One of the most fundamental problems of modern physics is the search for the so-called "theory of everything" - a unified physical and mathematical model that describes all known fundamental interactions. Initially, this term was used in an ironic way to refer to a variety of generalized theories. Over time, the term became entrenched in the popularisations of quantum physics to denote a theory that would combine all four fundamental interactions in nature (gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak).
During the twentieth century, many "theories of everything" have been proposed, but none have been able to pass experimental verification, or there is considerable difficulty in organizing experimental verification for some of the candidates. However, according to Michio Kaku, an expert in the field of theoretical physics, a famous popularizer of science, as well as the author of numerous popular science books and publications, humanity will be able to deduce a "theory of everything" by 2100, that is, in just a few decades.
This week Kaku took part in an event on Reddit, where he invited his regulars to ask him any questions they might have. One of the commentators asked what, according to Kaku, the discovery of mankind will be able to make within the next generations. The physicist replied as follows:
By the way, this is not the only prediction of the famous popularizer of science regarding the discoveries that await us in the 21st century. You can read more about this in one of our previous articles. Returning to the topic of questions on Reddit, according to Kaku, in the coming decades we will also see the emergence of neurocomputer interfaces that allow us to establish a connection between the human brain and the Internet directly, humanity will send a spaceship to the star, discover the genes responsible for aging, and also detect signals from an alien civilization.
If his predictions are correct, then the future of humanity will be very interesting.
The theoretical physicist also shared his thoughts on the hypothesis of the simulation of the Universe, which is now widely heard by everyone - the philosophical statement that all reality around is a computer simulation created by some super-advanced civilization.
According to Kaku, no digital computer can do this. Because this will require unimaginable power to calculate the motion of every single molecule in the universe.
Nikolay Khizhnyak
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