We talked to Alan Letterman, a professor of theoretical physics and creative writing at MIT, about the way the universe works | Science | Professor
What do you do on summer nights?
Overtime, watching TV shows, watching short videos, or exercising, shopping, chatting... Everyone has different ways of spending time, but everyone is seeking the joy and meaning of life in their own way.
On a summer night, Alan Letterman looked up at the stars on Maine Island and explored the fate of the universe and humanity in the auditorium of MIT. He asked himself: What is the universe? Is the existence of the universe inevitable? How should humans behave in the universe
In the "Lightman Trilogy of the Universe," known as the "Poet Laureate among Scientists," Lightman leads us through poetic strokes to gaze at the stars and engage in philosophical meditation in the halls of science.
Alan Letterman Professor of Theoretical Physics and Humanities at MIT
"We are not bystanders of the universe"
Shangshu: What is the universe? Every period of humanity will ask this question. Why are humans always curious about the universe?
Alan Letterman: First of all, we must define the universe. The term "universe" originates from Latin and is derived from the combination of "unus" and "verse"; Among them, "unus" means "one", and "verse" is the past participle form of "vertere", meaning "transformation". So, the original meaning of "universe" is "unity of all things". In the past few centuries, "universe" has referred to the overall material reality. And for the definition of the "universe" in modern science, I understand it this way: the universe is a space between nothingness and infinity, unable to communicate with other fields.
As Homo sapiens, we have the largest brain compared to animals of the same size. The largest brain not only brings direct benefits to human evolution and survival, but also stimulates human desire to understand the world around us. Human exploration of the origin of the universe we live in predates the birth of modern science. Humans have come from ancient times with an innate curiosity and impulse to explore the natural world in order to survive and reproduce. For example, in order to find a livable habitat, our ancestors had to first understand the original flora and fauna, or climate environment here. The exploration of the unknown is deeply ingrained in human DNA.
Therefore, the exploration of the universe is not solely the thinking of scientists. Each of us is a part of the universe, not a bystander, and can have a direct and subjective experience of the universe. We are not only living matter, but also conscious matter. We hold such a unique position and have become observers of the universe. We have a unique perception of ourselves and the surrounding universe, which is the only mechanism for the universe to evaluate ourselves.
As a scientific worker, I firmly believe that atoms and molecules are real and independent of our thoughts. However, I have personally experienced anger, jealousy, and insult, which bring me immense pain, and all of these emotional states come from within us. The soul undoubtedly has its own universe. Whether it's our own thoughts or the external reality in our own understanding, we all try to impose order, connect the two, and find the truth. Modern science has revealed to us a universe that our senses cannot perceive. Although it cannot reveal the meaning of our existence, it has indeed uncovered a corner of the veil for us.
Study Room: There are boundaries in science that cannot be empirically proven. We constantly explore infinite cosmic problems, what is the significance?
Alan Letterman: In the past 125 years, empirical research in modern science has achieved astonishing success. However, this has not given humanity a more complete and comprehensive understanding of the universe. On the contrary, modern science has redefined the forefront of human cognition. For example, due to the unstable and uncertain nature of quantum physics, time and space undergo disorderly transformations in the Planck length dimension, and the distance between any two points is constantly changing dramatically. Time accelerates and decelerates randomly, and may even regress and fast forward. Here, time and space go beyond our conventional understanding and no longer have any fixed meaning.
For today's scientists, especially theoretical physicists, their imagination has far exceeded what can be experimentally confirmed. Modern science has also accepted problems that were once considered purely philosophical and attempted to solve them through experimentation, observation, and theory. Physicists imagine that the smallest element in nature is not particles like electrons, but extremely tiny one-dimensional energy "strings". Its size needs to be measured by the Planck length, and to explore it, one would probably need to build a particle accelerator larger than Earth. Physicists also speculate that there may be countless parallel universes, but these universes will never be connected to our universe, so it is impossible to confirm.
