YouSaid · the spoken record

Michael Stevens

lines on the record: 61
first: 2019-12-17
most recent: 2019-12-17
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“This is not me feeling like I hope that I have this powerful legacy. It's like, no matter who you are, you will. You also have to embrace The fact that that impact might look really small and that's okay. One of my favorite quotes is from Tessa the Derbervilles. And it's along the lines of the measure of your life depends on not your external displacement, but your subjective experience. If I am happy and those that I love are happy, Can that be enough? Because if so, excellent”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Memory exists. And what I mean by that is we are recording things about the world and we're learning things and writing stories and all of this and preserving that is truly what I think The essence of being a human. We Autobiographers of the universe, and we're really good at it. We're better than fossils. We're better than light spectrum. We're better than any of that. We collect much more detailed memories of what's happening, much better data. And so that should be our legacy. And I hope that that's kind of mine too in terms of people remembering something or me having some kind of effect. But even if I don't, you can't not have an effect.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But even if they didn't, you know, I still think that there will be ripples. Like when I say memory, I don't specifically mean people remember my name and my birth date and have like there's a photo of me on Wikipedia. Like all that can be lost, but I still would hope that people ask questions and teach concepts in some of the ways that I have found useful and satisfying, even if they don't know that I was the one who tried to popularize it. That's fine. But if Earth was completely destroyed, like burnt to a crisp, everything on it today, the universe wouldn't care. Like Jupiter is not going to go, oh no. And that could happen. We do, however, have the power to launch things into space to try to extend how long our”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And how I live on as that memory will maybe not even be who I want it to be. But there's something powerful about that and there's something powerful about letting Future people run the show themselves. I think I'm glad to get out of their way at some point and say, all right, it's your world now.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it makes me realize that I am destined to become a notion. I'm destined to become a memory. And we can extend life. I think there's really exciting things being done to extend life, but we still don't know how to like, you know, protect you from some accident that could happen, you know, some unforeseen thing. Maybe we could save my connectome and like recreate my consciousness digitally. But even that could be lost if it's stored on a physical medium or something. So basically, I just think that Embracing and realizing how cool it is that someday I will just be an idea. And there won't be a Michael anymore that can be like, no, that's not what I meant. It'll just be what people like they have to guess what I meant and they'll remember me”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I think even people who don't think they like it should still be really aware of it because it's such an important thing. Such an influential thing. But yeah, I just wish that new channels I discover and that I subscribe to. I wish that my subscribers found out about that because especially in the education community, a rising tide floats all boats. If you watch a video from number file, you're just more likely to want to watch an episode from me, whether it be on VSOS one or Ding. It's not competitive in the way that traditional TV was where it's like, well, if you tune into that show, it means you're not watching mine because they both air at the same time. So helping each other out through collaborations takes a lot of work, but just through engaging, commenting on their videos, liking their videos, subscribing to them, whatever, that I would love to see become easier and more powerful.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I would like that to happen more. And I think we would see communities being stronger on YouTube if it was that way. Instead of YouTube going, well, technically, Michael liked this Veritasium video, but people are way more likely to click on Carpal Karaoke. So I don't even care who they are, just give them that. Not say anything against Carpool Karaoke, that is an extremely important part of our society, what it means to be a human on earth. Yeah. You know, but”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What I would like to see is I miss the days when engaging with content on YouTube helped push it into my subscribers timelines. It used to be that when I liked a video, say from Veritasium, it would show up in the feed on the front page of the app or the website of my subscribers. And I knew that if I liked a video, I could send it 100,000 views or more. That no longer is true. But I think that was a good user experience. When I subscribed to someone, when I'm following them, I want to see more of what they like. I want them to also curate the feed for me. And I think that Twitter and Facebook are doing that in also some ways that are kind of annoying.