as ours and they build these things. It could mean that either their civilization is longer than ours or they didn't lose as much knowledge as much as we did back than. For an example go search up the "The Library of Alexandria" you'll find that this library was the most important place for knowledge 2000 years ago. Their was so much knowledge that once it burned down we lost hundreds of years of knowledge. Books that could have helped us later are gone into the ash's. That's not to say there isn't aliens smarter than us. Their probably is, but don't just jump into conclusions on their intellect.

[@Truthseeker182]

The size of the frontal cortex is one of the only differences between us and all life on earth. The ability to plan is crucial to long term survival of any species. I would love to talk neuroscience and quantum physics with you one day, Dr. Kaku. It would be a true honor.

[@milanbarac6608]

***** It's very arrogant to say something like that, I do not want to offend you or anything but he/she wants to meet Kaku because of his personality, his words and his books. I also made alot of scientific research papers, I'm studying AstroPhysics and I even outsmarted my own professors.But i never go around internet and tell people who want to meet popular scientist to rather meet me. I've never seen Carl Sagan, NDT, Richard Feynman etc. Go around and tell their accomplishments, the core of being smart is not to be arrogant in your success. Please do not take this as attack. Tho i would really like to meet similiar minds like mine. If you want to talk just send me message

[@dedude5864]

ya all want to meet me.I drink beer.

[@RadioactiveSand]

Dude, it was clearly a joke.

[@RadioactiveSand]

+asdfasdf qewrqwer You don't even know what comment we were reffering to. HarkHLee's comment is no longer there.

[@anaibarangan4908]

Yes, and messing around with that in the human brain is nothing but bad news.

[@2bsirius]

The translation of an alien language would be extremely difficult...We have never encountered another advanced species with its own language. It would be a language with a completely different ontology at its root. The translation would not just be of one word for another, but of one way of existing into another way of existing. It would be an even more extreme version of the Wittgenstein quote, " If a lion could speak, we could not understand him." (PI, p.223)

[@SomeRandomPictures]

but maybe they would be able to translate all our languages lol

[@TweekDash]

It's not difficult to believe aliens would have evolved emotion though. Many basic words are just describing emotion. I think we could handle it.

[@ImTabe]

What about math, isn't math suppose to be the universal languages?

[@greezm60]

I don't think it would take more than a month to get a handle on any form of intelligent communiation.

[@greezm60]

I speak English, French, and Spanish. Where there is a will, there is a way. Bring them aliens on, I'll have a chat with them about elements. Water?

[@BakedPhoria]

I wish I was this aware of how awesome science is back in elementary. Could totally see myself as a theoretical physicist. Speed of light, black holes, double-slit experiment, even time itself is so interesting.

[@stevebrizzle]

Kurt Vonnegut did a really good job of creating a fictional alien race in the form of his Tralfamadorians in Slaughterhouse-Five. They are non-anthropomorphic, don't share the same moral code or sense of good and evil as humans, and most pertinent to what Kaku is saying, the Tralfamadorians know the future. However, this is isn't because they are adept at predicting the future; they actually know what is going to happen in the future because, unlike us, they operate in four dimensions and so exist in all times simultaneously. If you haven't read it, do so - it's a cracking read.

[@novellmusicmedia6895]

Love your comment! However, all things can be manipulated. Even Aliens themselves. By still more advanced races the mind can't fathom, but the heart does. Humanity created the aliens. Believe me. We as a race used tech to go so far into the future then turned around sort of speak to manipulate the now

[@esdev92]

3 Michio Kaku videos in a week? Big Think is on a roll.

[@Daffy711]

I love Michio Kaku... I wish I knew someone like that in my life, that every time I had a conversation with, I would learn something new, or just have a really entertaining conversation with... :)

[@RogerHoyt]

If this does not push people to gain more intelligence and actually learn something, then I don't know what will.

[@SabiazothPsyche]

The alien that he is explaining about sounds like a reflection of him-self.

[@SabiazothPsyche]

And he needs to know the difference between *"looking"* and *"seeing."* To _see_ is with intent and will: but to _look_ is automaton, an instinct. So a cat doesn't *see* the universe with intent: it only *looks* at the universe automatically. ;-)

[@RogerHoyt]

Sabiazoth Alonso Are you a Biology Expert? Animal Expert? Chances are this guy probably knows more than you. He is spot on. When we have more intelligence, we'll begin to see massive advancements. This is basically what he's saying.