Obviously, human cognition has boundaries, but should we tremble when facing the gaze of the abyss? Do we lament because we don't have the ability to understand these things? Einstein once wrote, "The best experience we can have is the experience of mystery. It is the fundamental emotion that adheres to the cradle of true art and true science." I believe that when Einstein said "mystery," he did not refer to terrifying things or supernatural things. I believe he was referring to the boundary between known and unknown. Standing on this boundary is an exhilarating experience, a profound human experience - about the things that the human mind understands and has not yet understood. This "mystery" attracts us, stimulates us, drives us, and troubles us. New science and art emerged from this.
Study Room: You hope readers can experience the mysteries by reading the "Letterman Universe Trilogy".
Alan Letterman: Yes, I hope readers do not seek scientific answers in my works, but embark on their own journey of questioning and contemplation.
I believe that one of the reasons why many people cannot embark on this journey to get this exciting experience in today's society is that with the popularity of the Internet and smart phones, our pace of life has become too fast. Personally, sometimes even after just 5 minutes, I can't help but glance at my phone. This means that our daily wakefulness time is divided into fragments measured in minutes. In this way, we will no longer be contemplating: who we are, where we are headed, and what the value or meaning of life is.
We need to slow down, meditate, and experience. Years ago, I was on vacation on a small island in Maine. It was a moonless night, boating on the sea, gradually drifting away from the distracting lights on land. I turned off the engine and looked up at the night sky over the sea. In just a few minutes, my world merged into the starry sky, a feeling that I had never experienced before surged into my heart. I feel like I am integrated with something much larger than myself, a grand and eternal unity, a symbol of absolute things. After that experience, I remained a scientist obsessed with the material world, but I also found my own spiritual world. I hope my readers can find a way to balance their material and spiritual worlds. This search has no answer, it is a process of slowing down, otherwise we will become "robots" or gears on the wheels.
"Implement the plan made during high school"
Going to the study: Reading your trilogy of the universe, one cannot help but admire the reputation of being the laureate poet among scientists, which you truly deserve. The rationality of science and the sensibility of literature are seamlessly integrated in you.
Alan Letterman: Science is not entirely rational, scientists should also have philosophical thinking, good literary talent, and have both rationality and sensibility. The soil and imagination of literature can be seen everywhere in daily life, and science is also present in life. Science and literature belong to each of us, not the exclusive thinking of elites.
The humanistic spirit is a part of human adulthood. Even ordinary people who are not proficient in science have the ability to appreciate world-renowned works such as Dream of the Red Chamber and One Hundred Years of Solitude. A bridge can be built between science and individuals, and this bridge is a poetic language that allows everyone to find the meaning of their own existence from the infinite and void black hole of science.
Shangshu: This is also your original intention for creating popular science books, right?
Alan Letterman: I hope readers can understand the cutting-edge topics and theories in the scientific community through the text in the book, and embark on their own journey of thinking. I did not delve too much into cosmological theory in the book, but rather attempted to describe my direct and subjective experiences of the universe based on personal experiences.
Science, like painting, poetry, music, and architecture, is an integral part of the great and splendid civilization of humanity. I hope people can use my book to dispel their fear of obscure and difficult scientific theories, as well as their alienation from scientists. The world that we humans see and understand is just a small part of this extraordinary and unfathomable universe. Outside of our identity as scientists, every reader can resonate with my thoughts and re-examine the love, hate, hatred, and obsession of scientists, as well as their persistence in the regularity, symmetry, and order of things.
Study Room: You teach physics in the morning and creative writing in the afternoon at MIT, while also teaching courses in both science and literature, which is very rare. How did you embark on the academic path of intersection between science and humanities?