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Could still promote it more for the good of society, but then we're making some really weird claims about what's good for society because I think that cat videos are also an incredibly important part of what it means to be a human. I mentioned this quote before from Unumuno about look, I've seen a cat estimate distances and calculate a jump more often than I've seen a cat cry. And so things that play with our emotions and make us feel things can be cheesy and can feel cheap. But like, man, that's very human. And so even the dumbest vlog is still so important. That I don't think I have a better claim to take its spot than it has to have that spot.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it's interesting what should they think about? Because it's called YouTube, not our Tube. And that's why I think they have so many phenomenal educational creators. You don't have shows like Three Blue One Brown or Physics Girl or Looking Glass Universe or Up and Atom or Brain Scoop or, I mean, I could go on and on. They aren't on Amazon Prime and Netflix and they don't have commissioned shows from those platforms. It's all organically happening because there are people out there that want to share their passion for learning, that want to share their curiosity. YouTube could promote those kinds of shows more, but like, first of all, They probably wouldn't get as many clicks, and YouTube needs to make sure that the average user is always clicking and staying on the site.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Decides how to behave, and sometimes the YouTube employees are left going, I don't know. Maybe we should change the value of how much it worries about watch time. And maybe it should worry more about something else. I don't know. But I would like to see. Don't know what they're doing and not doing.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right. And I don't think that even anyone at YouTube really knows what it's doing. They know what they've tweaked, but then it learns. I think that it learns and it...”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But there are other audiences out there that want that. I think most people kind of want what you see the algorithm favoring, which is mainstream traditional celebrity and news kind of information. I mean, that's what makes YouTube really different than other streaming platforms. No one's like, what's going on in the world? I'll open up Netflix to find out. But you do open up Twitter to find that out. You open up Facebook. You can open up YouTube because you'll see that the trending videos are like, what happened amongst the traditional mainstream people in different industries? That's what's being shown. And it's not necessarily YouTube saying we want that to be what you see. It's that that's what people click on. When they see Ariana Grande, you know, reads a love letter from her high school sweetheart. They're like, I want to see that. And when they see a video from me that's got some lines in math and it's called Law and Causes, they're like, well, I mean, I'm just on the bus. Like, I don't have time to dive into a whole lesson.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And what if the title is just a word? And I kind of feel like all of the VSOS channels of cultivating an audience that expects that. And so they would rather Jake make a video that's just called Stains. Then one called I explored stains shocking.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I've been really lucky in that I don't. Worried too much about the algorithm. I mean, look at my thumbnails. I don't really Go too wild with them. And with minefield, where I'm in partnership with YouTube on the thumbnails, I'm often like, let's pull this back. Let's be mysterious. Usually I'm just trying to do whatever is not doing. So if everyone's doing crazy Photoshop kind of thumbnails, I'm like, what if the thumbnail's just a line?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Both. In the aggregate, it's reflecting back what people on average want to watch. And when you see things being recommended to you, it's reflecting back what it thinks you want to see. And specifically, I would guess that it's not just what you want to see, but what you will click on and what you will watch some of and stay on YouTube because of. I don't think that This is all me guessing, but I don't think that YouTube As long as the next thing you do is open another video. If you close the app or close the site, that's a problem for them because they're not a subscription platform. They're not like, look, you're giving us 20 bucks a month no matter what. So who cares? They need you to watch and spend time there and see ads.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think of the algorithm as a mirror. It reflects what people put in. And we don't always like what we see in that mirror.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I'm just hoping to encourage curiosity and responsible thinking and an embracement of doubt and being okay with that.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Other people So I try to keep that in mind and say, look, thanks for watching. VSOS is not VSAS, you are. When I start the episodes, I say, hey, VSOS, Michael here. And Michael are actually a different thing in my mind. I don't know if that's always clear, but yeah, I have to approach it that way because it's not about me.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's a burden, and I try to reproach it with a lot of Humility and sharing. Like, I'm not out there doing a lot of scientific experiments. I am sharing the work of real scientists. And I'm celebrating their work that they think and the power of curiosity. But I want to make it clear at all times that like, look, we don't know all the answers and I don't think we're ever going to reach a point where we're like, wow, and there you go. That's the universe. It's this equation. You plug in some conditions or whatever, and you do the math and you know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't think we're ever going to reach that point. But I think that there is a tendency to sometimes believe in science and become elitist and become, I don't know, hard when in reality it should humble you and make you feel smaller. I think there's something very beautiful about feeling very, very small and very weak and to feel that you need to be.