Merchants of Truth and Light: Losing the Nobel Prize – Brian Keating #581

In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, astrophysicist and cosmologist Brian Keating, Ph.D., talks about the high-pressure world of science. He knows that world well and gives a firsthand account of his experience of loss, failure, resiliency and humility in his book, “Losing the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmology, Ambition, and the Perils of Science’s Highest Honor.”

Brian’s childhood fascination with the night sky has led him to build and deploy some of the world’s most advanced and powerful telescopes and detectors. He does this so he can search for the literal edge of our universe and cosmic origins. His work takes him to some of the most extreme environments on the planet. You’ll learn about the high-performance hacks he and his team use to manage these conditions.

Today’s episode covers topics designed to fire up your thinking. Here are a few teasers from Brian:

• Science and business: “Science is messy, and science is chaotic, and then oftentimes, unknowable, and it has many of the same features of the business world.”
• Brains and computers: “The brain is the most phenomenal computer in the world and in the known universe.”
• Time travel: “If time travel is possible, it would beggar a lot of questions.”
• Infinity: “It’s the most baffling concept that we think it’s only accessible to human consciousness.”
• The end of the world as we know it: “Keep paying your taxes just in case.”
• Life’s secret weapon: “Curiosity. Be interested in literally everything.”

Enjoy the show!