What does it mean to be an observer? Many problems in physics and cosmology include the involvement of observers, but without defining what an objective observer is and how subjectivity is avoided. The Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi) is awarding a total of $2 million for research projects examining this issue in an ambitious new program,“Physics of the Observer,” supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
Are we insignificant? Does living on a small planet around an average star leave us lost in the unfathomable vastness of space? Or do our self-conscious minds and complex brains, able to contemplate the vastness from whence we came, actually make us the most noteworthy feature of the cosmos that we know of to date? It’s a set of questions often answered negatively and pessimistically, notes Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT and scientific director of the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
How should humanity steer the future? This question is to be addressed in a new essay competition from the Foundational Questions Institute (FQXi), supported by partial funding from the John Templeton Foundation.