[@SabiazothPsyche]

Roger Hoyt, when you have studied about *"The-Self"* (the-Ego/the "I") so extensively as has my being, you can notice that a person, no matter how smart or ignorant he/she may be, you can easily detect when the ego is *self-reflecting* him/her-self with the criteria he/she is talking about. The reason that you're not able to detect it is because you, your-self, are also mentally disposed of positing your ego in solipsism, just as he does, and perhaps, that's why you can relate. You and Kaku have *"The-Self"* in common, in whereas my being, there is no self, no ego, and no "I." It doesn't take a professor to be devoid of the mental disposition of *"The-Self"* (the "I"); and perhaps, there isn't any: My being may be the only one in the entire world(s). ;-)

[@qbcrusher92]

freeworldresistance.no-ip.info/encyclopedia

[@jaybay2169]

Michio Kaku is such a breath of fresh air in my world, thank you.

[@PaulXPZ]

That's why I like Mass Effect's aliens so much. The diversity. Elcor are slow but steady because they evolved on a high gravity world and their society is really stable while the volus like to switch things up frequently and treat each other like trading cards, their society is always changing. Also I don't really see the problem with aliens speaking english. It's a movie/game made for earth people by earth people who happen to speak english natively, well not all of them but you get my point. For the sake of immersion you can say they use automatic translators or something

[@nicholasgilbert4227]

Eduardo Moreira firstly, Mass Effect is awesome, but secondly with teh alien movies remark. What's the other option really? We can go the way of rebooting ET, The day the earth stood still or close encouters, OR make an action movie that will make serious $$$.

[@adamthornton7880]

A thought I had a few days ago was that the only reason humans can sense astronomical objects, with the exception of the Sun and possibly the Moon, without advanced technology is as an evolutionary side effect of evolving high quality vision for observing this planet. If we relied mainly on smell or echolocation for navigation and had no, or very poor, vision we would have had no idea the stars were there until very recently; we might just be discovering them now.

[@nowherebrain]

I'm actually interested in what extraterrestrial beings biological minds may be like...could they have more than one? running multiple thoughts all controlled by one major brain much like a multicore computer? Do they think linearly/parallel or collectively?... what kind of memory recall could they have....much of this is also based on their perceptions...what visual(if vision is based on light like ours)spectrums could they perceive...same with audio, telepathy, scent, taste...hell maybe they can "feel" color etc etc...there are no limits aside what we, as humans, can fathom...and even that is not a limit...just a limit of what we can foresee and or imagine....interesting stuff.

[@ktrez2000]

Yes, they very likely are not carbon based life forms but have evolved from our primitive silicon "life" forms we call computers. They will be interconnected and "live" forever, as there is no death of the whole although a node (single entity) might be pinched off. It (they) will in essence last collectively for billions of years. For It, the time it takes for their craft to drift to the nearest stars, will be like a blink of our eyes. And the facts they gather from a half-billion years of such explorations will be enough for them to gather enough data to create a simulation of the universe to such minute detail that at that point they will not need to travel anywhere. We will all end on Reservations where we will be kept as pets.

[@nowherebrain]

we'd make great pets :)

[@lineage13]

Id like to know what kind of mind can survive in an age in which everyone has a home made nuke or bio weapon.

[@nowherebrain]

we live in that age now. a person with the internet and slightly better than moderate intellect can do those things now.

[@lineage13]

+justin barrett fortunately enough the radical ignorant folks arent quit there yet but its only a matter of time...

[@powerdude_dk]

You, Michio Kaku, blows my mind. Boy would I like to meet you =) Thank you Big Think for producing these videoes.

[@Lumpyrox1412]

Wow for the first time my mind actually feels blown. I never thought of it like that. Thats actually super interesting to think about, alien races feeling things we cannot, them being driven by 'emotions' that we cannot feel..its really scary yet just as exciting if not more so. We could learn so much.

[@AeonProjectz]

I never get bored of this guy.

[@annacichocka7734]

1:42 great example of imposing our thinking on others 👏👏👏

[@martialartmaniacs1649]

Makes perfect sense.....I'm trying to make people understand this from quite sometime now ! Keep it up..My blessings r with u 😉

[@mendingobingo]

I always cheer a little inside when i see Michio Kaku is on the show.

[@BMTroubleU]

Michios been to fight club... But we better not talk about it

[@1555999760]

what happen,can u tell me?

[@MarkoKraguljac]

NJ Taro His right hand fingers.

