Prof. Lawrence Krauss is a world-famous theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and activist against superstition whom I have dreamed of interviewing for years. So, when we finally booked the date, I feverishly spent a full week reading his last 2 books and watching 20+ hours of his past interviews and documentaries. Alas, I got the flu and didn’t manage to sleep at all the last couple of days before the interview. Lawrence, in turn, had a route canal done just the day before. And so I feel that I could have and should have done a much better job of this interview but, as Krauss says, “most experiments fail the first time”. Good news is that I will use this as an excuse to ask for another interview.
During our 90 min discussion with Lawrence Krauss we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: his desire to enjoy the universe and have adventures; his activism in support of freedom from religion; the current case of a young Saudi Arabian sentenced to death for blasphemy; Krauss’ concerns about democracy in general and President Trump in particular; growing up in Canada and how that’s impacted on his view of the government; why he wears red Converse sneakers on stage; The Greatest Story Ever Told… So Far; his take on the technological singularity; Ray Kurzweil, futurism and teleology; why, like me, he disagrees with Jaan Tallinn on the greatest existential risk to humanity; D-Wave Quantum Computers and the Penrose-Hameroff Quantum Theory of Consciousness; Frank J. Tipler’s claim about quantum mechanics and Christianity; the strengths and weaknesses of science and technology; free will, determinism, and ethics; death and immortality…
My favorite quote that I will take away from this interview with Prof. Lawrence Krauss is:
“The world is an amazing place that doesn’t need myth and superstition, but open questioning, awe and wonder.”
You can watch the full video interview here:https://www.singularityweblog.com/lawrence-krauss/
