Quantum Logic + Exclusive Truth

​with Lincoln Carr

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"Science involves humility. It involves the idea that the data is sacred and that our interpretation can evolve at any moment."​
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When I think of Lincoln Carr, I think of the word liminal.

Google tells me it means "occupying a position at, or on both sides of, a boundary or threshold."

Lincoln is a liminal person: a quantum physicist and a poet in the same breath.

But when I think of Lincoln's "liminality," I think more about dreaming—the space between waking and sleeping and what we learn and imagine there. As my favorite tarot reader once said in a reading, "Shit gets worked out in our dreams."

I think this about Lincoln because I have never met someone so invested in their dream state. He spends time there intentionally, as a practice. And I think “working shit out” is what he’s doing there. Playing as though he “is math.” Playing with what the future could hold. Crossing boundaries others might never have thought to cross before.

The Department of State and Google seek counsel from him because of it.

But a brain like Lincoln’s is beneficial for the rest of us, too. Especially his students. It’s liberating when someone comes along and tells you that, as an engineer, you can also be a writer. Or, as a mathematician, you’d be an incredible artist. It’s inspiring to see what students create when they believe it of themselves, too. As Lincoln says in this episode, “If you give someone a chance to try something out, a lot of times they’ll discover themselves.”

We also talk about:

• Different kinds of thinkers, and how they’re all necessary
• Schrödinger, gender, & sexuality
• The brilliance of Lincoln’s students
• How I wound up auditing Lincoln’s class and details about the course itself
• Connections to city planning
• The frequent career changes of synthesists
• Judaism, religion, and how science can become a religion
• How poetry can play a role in the sciences
• How Lincoln thought in quantum logic before he knew what it was
• How and why Lincoln uses dreaming in his work
• And, finding your place in the world

Enjoy!
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Listen Now
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EP 008

Quantum Logic + Exclusive Truth
with Lincoln Carr

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Related Reading & Listening
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​In addition to the episode's show notes, here are some great pieces that I think connect to my conversation with Lincoln—
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1. ​More on Lincoln’s work as a Jefferson Science Fellow with the U.S. State Department on quantum technology.
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2. ​How math becomes visible to astrophysicist Will Kinney.​
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3. There’s an upcoming opera about Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses, who come up in this episode, called A MARVELOUS ORDER. If you live in or near New York, consider me very jealous.
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4. ​Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino and “Seeing” by Annie Dillard (links to a PDF), two additional readings on Lincoln’s class syllabus.
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5. And, Poets for Science, a participatory exhibit exploring the connection between science and poetry.

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Know of someone else connecting the seemingly un-connectable or talking about why it matters? Think I should interview them? Reply here and tell me!