Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas · Sean Carroll

349 | Daniel Harlow on What Quantum Gravity Teaches Us About Quantum Mechanics

March 30, 2026·1 hr 26 min·5 clips

Why black holes are simpler than cosmology, according to MIT physicist Daniel Harlow.

Sean Carroll interviews Daniel Harlow on quantum gravity, covering progress in understanding black hole information paradox and the challenges of applying quantum mechanics to cosmology. Harlow discusses holography, emergent spacetime, and proposes a new framework where observers are treated specially, leading to a universe with potentially only one quantum state.

As heard by us

A patient, high-level map of how black holes sharpen questions about quantum theory.

Daniel Harlow and Sean Carroll use black holes and quantum gravity to ask what these puzzles may be teaching physicists about quantum mechanics.

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Why you'd press play

If you want black holes to make quantum mechanics argue with itself, start here.

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