Alan Letterman: Since I was young, I have had a strong interest in both science and humanities. I will try to make my own micro rockets, and also create poetry and novels to express my awe and confusion towards all things. In fact, many young people share the same passion, but we live in a specialized world. Influenced by external factors, their teachers, relatives, and friends will push them towards a specific profession, making them either rational and thoughtful experts in the scientific community or emotional writers in the humanities. Personally, even though I really wanted to become an interdisciplinary researcher, I didn't have any role models at the time and didn't know how to do it. I found that some scientists eventually became writers, but I haven't heard of any writers who later became scientists, so I decided to pursue a science degree while continuing to write.
In college, I took many elective courses. However, when it comes to choosing a subject that I most want to focus on, I chose theoretical physics. This is the most profound and pure branch of science, and also the most fundamental discipline among all disciplines. This attracted me, and I am fascinated by delving deeper into exploring this world. William Grace, currently a science professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, was a lecturer who had just received his doctoral degree during my undergraduate studies. He privately found several undergraduate physics students, including myself, and volunteered to be our "mentors". He always lectures enthusiastically, like a 12-year-old boy showing off his newly captured beautiful butterfly to his close friends. His love for physics deeply influenced me.
Later, when I made achievements in the field of science, I devoted myself wholeheartedly to writing again. This is a plan I made since high school, and I have implemented it.
Going to the study: Teaching science and literature simultaneously, will there be any special teaching experience?
Alan Letterman: The mainstream academic culture at MIT is still science and technology, and the students here don't read a lot. They are better at logical thinking than expressing their emotions. But it must be acknowledged that they are very intelligent and imaginative, and you will see many unique aspects in their writing. It is truly exciting to have a student who was originally not good at expressing emotions express themselves and cultivate them when they see the emotional sprouts emerging.
Is there a commonality between science and humanities in questioning the world in the study room?
Alan Letterman: People often believe that scientists pursue clear answers, while artists and philosophers explore unsolvable questions. Scientific research attempts to give things a definite name. For example, the term "electron" refers to a specific subatomic particle that can be referred to by a specific equation. This certainty gives scientists a sense of controllable power. However, in humanities and art, we tend to avoid this kind of certainty. For example, the word "love" represents thousands of emotions, which can be the love between couples, the family relationship between parents and children, or the friendship that one is willing to listen to when feeling down. Every "electron" refers to the same thing, but every kind of "love" is different. If "love" is forcibly named, it will affect everyone's self experience of emotions.
Both of these ways of questioning the world are important and both are part of human nature. As the German poet Reniel Maria Lick said when talking about art, "We should learn to love the problem itself." Science seeks its beliefs through experiments on the physical world, while humanities and art rely on individual perception to seek a sense of transcendence. Their ultimate goals are both the persistence in beauty and the sublime appreciation of human nature, both representing the complexity and beauty of human thought.
"It's both an experimenter and an experiencer."
Shangshu Fang: In your book, you mentioned traditional Chinese cultures such as the Book of Changes and Yin and Yang. Is there a different way of thinking between Eastern Chinese culture and Western culture where you are located?
Alan Letterman: As one of the oldest civilizations on Earth, China has a long and rich history in art, philosophy, literature, and technology, making significant contributions to human civilization. Every educated person in the world should understand China's culture and achievements.
Although I am not an expert in Chinese culture, in my personal understanding, Chinese and Western cultures have different thinking traditions in understanding the causal relationship between things. Unlike the core mechanism of Western thinking, Chinese philosophical thinking emphasizes contingency and situational factors. Therefore, Chinese thinking views things more comprehensively, while Western thinking is more systematic. Both of these ways of thinking are important for understanding things.
Going to the study: Humanities is inevitably considered a "useless" major by some people. What is the situation in the Western world?
Alan Letterman: Humanities should not be marginalized. The development of science and technology is indeed a powerful tool for social progress, but only with the help of the knowledge and ideas learned in the humanities can these tools be used reasonably and wisely. Technology itself is unconscious, it has no values, and its value comes from the humans who use it. Human values are precisely rooted in humanities such as literature, philosophy, history, and art.
