On the Equality of All Things by Carlo Rovelli review – a physicist’s guide to life, the universe and everything

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Hume

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Rovelli urges us to accept circularity and question the need to identify the ultimate foundation of things, when in fact, it’s turtles all the way down. The lessons continue. The world is not made up of things at all, but processes. “Even a stone is a process”, and so are we. Time itself is mutable and passes at different speeds in different places. Our knowledge of anything can only ever be partial.
 
He observes wryly that the term “consciousness” has superseded the word “soul” because it is perceived to be more scientific, even though it is just as nebulous.

Provided we understand that physical processes underlie everything, Rovelli sees no reason why we may not “calmly speak of the soul and emotions just as we speak of tables even if tables are collections of atoms”.
 
Hume said:
The first lesson refers to his theory of relational quantum mechanics to ask us to abandon the notion that the world is made up of things with fixed properties. Rather, physical systems have properties relative to other physical systems.

www.theguardian.com

On the Equality of All Things by Carlo Rovelli review – a physicist’s guide to life, the universe and everything

Near-mystical musings from a scientist who believes we are on the brink of a revolution in understanding ourselves
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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There is no such thing as 'relational quantum mechanics', Hugo.
 
Hume said:
Rovelli urges us to accept circularity and question the need to identify the ultimate foundation of things, when in fact, it’s turtles all the way down. The lessons continue. The world is not made up of things at all, but processes. “Even a stone is a process”, and so are we. Time itself is mutable and passes at different speeds in different places. Our knowledge of anything can only ever be partial.
Click to expand...
Buzzword fallacies (circularity, ultimate foundation, turtle, process, mass, time, speed, location).

Gobbledegook is not science, Hugo.
A stone is not a process.
Time has no speed.
Time has no location.
 
Hume said:
He observes wryly that the term “consciousness” has superseded the word “soul” because it is perceived to be more scientific, even though it is just as nebulous.
Click to expand...
Science is not religion, Hugo.
Hume said:
Provided we understand that physical processes underlie everything,
Click to expand...
A stone is not a process.
Hume said:
Rovelli sees no reason why we may not “calmly speak of the soul and emotions just as we speak of tables even if tables are collections of atoms”.
Click to expand...
Science is not religion.
 

The laws of physics are just one window on reality​

In “On the Equality of All Things,” Carlo Rovelli challenges the idea that physical laws can explain everything about the world.
by Carlo Rovelli, on September 9, 2026

"Physics is often credited with a power it does not have: that of exhausting what can be known about the world. This is nonsense. Knowing the physical laws of the world does not amount to knowing the world. Thinking this is like thinking that having learned the rules of chess means knowing everything there is to know about chess.


www.sciencefriday.com

The laws of physics are just one window on reality

In “On the Equality of All Things,” Carlo Rovelli challenges the idea that physical laws can explain everything about the world.
www.sciencefriday.com www.sciencefriday.com
 
"Knowing whether what we have before us is understandable in its own terms is far more useful than to call on useless elementary physical laws.

Physics is less useful than it is sometimes said to be. Physics is overrated.

www.sciencefriday.com

The laws of physics are just one window on reality

In “On the Equality of All Things,” Carlo Rovelli challenges the idea that physical laws can explain everything about the world.
www.sciencefriday.com www.sciencefriday.com
 
Hume said:

The laws of physics are just one window on reality​

In “On the Equality of All Things,” Carlo Rovelli challenges the idea that physical laws can explain everything about the world.
by Carlo Rovelli, on September 9, 2026\
Click to expand...
Physical laws can explain everything about Earth.

They explain why the sky is blue. They explain how the Sun heats the Earth. They explain how it's possible to measure the mass of the Earth. They explain the orbit of Earth. They explain how currents form in the ocean and in the atmosphere. They explain the shape of the Earth. They explain the daily cycle, the monthly cycle, and the yearly cycle. They explain how to leave Earth and what it takes to do it. They explain how to return to Earth and what it takes to do it.

What else is there to explain?

Hume said:
"Physics is often credited with a power it does not have: that of exhausting what can be known about the world.
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I just listed them, Hugo.
Hume said:
This is nonsense. Knowing the physical laws of the world does not amount to knowing the world.
Click to expand...
The Earth is not sentient, Hugo.
Hume said:
Thinking this is like thinking that having learned the rules of chess means knowing everything there is to know about chess.
Click to expand...
If you know the rules of chess, you know everything there is to know about chess.
Hume said:
www.sciencefriday.com

The laws of physics are just one window on reality

In “On the Equality of All Things,” Carlo Rovelli challenges the idea that physical laws can explain everything about the world.
www.sciencefriday.com www.sciencefriday.com
Click to expand...
Science is not a website.
Science is not buzzwords.
Science is not a religion.
 
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