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“How do you responsibly manage that? And maybe it doesn't worry him at all. And that's fine too. But I'd be really curious. And I think there are a lot of people that go through this when they realize, whoa, there are a lot of eyes on me. There are a lot of people who really take what I say very earnestly and take it to heart and will defend me. And that's... That can be dangerous. And you have to be responsible with it.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so it's really exciting, but I also think that a lot of responsibility comes with that kind of power. So like if I met him, I would love to hear how he feels about the responsibility he has. When there are people who are such a fan of your ideas and your dreams and share them so closely with you. You have a lot of power. And he didn't always have that. You know, he wasn't born as Elon Musk. Well, he was. But, well, he was named that later. But the point is that I want to know the psychology of becoming a figure like him. Well, I don't even know how to phrase the question right, but it's a question about what do you do when you're following your fans become so, you know large that it's almost bigger than you.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What's really inspiring? I mean, look at the fandom that he's amassed. It's not common for someone like that to have such a following. Engineering.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We are not alone as an organism. And so the technology we create, whether it be video games or artificial intelligence that can self-replicate and hate us, it's actually all the same organism. When you're in a car, where do you end in the car begin? It seems like a really easy question to answer. But the more you think about it, the more you realize, wow, we are in this symbiotic relationship with our inventions. And there are plenty of people who are worried about it, and there should be. But it's inevitable.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, yeah, and I mean, let me even throw this out. Like, what is artificial intelligence? How can it be artificial? I really think that we get pretty obsessed and stuck on the idea that there is some thing that is a wild human, a pure human organism without technology. I don't think that's a real thing. I think that humans and human technology are one organism. Look at my glasses. Okay, if an alien came down and saw me, would they necessarily know that this is an invention that I don't grow these organically from my body? They wouldn't know that right away. And the written word and spoons and cups, these are all pieces of technology.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'd like to find an answer that is, well, All human life is worthy. And if you have an 83% chance of becoming a psychopath, well, You still deserve dignity.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What if they become mean people? What if they're thieves? Maybe we should just not have babies born? Like maybe we shouldn't create AI? It's like, you know, we will want to have safeguards in place. The same way that we know look a kid could be born that becomes some kind of evil person, but we have laws.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And so, you know, I think, however, these conversations are really important to have because, again, we learn a lot about ourselves. If we're really scared of some kind of AI, like coming into being that is conscious or whatever and can self-replicate, we already do that every day. It's called humans being born. They're not artificial. They're humans, but they're intelligent. And I don't want to live in a world where we're worried about babies being born because what if they become evil?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I don't know what the right balance is of how many people should be worried and how worried should they be, but we're always worried about new technology. We know that Plato was worried about the written word. He's like, we shouldn't teach people to write because then they won't use their minds to remember things. There have been concerns over technology and its advancement since the beginning of recorded history.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Trolley Problem episode. And I'm like, wow, what should a car do if this really weird contrived scenario happens where it has to swerve and like save the driver but kill a kid? And he's like, well, you know, what would a human do? And if we resist technological progress because we're worried about all of these little issues, then it gets in the way. And we shouldn't avoid those problems, but we shouldn't allow them to be stumbling blocks to advancement.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And its power, you've reached this important hurdle. And the reason the skies are so empty is that no one's ever managed to survive as a civilization once they have that destructive power. And when it comes to AI, I'm not really very worried because I think that there are plenty of other people that are already worried enough. And oftentimes these worries are just They just get in the way of progress. And they're questions that we should address later And I think I talk about this in my interview with the self-driving autonomous vehicle guy. I think it was a bonus scene from.