[@peter320vn]

NJ Taro He punched an alien.

[@candyandy929]

Careful you might get your nuts cut off

[@Kinobambino]

BMTroubleU 😅fight club doesn't talk about what happens in LA

[@starship7177]

I have to watch more, Kaku. Thanks for your part.

[@PuraVida777]

Well said. As a X Police Officer i studied the area i was assigned to Patrol. I had time to plan out different scenario's. And on calls to Alarm Drops @ certain businesses, i had a pretty good idea of the direction of travel a robber would favor on taking if he was on foot or in a vehicle. Weather & Time of day also played a huge role in how i approached & what direction i was to take, even if that meant i had to circle around the area. Especially if he heard sirens coming from the opposite direction i was coming. So i trained my brain to take in a number of factors to catch the bad guy.

[@bobbyhalick]

I feel like District 9 did a fairly good job of portraying an alien race, though they are obviously an extension of a specific Human condition (segregation under apartheid).

[@greezm60]

Buzzkill...

[@VColossalV]

***** Not really... they were pretty smart.

[@shinjiprofile]

***** for what ive watch the ship they have has been damaged and they are drifting into space and run out of food, but eventually they found earth then lost its ships main bridge, that's why when they open the ship they found survivors and the insides of the ship looks like it hasn't been clean for years, rescued by humans and became refugees then had to adapt on human society but they are far more civilized and smarter than you think.

[@ForceOfWizardry]

That would be pretty neat to score people on how well they predict the future rather than how well they score on I.Q tests.

[@jimvanderblom3881]

The way this man describes the world is so impressive. So simple, I wish I could think so simple as this man can. Think incredibly tough material and simplify it, even joke about it!

[@broodmachine172]

Dr. Michio Kaku you good sir are awsome. God bless ya mate.

[@TalladegaTom]

My cat DOES own me. Ha! Maybe I'll send her over to rub up against the next alien that stops by.

[@Ballacha]

a couple of months ago a group of british scientists proved that in a cat's eyes, human are "giant, rather stupid but non-hostile ones of their own kind". well i do feel kinda stupid when i talk to my cat now...

[@Ballacha]

ArctusCanusLupus google it

[@MegaMalfurion]

I own this human! LOL, love this guy.

[@Moongazer101]

I agree with Michio Kaku. Very well said.

[@icu3385]

Thank you for your advice 👍

[@KingIsulgard]

We do the same with artificial intelligence in movies. We put all the bad human traits in the AI characters and fear the wrath of super-intelligent yet humanly flawed beings which are definitely coming for us, because that's what we would do and they can predict what we will try to do to stop them.

[@paulogmf]

And because we know we gonna fuck up in the programming

[@Borzogo]

I love to listen to this guy :)

[@geniaalmovie]

Me to

[@ernestborsic5231]

Professor is a very curious person and that is good. He will always

[@KillerAJ]

When I was a child, I found myself getting yelled at for every little mistake/trouble by my parents. I don't know if this is brain development/conditioning by adapting or not, but I find myself as an adult being very good/clever at figuring out ways of how to do things without being caught. I also realized, I've become really good at lying (not sure if that's a good thing). The only way to really catch me in a lie is to ask me about what happened at a later date (when I've probably already forgotten about the reason why I lied and what was the lie I came up with to get out of a situation).

[@jackpullen3820]

My experience, they didn't talk, they were telepathic. They are using the quantum entanglement abilities in their brains at a level far ahead of what we are just now discovering. Thanks Dr. Kaku !

[@Appletank8]

Exactly what I think about all the time when I see aliens in movies. We can do pretty realistic CGI now. Is the bipedal form with these dimensions really the perfect one? What about differently placed joints, sensor organs, etc.? Anyways, thanks for the discussion!

[@Datamike]

It is more a byproduct of practicality than the lack of creativity. People often ask the exact same questions from producers of sci-fi series, and the answer is always the same; if they had to reconcile a new language each time SG-1 visited a new planet, one episode would be hours long, instead of the usual 40 or so minutes. As usual Michio Kaku picks a topic to make himself look cool by giving a long winded exposition of the obvious. If you actually look at people who create, write and draw aliens and other forms of life, creativity is the last thing they lack.

[@HamidahIshak]

SALAAM Brother Michio Kaku..you are smart yet you are humble in your speech..your speeches are captivating.You are Gifted.You are intelligent..make us think and ponder on every lectures that you impart to us.. thanks.ALLAH GOD BLESS YOU brother..MaryamFathimah.

