Freeman Dyson Has Died
nytimes.com
Freeman Dyson Has Died
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Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#2“It is remarkable that mind enters into our awareness of nature on two separate levels. At the highest level, the level of human consciousness, our minds are somehow directly aware of the complicated flow of electrical and chemical patterns in our brains. At the lowest level, the level of single atoms and electrons, the mind of an observer is again involved in the description of events. Between lies the level of molecular biology, where mechanical models are adequate and mind appears to be irrelevant. But I, as a physicist, cannot help suspecting that there is a logical connection between the two ways in which mind appears in my universe. I cannot help thinking that our awareness of our own brains has something to do with the process which we call "observation" in atomic physics. That is to say, I think our consciousness is not just a passive epiphenomenon carried along by the chemical events in our brains, but is an active agent forcing the molecular complexes to make choices between one quantum state and another. In other words, mind is already inherent in every electron, and the processes of human consciousness differ only in degree but not in kind from the processes of choice between quantum states which we call "chance" when they are made by electrons.”
― Freeman Dyson
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#3I think it would be appropriate to break out the black bar for this one.
For those not familiar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeman_Dyson
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#4I love his "Web of Stories": https://www.webofstories.com/play/freeman.dyson/1. Rest in peace.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#5About 4 years ago, I was a grad student in astrophysics at Princeton. Dyson worked at the Institute for Advanced Study which, while not officially part of the university was essentially an extension of the various departments (shared colloquiums, any researcher there was a valid thesis adviser, etc.).
The grad students have a tradition (or used to) called “Thunch” (Thursday Lunch) where they invite someone to come have lunch and hang out every week. It was by far one of the highlights of my life — maybe 10 people in the room max, eating pizza, shooting shit with some of the most impressive and accomplished people you could hope to meet — Nobel prize laureates, Neil deGrasse Tyson, famous authors, whoever would respond to our invitation (people tended to say yes). Dyson was one of them. At the time he was already like 92 years old, dressed in a suit, occasionally using a handkerchief, and this guy had just published a result in Nature. The guy was SHARP at 92. Nicest, most interesting person I have ever met. Knew Einstein from his early days at IAS. Worked on an early version of the space program that looked into launching people into space with large spring loaded contraptions that were to be propelled with nuclear weapons. Those were the days I guess...
So sorry to see he’s gone, the guy was a living legend.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#6He was the sanest mind on climate change: https://e360.yale.edu/features/freeman_dyson_takes_on_the_cl...
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#7RIP.
Here’s an article: https://www.mainepublic.org/post/renowned-mathematician-and-...
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#8“It is remarkable that mind enters into our awareness of nature on two separate levels. At the highest level, the level of human consciousness, our minds are somehow directly aware of the complicated flow of electrical and chemical patterns in our brains. At the lowest level, the level of single atoms and electrons, the mind of an observer is again involved in the description of events. Between lies the level of mole…
What a beautiful quote, thank you for sharing.
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#9I love his "Web of Stories": https://www.webofstories.com/play/freeman.dyson/1 . Rest in peace.
Yes, definitely marvelous. Also a Youtube Playlist. I'll put it on, go for a walk, and the time just disappears:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs1jGsn61p8&list=PLVV0r6CmEs...
Re: Freeman Dyson Has Died
#10About 4 years ago, I was a grad student in astrophysics at Princeton. Dyson worked at the Institute for Advanced Study which, while not officially part of the university was essentially an extension of the various departments (shared colloquiums, any researcher there was a valid thesis adviser, etc.). The grad students have a tradition (or used to) called “Thunch” (Thursday Lunch) where they invite someone to come ha…
He led the Orion project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls...
Dyson interview from 2016 on space colonies https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/home-on-lagrange/tran...