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, of course I do, especially the weapons that we create. There's all kinds of famous ways to think about this. And one is that, wow, what if we don't see advanced alien civilizations because of the danger of technology? What if we reach a point? And I think there's a channel thoughty too. Jeez, I wish I remembered the name of the channel. But he delves into this kind of limit of maybe once you discover radioactivity.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right, I think that's a really good instinct to have. If the robot Screams and moans, even if you don't believe that it has the mental experience, the qualia of pain and suffering, I think it's still a good instinct to say, you know what, I'd rather not.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“If there was a chat bot that was incredibly, I don't know, really had a personality and. If I didn't, the turning test, right? Like if I'm unable to tell that it's not another person, but then I was shown a bunch of wires and mechanical components. And it was like, that's actually what you're talking to. I don't know if I would feel that guilty destroying it. I would feel guilty because clearly it's well made and it's a really cool thing. It's like destroying a really cool car or something. But I would not feel like I was a murderer. So yeah, at what point would I start to feel that way? And this is such a subjective psychological question. If you give it movement or if you have it. Act as though, or perhaps really feel pain as I destroy it and scream. And resist, then I'd feel bad”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Know what intelligence means. That's my biggest question at the moment. And I think it's because my instinct is always to go, well, what are the foundations here of our discussion? What does it mean? Be intelligent? How do we measure the intelligence of an artificial machine or a program or something?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, in small spaces, like the ones we work in, we can essentially assume that gravity is uniform. But it's not. It is weaker the further you are from the earth, and it also is going to be, it's radially pointed towards the middle of the earth. So a really large object will feel tidal forces because of that non-uniformness. And we can take advantage of that with satellites, right? Gravitational induced torque. It's a great way to align your satellite without having to use fuel or any kind of engine.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I know there are a lot of response videos that kind of go through the episode and are pro flat Earth. But I don't know if there's a larger community of. Unorthodox thinkers today than there have been in the past And I just want to not lose them. I want them to keep listening and thinking. And by calling them all idiots or something, that does no good. How idiotic are they really? I mean The Earth isn't a sphere at all. Like, we know that it's an oblate spheroid. And that in and of itself is really interesting. And I investigated that in which way is down, where I'm like, really, down does not point towards the center of the earth. It points in different direction, depending on what's underneath you. And what's above you and what's around you, the whole universe is. Is tugging on me”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I really have no idea. I haven't looked at the likes and dislikes on the flat earth video. And so I would wonder if it has a greater percentage of dislikes than usual. Is that because of people disliking it because they think that it's a video about Earth being flat and they find that ridiculous and they dislike it without even really watching much? Do they wish that I was more dismissive of flatter theories?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, even if a disc, the size of Earth would be impossible. I think anything larger than like the moon basically needs to be a sphere. Because gravity will round it out. So, you can't have a teacup the size of Jupiter, right? There's a great book about a teacup in the universe that I highly recommend. I don't remember the author. I forget her name, but it's a wonderful book. So look it up. I think it's called Teacup in the Universe.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right, because what's really nice about it is that it's a funny thought experiment, but you actually wind up accidentally learning a whole lot about gravity. And about relativity and geometry. And I think that's really the goal of what I'm doing. I'm not trying to convince people that the Earth is round. I feel like you either believe that it is or you don't. And how can I change that? I can do is change how you think and how you are introduced to important concepts like, well, how does gravity operate? Oh, it's all about this center of mass of an object. So right, on a sphere, we're all pulled towards the middle. Essentially the centroid, geometrically, but on a disk, ooh, you're going to be pulled at a weird angle if you're out near the edge. And that stuff's fascinating.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I still can't prove that I'm not living in a simulation, that I'm not a brain and a vac, that this isn't all an elaborate ruse created by some technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilization. So there's always some doubt. And that's fine. That's exciting.