[@federicobertagna1066]

Michio the cat example is the funniest sentence 2017... you're great 👍🏻 !

[@badassmoralfukka1]

"Rubbing its hormones on you." Pheromones.

[@vicenteblanco6434]

It's the same..our body is controlled by hormones..hormones affect the body ...pheromones are hormones that affect other ppl or animal etc

[@maxkonig559]

He pretty much addressed the fundamental issues of nature and how it works. The one thing that bothers me the most is that are we conscious enough to understand any messages coming from alien species. We could easily be like dogs and cats where we are unable to understand what they're saying or doing simply because our cognitive ability is not on par with their brains. That's the part that is disturbing for me. Like he said, they can run circles around us like what we can do to all the other species.

[@Thesecondcomingpodcast]

He has done nothing

[@Malli34729]

I love the way they have handled it in Arrival

[@BoredSpectre]

Dr. Kaku made a very good and clear analogy. So people with that level of intelligence could avoid bullets being shot at them just by looking at the direction of the gun (their attacker is pointing at them) and they could perform a counter attack that would finish off their would-be assassin.

[@prole1917]

Wouldn't successful apex predators that eventually develop intelligence need a territorial mindset in evolutionary development? I don't get why some scientists think intelligent aliens would be so much different than humans. I feel like there are universal evolutionary necessities and pressures across all possible ways intelligent life could develop.

[@swunt10]

the german tribes and the indians in america didn't have much of a territorial mindset. almost communist if you think about it (as long as romans didn't try to take there freedom away from them). if even we humans can be less territorial and some earth animals are also not territorial, than what are the chances of aliens being territorial? out of all the possibilities that exist, why this one? because your brain thinks so? you are just a slave of your own territorial mindset. that's why you can't except something else. that being said, we better stay the fuck away from aliens just to be sure.

[@prole1917]

Tenebrae Aeterna I find it hard to imagine a scenario where a docile species becomes the dominant species on a planet, capable of large scale coordination and advancement. They would get killed off before achieving that status. All their evolutionary pressures would be to avoid predators, which doesn't bode well if they want to dominate their planet. Aggressiveness and territoriality breeds strategic thinking and planning.

[@antonius.martinus]

***** Yeah, most likely a specie that is thousands or millions of years ahead of us in tech is mechanical, there is no real reason to keep the weak organic bodies

[@prole1917]

swunt10 Your examples prove my argument. The Native American and Germanic tribes had slower developments compared with more aggressive civilizations such as the Romans and Chinese. But besides that, Native Americans and Germans were still much more biologically aggressive than the life around them and if you think they didn't fight amongst one another over territory, you are mistaken.

[@antonius.martinus]

***** You have a thumb real far up your ass, thinking you are so superior, even if whales aren't as smart as Homosapiens, they don't destroy eco-systems nor threaten to destroy itself. Also Lions taking down elephants, for real? Maybe the babies but not full grown males or females

[@r4gzzz]

I like to think that the bandages on his hands are from a bar fight. Michio clearly won.

[@drege8510]

So refreshing thank you

[@mickshaw555]

Dr Kaku is the best science educator!

[@brendaschouten-beckett6448]

Dude. What's the story with all the bandages on his fingers? OK I think he had a close encounter with his cat before making this video.

[@loucard4856]

holy crap i was thinking the same thing lmao

[@glorymanheretosleep]

I think he gets warts on his fingers pretty frequently.

[@Unpluggedx89]

From donkey punching the student he's sleeping with.

[@tommyvictorbuch6960]

"Only in Hollywood can an alien armada cross the vastness of interstellar space, in ships the size of mountains, yet be dumb enough not to install anti-virus software." Isaac Arthur.

[@crumbummin9459]

Isaac Arthur's voice is the soundtrack to my tired evenings as I lull myself into a coma

[@saumitrachakravarty]

Orville Season 2 Episode 2

[@michaelgray1803]

True

[@ayecho8202]

😂🤣🤣. Good one

[@AlmostEthical]

Interesting from MK, as usual. I think any creature capable of space travel would need good vision, whatever other senses they may or may not have. And yes, cats do feel affection, as do all mammals that care for their young. A rub can be purely hormonal marking or it can be a mix of marking and enjoying closeness and touching.

[@dominikheiderer9161]

Top video! 👊🏻

[@zanockle8354]

I kinda hope aliens meet this guy.

