Hey my favorite people in the world! New video is out ;)

Ok so WOW!! Some of the ideas you were talking about sound very interesting but unfortunately I don't really know much about that at all!! I really like the second idea you had about how physicists use math compared to how mathematicians use math, as I agree it is very different and sometimes when math gets too abstract and theoretical it can be very confusing. I'll see what I can do!

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A Universe Avoiding Nothing I'm not sure whether this could be a video, or whether I should go back to school and make it my Ph.D. thesis. ;-) I was deep down in a popular science particle physics book -- I believe it was "The Particle Garden" when the author made a statement that I never forgot, something to the effect of some particle interaction "may be one of the few places where the number zero shows up in nature." It seems so true! Anywhere in the universe, you are in a field of some particle, or perhaps the fields of ALL particles in the universe. If you hold out your empty hand and say you are holding 0 apples, is it true? I mean, an apple is an arbitrary designation of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms (and more), that is different from every other apple, so the question may not make sense. However, there probably are some C, H or O atoms on your hand, so perhaps there are not 0 apples, if the question does make sense. And on and on. The reason I find this interesting is that it stands in stark contrast to math, where 0 is used all the time, and we deal with infinitesimals. However, if the universe is discrete, as it appears to be, then Calculus serves at best as an approximation because such a thing as an infinitesimal does not exist physically. Taking this one step farther, the universe appears to avoid infinity. I don't believe there is any proven theory in Physics that deals with infinities. I think people find some math, such as that of Cantor (or the "proofs" that show that there are twice as many even integers as odd integers, etc.), very difficult because they think it is somehow real in a physical sense, but is (likely) not. It is only consistent, and only consistent in the hypothetical world of math. Sorry if this seems a bit much, but you do make videos on quantum physics... If it is too much, I think a simpler video describing how math is used by physicists vs how it is used by mathematicians would be interesting. It would also alleviate confusion for a lot of students trying to wrap their head around infinities of different sizes (only consistent, not "real").

Hi Cary! What is your idea?

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Hi, I'm a new supporter and have an idea for a video that at least one person would like to see (me). :-) How can I submit ideas? Thanks!