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Home > The Edge Question 2018 - 8

The Edge Question 2018 - 8 [1]

 

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Andrei LindeAndrei [15]
Theoretical Physicist, Stanford; Father of Eternal Chaotic Inflation; Inaugural Recipient, Fundamental Physics Prize

 

 

 

 

Where were the laws of physics written before the universe was born?

 

 

 

 

Tonia LombrozoTania [16]
Professor of Psychology, UC Berkeley

 

 

 

 

How will advances in mental prosthetics that connect us with other human and machine minds change the way we think about expertise?

 

 

 

 

Antony Garrett LisiAntony Garrett [17]
Theoretical physicist

 

 

 

 

What is the fundamental geometric structure underlying reality?

 

 

 

 

Mario LivioMario [18]
Astrophysicist; Author, Why?: What Makes Us Curious

 

 

 

 

Will it ever be possible to download the information stored in the human brain?

 

 

 

 

Seth LloydSeth [19]
Professor of Quantum Mechanical Engineering, MIT; Author, Programming the Universe

 

 

 

 

How did our complex universe arise out of simple physical laws?

 

 

 

 

Jonathan B. LososJonathan B. [20]
Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America, Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University; Curator in Herpetology, Museum of Comparative Zoology; Author, Improbable Destinies

 

 

 

 

How will evolution shape the biological world one hundred years from now, or one hundred thousand?

 

 

 

 

Greg LynnGreg [21]
Owner, Greg Lynn FORM office; Ordentlicher University Professor of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna; Studio Professor, UCLA School of Arts and Architecture

 

 

 

 

Can we train machines to design and construct a humane and vibrant built environment for us?

 

 

 

 

Ziyad MararZiyad [22]
President of Global Publishing, SAGE; Author, Judged: The Value of Being Misunderstood

 

 

 

 

How will people focus more on forming the right question, before rushing headlong towards the answer?

 

 

 

 

Gary MarcusGary [23]
Professor of Psychology, Director NYU Center for Language and Music; Author, Guitar Zero

 

 

 

 

Why are humans still so much more flexible in their thinking and everyday reasoning than machines?

 

 

 

 

John MarkoffJohn [24]
Pulitzer Prize-winning Reporter, The New York Times; Author, Machines of Loving Grace

 

 

 

 

How will the world be changed when battery storage technology improves at the same exponential rate seen in computer chips in recent decades?

 

 

 

 

Chiara MarlettoChiara [25]
Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College and Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Materials Department, University of Oxford; Currently working with David Deutsch

 

 

 

 

Is the number of interesting questions finite or not?

 

 

 

 

Abigail MarshAbigail [26]
Associate Professor of Psychology, Georgetown University

 

 

 

 

When in the evolution of animal life did the capacity to experience love for another being first emerge?

 

 

 

 

Barnaby MarshBarnaby [27]
Evolutionary dynamics scholar; Program in Evolutionary Dynamics, Harvard University; Visitor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

 

 

 

 

How much of what we call "reality" is ultimately grounded and instantiated in convincing communication and storytelling?

 

 

 

 

John C. MatherJohn C. [28]
Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate; Senior Astrophysicist, Observational Cosmology Laboratory, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

 

 

 

 

What is the master principle governing the growth and evolution of complex systems?

 

 

 

 

Tim MaudlinTim [29]
Professor of Philosophy, NYU

 

 

 

 

Why are people so seldom persuaded by clear evidence and rational argument?

 

 

 

 

Annalena McAfeeAnnalena [30]
Journalist; Founding Editor of The Guardian's literary supplement, the Guardian Review; Author, Hame

 

 

 

 

Is love really all you need?

 

 

 

 

Michael McCulloughMichael [31]
Professor of Psychology, Director, Evolution and Human Behavior Laboratory, University of Miami; Author, Beyond Revenge.

 

 

 

 

Are humans ever really capable of regarding others as ends in themselves?

 

 

 

 

Ian McEwanIan [32]
Novelist; Author, Sweet Tooth; Solar; On Chesil Beach; Nutshell

 

 

 

 

If the sum of all significant knowledge is finite, what proportion of it can humans, aided by intelligent machines, eventually attain?

 

 

 

 

Ryan McKayRyan [33]
Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of London

 

 

 

 

Will we be one of the last generations in human history that dies?

 

 

 

 

Hugo MercierHugo [34]
Cognitive Scientist, French National Center for Scientific Research; Co-author (with Dan Sperber) of The Enigma of Reason

 

 

 

 

Can major historical events, from the advent of moral religions to the industrial revolution, be explained by changes in life history strategies?

 

 

 

 

Thomas MetzingerThomas [35]
Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz; Adjunct Fellow, Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Study; Author, The Ego Tunnel

 

 

 

 

What is the most intelligent and efficient way to minimize the overall amount of conscious suffering in the universe?

 

 

 

 

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Links
[1] https://www.edge.org/the-edge-question-2018-8
[2] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question
[3] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-7
[4] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-1
[5] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-3
[6] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-4
[7] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-5
[8] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-6
[9] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-9
[10] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-10
[11] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-11
[12] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-12
[13] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-13
[14] https://www.edge.org/the-last-question-14
[15] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/andrei_linde
[16] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/tania_lombrozo
[17] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/antony_garrett_lisi
[18] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/mario_livio
[19] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/seth_lloyd
[20] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/jonathan_b_losos
[21] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/greg_lynn
[22] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/ziyad_marar
[23] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/gary_marcus
[24] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/john_markoff
[25] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/chiara_marletto
[26] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/abigail_marsh
[27] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/barnaby_marsh
[28] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/john_c_mather
[29] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/tim_maudlin
[30] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/annalena_mcafee
[31] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/michael_mccullough
[32] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/ian_mcewan
[33] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/ryan_mckay
[34] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/hugo_mercier
[35] https://www.edge.org/memberbio/thomas_metzinger
[36] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-2
[37] http://www.edge.org/the-last-question-14