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This event is in the past.It took place on February 3, 2026 at William R. Hewlett Teaching Center.

Can we reason about our place in the universe without defining 'us', or Which of Occam's Razors should Wigner use to shave his quantum Friend? 1
Educational Talk

Can we reason about our place in the universe without defining 'us', or Which of Occam's Razors should Wigner use to shave his quantum Friend?

At William R. Hewlett Teaching Center

Stanford

Can you reason about reality without defining who's doing the reasoning? IBM physicist Charles Bennett tackles Boltzmann's brain and Wigner's friend paradoxes, using algorithmic information theory to probe consciousness without ever defining it.

Mind-bending physics
Cosmology meets philosophy
Theoretical deep dive
Stanford lecture series

Tips

🧠background in theoretical physics helpful but not required
🎓Bennett pioneered quantum information theory at IBM
🆓free admission to Stanford campus

William R. Hewlett Teaching Center

William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, 370 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

www.bayareascience.org

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Can we reason about our place in the universe without defining 'us', or Which of Occam's Razors should Wigner use to shave his quantum Friend? - Outgoing