[@8pointnshoot8]

So at least the aliens could think that we are somewhat intelligent beings. Imagine if they meet one of the Kardashians we are screwed.

[@happybear3706]

For every one mlk or Gandhi, there are 10 damn Genghis khan

[@abhishekkumar2315]

Worth to listen u sir

[@NeverStoppedSinging]

loved this one!

[@ZubinB]

Believe it or not Michio Kaku is an alien himself

[@intricatekorbz2722]

then Donald trump will deport him XD

[@Machiavelli2pc]

lilahdog 568 no one is saying Asians aren’t humans lmao. I think his point is he’s an alien because he’s intelligent.

[@Machiavelli2pc]

lilahdog 568 and fact check, slanted eyes arent mutually inclusive of Asians, in fact an overwhelming amount of Asians have wider eyes than even blacks and vice versa, not saying it’s a a bad thing to have wide eyes though... so yeah the minorities on this planet (White people and black people) are still humans too!

[@captainicecream8322]

lilahdog 568 who are white people?

[@KateeAngel]

My gawd, stop making comments about cats... the main topic here are not cats. I may surprise you, but many people dont care about cats at all

[@binhonz]

I'm with you on that.

[@amistry605]

LMAOOOO I was thinking that too! One-track minded people hahaha

[@thesuperpierre59]

next time he’ll make a example about something you can’t understand so you can feel more stupid … seriously tho ? you have nothing better to come up whit ? people can’t make example about a animal ?

[@ivanraimi5524]

It's toxoplasma

[@ThePromisedWLAN]

1:00 Yes Michio, your advanced cleverness has finally unraveled fantasy TROPES. Who knew that so many fiction writers weren't trying to write hard sci-fi? lol

[@melindabendle6459]

When up from The Brain Surgery in Santa Barbara CA..I Thought I was just out of High School..I did not Know I was much Older..😘

[@Merick123456789]

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us"~Calvin(from Calvin and Hobbes)

[@darkshad109]

That quote is one of the only things that makes me think "that's some stupid hippy shit right there". Imagine we found a planet with the least intelligent life form imaginable, doing 'stupid' stuff all day long, would we not be ecstatic? I know I'm doing exactly what the video described but either way, if an alien race skips over life on Earth, it will be for a reason other than humanities silly antics.

[@Merick123456789]

you do know this is a joke right? those things people make from time to time that really aren't meant to be interpreted as serious? you must be the life of any party

[@darkshad109]

Merick Oh no, tons of people on KZbin definitely say it in a literal manner. Out of interest, what was you trying to do with that comment?

[@AppleJacksApple1]

they should make a new alien invasion movie where the aliens are non-territorial. Instead, they just crawl around the earth for no apparent reason.

[@creativeltu]

District 9!

[@tonycatman]

Erm. You mean like Justin Beiber fans ?

[@jansarmiento9219]

man this man always makes my day.

[@eldritchone1319]

Preach, Kaku. It's absolutely frustrating.

[@Masterpieceman16]

He's right on them not necessarily being territorial and here to conquer. I believe if there are beings out there who are smart enough to figure out how to travel at such great distances in outer space, they would be smart enough to know that killing is wrong and they would understand the importance of peace.

[@TWCGroup]

Ok, but what I don't understand is what kind of peaceful, presumably herbivore species would evolve intelligence in the first place? It would seem that carnivorous or mostly carnivorous species, like our ancestors, would be prime candidates to evolve more complex brains to work together to hunt. Problem solving is the hallmark of our species and it was because we needed to figure out how to forge tools, work together, hunt big animals, avoid stronger and faster predators, and kill other hominid enemies. How does such intelligence arise without these evolutionary pressures on a species? Hence any species with intelligence of our magnitude or greater would be, on a primitive level at least, very territorial, expansionist, aggressive, and probably eat some meat. After all, all of the intelligent animals he listed were meat eaters. Please tell me if I'm wrong. However, presumably they would have to evolve a neo-cortex similar to ours to control their baser impulses to be at all peaceful. And even then, why should they be peaceful? How does that advance their purpose in this universe?