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, yeah, I mean, let me go on record And say that The earth is not flat. It is a three-dimensional spheroid. However, Don't know that, and it has not been proven. Signs doesn't prove anything. It just reduces uncertainty. Could the Earth actually be flat? Extremely unlikely. Extremely unlikely. And so it is a ridiculous notion if we care about how probable and certain our ideas might be. But I think it's incredibly important to talk about science in that way and to not resort to, well, it's true. It's true in the same way that a mathematical theorem is true. And I think we're kind of like being pretty pedantic about defining this stuff. Sure, I could take a rocket ship out and I could orbit Earth and look at it, and it would look like a ball, right?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The earth is probably not flat, but a flat earth believer can respond to every single one of them. But it's all in an ad hoc way. And all of their rebuttals aren't necessarily going to form a cohesive, non-contradictory whole. And I believe that's the episode where I talk about Occam's razor and Newton's flaming laser sword. And then I say, well, you know what? Wait a second. We know that. Space contracts as you move. And so to a particle moving near the speed of light towards Earth, Earth would be flattened in the direction of that particle's travel. So to them, Earth is flat. Like, we need to be really generous to even wild ideas because they're all thinking. They're all the communication of ideas. And what else can it mean to be a human?”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, the flat earth society. I don't know if it's dot com or.org, but I went there and I was reading their ideas and how they responded to typical criticisms of, well, the earth isn't flat because what about this? I could not tell, and I mentioned this in my video, I couldn't tell how many of these Community members actually believed the earth was flat or were just trolling. And I realized that the fascinating thing is how do we know anything and what makes for a good belief versus a maybe not so tenable or good belief? And so that's really what my video about earth being flat is about. It's about, look, there are a lot of reasons.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, well, it's a long story. I remember. A long time ago, I was living in New York at the time, so it had to have been like 2009 or something. I visited the Flat Earth Forums. And this was before Flat Earth theories became as sort of mainstream as they are.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When you look at a lot of revolutionary ideas, they were not accepted right away. And Galileo had a couple of problems with the authorities. And later thinkers, Descartes was like, all right, look, I kind of agree with Galileo, but I'm going to have to. Not say that. I'll have to create and invent and write different things that keep me from being in trouble, but we still slowly made progress.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know. I'm impressed by scientists every day and revolutions in our knowledge of the world occur. Only under very special circumstances, it is very scary to challenge conventional thinking and risky because let's go back to elitism and ego, right? If you just say, you know what, I believe in the spirits of... Created by invisible creatures that transfer themselves between objects. If you ridicule every other theory and say that you're correct, then ego gets involved and you just don't go anywhere. But fundamentally, the question of, well, what is a force is incredibly important. We need to have that conversation, but it needs to be done in this very political way of like, let's be respectful of everyone and let's realize that we're all learning together and not shutting out other people. And so...”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, and by the way, the laziness of the ghost is in proportion to the mass of the object. So, boom, prove me wrong. Every experiment, well, you can never find the ghost. And so none of that theory is scientific. But once I start saying, can I see the ghost? Why should there be a ghost? And if there aren't ghosts, what might I expect? And I start to do different tests to see, is this falsifiable? Are there things that should happen if there are ghosts or are there things that shouldn't happen? And do they, you know, what do I observe? Now I'm thinking scientifically. I don't think of science as, wow, a picture of a black hole. That's just a photograph. That's an image. That's data. That's a sensory and perception experience. Science is how we got that and how we understand it and how we believe in it and how we reduce our uncertainty around what it means.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's certainly a huge part of what it means to be a human. If I were to say, you know what, I don't believe in forces. I think that when I push on a massive object, a ghost leaves my body and enters the object I'm pushing and these ghosts happen to just get really lazy when they're around massive things. And that's why F equals A.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I don't know if I am a scientist. I think science is a way of knowing. And There are a lot of questions I investigate that are not scientific questions. Unlike minefield, we have definitely done scientific experiments and studies that had hypotheses and all of that. But not to be too precious about what does the word science mean. But I think I would just describe myself as curious, and I hope that that curiosity is contagious.”
2019-12-17 · Lex Fridman Podcast · Michael Stevens: Vsauce · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source