The imagination of art is well-known, while the imagination in science is not. However, its boldness and frequency of experimentation are equally astonishing. Maxwell imagined electromagnetic energy waves traveling through space - invisible X-rays and radio waves - based on the logical clues of his own system of equations. Einstein once imagined that clocks moving relative to each other do not travel at the same speed, although this almost absurd phenomenon has never been observed. Metaphors that appear in science are not only a teaching tool, but also help with scientific discoveries. This is a leap in imagination and also a leap in science.
Humanities help us understand ourselves and find the direction for our own progress. We are human beings with thoughts and emotions, not blindly rotating gears mechanically. If we don't have a happy and fulfilling life, if we don't know how to express our emotions, if we don't know how to love and be loved, then what is the meaning of high-speed computers and powerful medical technology besides prolonging human mediocre lives?
Going to the study: Living in a modern metropolis, people are gradually losing the opportunity and ability to "look up at the stars". How do you think we should seek humanistic spirit and explore the unknown in the present?
Alan Letterman: This is a very good and important question. As I mentioned earlier, we need to slow down.
The corrosion of the Internet world on our hearts is a subtle and gradual experience, which happens too fast, almost invisibly: 150 years ago, the telephone did not exist; Fifty years ago, the Internet did not exist; 25 years ago, Google did not exist. We are creating a globalized machine in which everyone is an unconscious, reflexive gear, driven relentlessly by the noise of the Internet world and the man-made sense of urgency.
There are many ways to slow down: walk in the woods, read, travel, find new friends, start a new relationship, cultivate new hobbies... You can lock your smartphone in the drawer, spend 30 minutes every day to shut down all electronic devices, free yourself from the world of the Internet, and let your brain think about what it wants to think.
We need to cultivate a new mindset: a spiritual attitude that values personal reflection, a spiritual attitude that respects the inner self, and a spiritual attitude that allows the mind to be empty.
Study Room: In a world of rapid technological advancement, how can we be human beings? How do these complex and subtle human experiences, such as falling in love, experiencing nature, or appreciating beauty, emerge from the material brain - a pile of molecules and atoms?
Alan Letterman: I consider myself a spiritual materialist. Firstly, as a scientist, I am a materialist. I believe that everything is composed of atoms and molecules, and I believe that a few fundamental laws govern the material universe. However, I have also had some extraordinary experiences. I have had eye contact with wild animals before, and when I looked up at the starry sky on a summer night, I felt as if I was integrating into some kind of behemoth, losing my perception of my body; I feel connected to others and all things in the world; When I appreciate beauty, I have also developed a reverence for it. We may have all experienced similar feelings at some point, such as witnessing a child's birth or watching a solar eclipse. Although these experiences vary greatly, there are enough similarities to attribute them to spirituality.
Many people associate spirituality with an omniscient, supernatural god. Although I respect such thoughts, I understand that spirituality does not require the existence of such gods. I believe that all human experiences, including spiritual experiences, are compatible with our scientific understanding of the world, although some of them cannot be simplified into zero and one. I believe that these experiences are not only rooted in the atoms and molecules of matter, but can also be explained by Darwin's theory of evolutionary dynamics.
In recent years, the world has become increasingly polarized, making the dialogue between science and spirituality increasingly important. These two are not mutually exclusive as many people understand. We humans can invent antibiotics and smartphones, and also compose symphonies, marveling at the sunset glow of countless trees and thousands of miles of molten gold. We are both experimenters and experiencers.
I don't think there is a definite answer to how to balance the state of science and spirituality, material and spiritual worlds. Everyone has their own thoughts, and the same person will also have constantly evolving and changing ideas over time and experience. I am also constantly asking myself: What are my values? Where should I go? Where is the meaning of life? I hope these thoughts will run through the rest of my life.
"The Lightman Universe Trilogy" by Alan Lightman, published by Wenhui Publishing House