[@ObnoxiouslyHappyDude]

If you mean some sort of human-like intelligence then no, most of the more technologically advanced societies in history have been pretty violent (the Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, etc) but if you mean a complete and total alien mind then it could go either way, they could have a different concept of good and evil, they could understand feelings, life and dead in a very different way

[@Masterpieceman16]

TWCGroup Killing was a necessary step in our evolutionary process, I agree. But now we're at a point where we don't need to be killing. Now that we have become this smart we can see the benefits to peace as well. We can thank our ancestors for doing the dirty work, I guess. It's in the past though. Kind of hard to explain but maybe you can understand what I'm saying.

[@name7251]

TWCGroup As much as I agree with you I don't think an alien race would come here to start a war,if they will come here for war then they will probably be desperate for resources or just very agressive but it is also very likely that they will just want to explore.Your answer was correct but your question was wrong,you asked what race would evolve intellegence in the first place if its peacefull?Well they don't need to be agressive,they just need to be curious,and if that species of aliens have advanced technology then they must be curious,therefor it is most likely that they will come here to explore,its even fit to us,are we a peacefull race?No but we aren't that agressive either,but we are curious,I bet that the first time we will send a spaceship to find life in the universe,it will be for exploration purposes,not conquest and war,and i'm sure that every other advanced species would do the same(unless they are desperate for resources,in that case they can be agressive because survival is the most important thing in evolution).

[@traviscole8548]

Name We are in agreement.

[@trceb]

That's why we haven't came across aliens yet. They already predicted we will self destruct and see earth as a waste of time.

[@aaquibkhan4989]

Insightful !

[@RH3D]

Thats a really nice tie

[@collinberend7566]

Alien = Type 3 vs Human = Type 0.7 Yea they would beat us, but they would be beyond petty wars that they would fight us for being human.

[@denisthornhill8737]

not true, there could be aliens out there with a lesser intellegence that are just starting to develop as a civilization. Or aliens that are type 0.7's like us. we just don't know yet because we have not found them.

[@collinberend7566]

Denis Thornhill You clearly did not read what I posted. Thus your comment on it being not true is a complete fallacy. I said, a type *3* to a 0.7 (us). I specifically put the two set types to each other.

[@denisthornhill8737]

poop, my bad xD

[@collinberend7566]

Denis Thornhill Haha, its fine. I possibly came off as an ass in that post.

[@denisthornhill8737]

all good man, on youtube alot of people try to attack others comments. i wouldve said the same. xD

[@akashdeo6228]

But what if the cats are alien spies?!

[@dropoutsproduction4831]

Akash Deo Actually they are. There is a tv show called Kid vs Cat based on this. That must be true indeed.

[@alansmithee4895]

Akash Deo there IS infact, a feline tyoe alien specie.

[@makeithappen4208]

The cat part is so lovely 😻

[@AS-vq3ep]

Cook thanks for explaining Art for me MK...

[@AlexIr99]

Yo Michio...What's up with your hand? Did you punch someone? 0:23

[@draculakickyourass]

+Alex Shady Nothing serioous,just some arguments between physics profesors:))) In extreme cases he pulls out the katana and the other puts down his wooden pointer and surrenders:)))

[@jayreyes6300]

+n04n1m0u5 lmao katana ...

[@jboon4175]

I was just wondering that! Looked through the comments to see if anyone else noticed. Maybe his human suit started cracking and he had to tape it down?

[@seri4832]

creatonists.

[@neales198]

I think eye sight would be pretty important for an extraterrestrial being though. . Smell, touch, hearing, and even taste all work through interactions of molecules. But eye sight works through light, electromagnetic radiation. A being that is not focused on light, can't make out stars since there is no feasible way for them to bring wonder to these alien creatures. There might be equipment that lets creatures not focused on seeing be able to "see" and detect light very well, but their brains probably won't be hardwired for it. So I wouldn't rag on eyesight too much if it comes to aliens that would contact Earth.

[@0218shashank]

neales198 what if they can sense dark matter or dark energy

[@sstuddert]

What if they can smell or taste light rather than see it in the sense that we do?

[@Callummullans]

I think the film arrival is really cool and explores alien evolution and the different perspectives and communication.

[@dumamihd]

Dr. Kaku I would love to meet you in person!

[@qhack]

interesting... I wonder what the outcome of a war between two technologically equal societies would be if one is based on sight and the other is based on smell.

[@V8ToYy]

would be easier to guide a nuke by vision :)

[@ThiagowwW10]

V8ToYy True, but I'm sure the "smell" society would create an equivalent weapon that is based on smell. So the winner is anybody's guess.

