Garret Lisi - The Theory of Everything

Garret Lisi-The Theory of Everything **

http://www.ted.com/talks/garrett_lisi_on_his_theory_of_everything.html

I'm going to come straight out and say that I understood maybe 30% of Garret Lisi's talk about elementary particles and their mechanics/patterns. Also, the length of my summary isn't due to detail so much as length of the video (20 minutes).

To start off, Lisi, shows a bunch of immensely long equations which are meant to describe particle physics. He talks about how corals (for those of you who don't know by now, corals are tiny organism), each of which is identical (genetically and physically[I think]) to its neighbors, can be used to explain particle physics and quantum mechanics. Each coral branches out, creating new corals which then branch out in an everlasting, if slow, process. He relates this to quantum mechanics, a branch of science which tells us about how the universe and everything in it, is constantly branching out with each new possibility. Of course this is something we can not perceive because of the limits of being human (not something I really understand well enough to explain). He sums up quantum mechanics with the saying “everything that can happen does”. Physics is meant to define what CAN happen within the laws of the universe, not what can happen on any person's whim (eg magic). Quantum mechanics describes HOW everything happens. Everything, according to Lisi, is based on sub-atomic particles and their interactions. Next up is a talk about these particles and how we know about them. When certain particles are sent through and collide in a particle accelerator (eg CERN in Geneva), they create new particles. The new particles have the total combined mass of the ones used to make them. He takes a bit of time to describe the various sub-atomic particles that can be created such as neutrinos (the neutral version of an electron), quarks (the particles that make protons and neutrons), and the generational particles (different versions of the previous particles with different masses). Also included are a variety of force particles such as gravity, “weak force”, and “strong force”. These forces influence the particles. In summary, there are over 200 different kinds of “elementary particles”. The next couple of minutes got incredibly complicated, with the plotting of particles and forces in the 2nd, 4th, and even 8th dimensions (If you want to learn about it, watch the video, because any explanation I could give would be almost word-for-word of what he said, stuff that I don't even get). Each new graph adds a new particle. By the time he gets to the 8th dimensional graph, the screen shows a complicated (and yet somehow pretty) set up of particles and forces. Even in this plot, there are missing particles which need to be discovered. Now this may all seem a bit random and pointless, but the whole idea behind this is to create pattern of particles and forces which fully describes the universe and how it works. In the end, it is theorized that the fully completed pattern (E8) contains around 248 particles. Now all of this is a theory. Lisi has yet to prove that his plots are physically true and real. After this explanation, Lisi talks about his research. He describes how a lot of physics is spent researching and coming up with new ideas to describe things. In order to “maintain sanity” while researching, he balances his life. Along with physics, Lisi focuses on surfing and his love life so that even if he fails in physics, he can have something to assure him that his life was well spent. Luckily for me, after Lisi finished his speech, another person walks on stage in order to ask him about how to relate the E8 theory to the recognizable version of physics (electrons, gravity, etc). Unfortunately, Lisi gives an explanation which, to me at least, made no sense.

Anthony Garret Lisi (1/24/68-today) was born and raised in Southern California (LA and San Diego respectively). In 1986, he graduated from Cate School in Carpinteria, California, although it seems that he didn't have a degree in any specific field. He later went on to receive a Bachelor's in both physics and math from UCLA ('91) and a PHD in physics form UCSD ('99). After finishing his studies, Lisi moved to Maui, Hawaii, where he volunteered at a Sudbury school (a school form which emphasizes free-learning) and spent his free time surfing and researching out of an old Volkswagen van. He later worked as a physics professor at the University of Hawaii in Maui. In 2006, Lisi received a research grant for his work on quantum mechanics and unification. Since then, he has been around the world giving lectures on his theory and has also written an article on it. Outside of physics, Lisi loves to surf (he's a sponsored member of a team in Oregon) and snowboard, along with many other adventure sports. He is also working on a film about a scientist who combines research and sports. Finally, he has come up with idea of a “science hostel”, places where scientists can go to work and live in beautiful areas.
Now, based on this TED talk, it may seem like I plan on going into physics and research and all that. However, I really have no idea. I chose this talk because I find the idea of sub-atomic particles and the make up of the universe interesting. This doesn't necessarily mean that I want to study it. In all honesty, it seems like a very tedious and time-intensive job which can end up a pile of useless notes and numbers on the off chance that something else is figured out. All in all, I still have yet to decide on a major. And I probably won't decide until much later. I know this'll sound weird, but I what I want to do is get a degree in every field that interests me in any way. This boils down to repeating college until I die, and then repeating it even more. I know it contradicts what I said earlier about not wanting to do tedious things, but that's just how it is. Of course I know that in the real world, this is virtually impossible unless you have an unlimited amount of money lying around. So I suppose I will have to settle. What I'm most likely going to end up doing is get a degree (PHD hopefully) in a hard science and some other non-science (literature maybe, or psychology). Or maybe I'll go into medicine and become an anesthesiologist (they make A LOT of money) or an orthodontist (a lot of money too). Either way, I plan on going the full college route and get fully and totally qualified to do whatever it is I choose. In the end though, I really just want to get to the point in life where I'm more or less completely stable (another paradox, yes) where I can spend my free time learning about whatever takes my fancy, whether it be science, music, or history. Now, as for internships and jobs while in college, I guess I'll just have to stick with your average cashier-store clerk, whatever that you think typical of a college student. At least until I figure out my major, at which point I'll look for openings in that field. Hopefully wherever I end up has plenty of opportunities for me.

**(Stephen Cisneros is the author of this post―he had trouble logging back in to post this so I'm posting it for him).