[@qhack]

V8ToYy We don't guide our nukes by vision. The only modern weapon that could be considered to use sight to guide it, is the heat seeking missile. I guess we should also consider small arms as visual, but again, a society based on smell would have the technology to aim with smell. It does make for an interesting thought experiment.

[@kabazziisaac9456]

"not just British English but they speak perfect American English"---hilarious

[@KateeAngel]

"Perfect" and "American English" must not be in the same phrase ever...

[@Jacno77]

smart man, because hes able to clarify difficult things into simple terms

[@carlosisapimp]

This is absolutely true 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@highvoltage47]

While it is true that sentient life from other planets may not have the same thought processes as humans do, in fiction, it only makes sense to depict them of having human-like qualities because that is the closest thing we can compare them to. To completely make up a behavior, or to derive one from a less intelligent organism, would probably even be a more inaccurate portrayal of an actual alien, if they exist.

[@CaudilloSilovik]

I agree with your analysis. On the one hand, we should view science fiction as just another way to tell a story with human heroes and from the perspective of human heroes. Think of it as religious stories answering the question What would Jesus do? while science fiction stories answer the question What would Captain Kirk do? The aliens are only there to present a challenge to our hero. On the other hand, it is useful for Dr. Michio Kaku to start the discussion with what we have been shown so he can make comparisons with what reality should be.

[@nicholasgilbert4227]

***** I agree with you, well almost.. the presumption at the very end "what reality should be". No one really at this point knows, with all the possible answers, what Should be. for all we know we are the ultra intelligent aliens that will visit another planet in some distant future. Or perhaps "Independence Day" is dead accurate... food for thought?

[@CaudilloSilovik]

Nicholas Gilbert More agreement. My last sentence was too strong in saying we have a clue about reality of life beyond our solar system.

[@lowkey8337]

i think the point he is trying to make is that an alien's process of evolution would more than likely be completely different to ours, hence its qualities/behaviours, etc make no sense to be so similar to humans

[@bodhisativaa]

What exactly is Michios field of research ? Is he just a genius in every single field of science and philosophy ?

[@sexybeast7728]

string theory is his daily job

[@user-nk6qr8te6h]

Very well said

[@dmaclife2508]

there are the answers i was looking for

[@keziah11412]

My cat snuggles with me and licks my face, your telling me he doesn't love me? I'm sad now

[@IgnemFeram01]

Your cat probably does love you. He probably loves you as much as a twelve year old boy loves an Xbox or Playstation.

[@DocFlamingo]

Emotions (and all the same ones) are common to all mammalian species. Your cat loves you. I'd be safecrackers are also a lot smarter than cops as a rule since they have an actual skill that requires a degree of cognition. Dr. Kaku is a an arrogant ass that makes baseless assumptions well-outside the field of physics where he has been properly trained. He isalso a shameless social elitist with a narcissistic compulsion to place things in definitive hierarchies, including different groups of people-especially along class lines--as he lets slip here.

[@IgnemFeram01]

DocFlamingo Are you trolling or are you angry for no reason?

[@MrPlausibleDenial]

He will eat you if you die...

[@DocFlamingo]

So will your family if they start starving.

[@jonmina123]

Kaku should watch enders game o:

[@physicsimpossible73]

omg I really want to see that it looks amazing!!

[@vaibhavgupta20]

Epicnerd73 novel is good to if u want to explore how alien brain might work. novel series show about 4 diffrent kind of aliens

[@physicsimpossible73]

Vaibhav Gupta cool

[@rodelbunag9823]

I respect this man for being brilliant.

[@KevinP32270]

Love Dr Kaku.

[@jeremiahf2361]

Is he hinting that we are being manipulated and controlled by aliens right now? I knew it!

[@VikingBladeWorks]

+J Fraz (GuinessBookOfNoMan) No, I think he insinuated it was cats.....

[@SquirrelASMR]

So according to him, That's So Raven is the most intelligent human?

[@Kinobambino]

Squirrel ASMR damn right

[@UnclePockets]

Conscious-- ness. (0:59 made me giggle, I love him)

[@TaariqHassim2]

Watching this video made me appreciate The Arrival as a movie even more.

[@madman026]

lol good job of dumbing down the subject matter for us stupid people much love Michio :)

[@Abracastabya]

It looks as if you created the spacing for the punctuation but forgot to add it lol.

[@supermastergod]

Mr. Kaku will you be my father? Please.

[@avalovesblcds]

a world of feeling, and colour they feel

[@212th]

Love this guy. He has a good point.