Lawrence Krauss on known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns (ft. Musical Guest Heather Pierson)

Lawrence Krauss is an American-Canadian theoretical physicist and cosmologist who previously taught at Arizona State University, Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project, now called ASU Interplanetary Initiative, to investigate fundamental questions about the universe and served as the project's director. Krauss is an advocate for public understanding of science, public policy based on sound empirical data, scientific skepticism, and science education. An anti-theist, Krauss seeks to reduce the influence of what he regards as superstition and religious dogma in popular culture Krauss is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek (1995) and A Universe from Nothing (2012), and chaired the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors. 

GUEST MUSICIAN: Heather Pierson is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, songleader, and performer whose inspiring live performances and growing catalog of releases delve into Americana, blues, New Orleans jazz, vocal chants, instrumental piano, and folk.  Best known for her virtuosity at the piano and her bell-tone vocals, her songs and musicianship embody joy, honesty, playfulness, and a desire to share from the heart.  In twenty years on her own record label, Vessel Recordings, she has released thirteen albums of original music including Lines and Spaces, her most ambitious and most personal release to date. https://heatherpierson.com/

LYRICS:

SURE WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT

Is there only what is and what not could be  
Is there any such thing as possibilities  
It's fun not knowing what it's all about  
But I sure would like to find out  

And what or where exactly is consciousness  
Any speculation makes the water muddy I guess  
It's fun not knowing what it's all about  
But I sure would like to find out  

Every flap of a butterflies wing  
Is both an answer and a question  
That looks into the nature of everything  
There's an equal mix of tragedy and beauty stored  

In every moment I'm alive how could I ever be bored  
It's fun not knowing what it's all about  
But I sure would like to find out  
I'd really really like to find out  
Before I die I'd like to find out

WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DON'T KNOW

After so many years 
Of searching science 
Countless experiments 
And breaking down of elements 

Of contradictory theories 
And fantastic formulas 
Endless equations 
To get to the truth 

The only thing 
That we can confidently say 
Throughout the ages.... is that 

We don't really know what we don't know 
We can't even say what we can't see 
We've found known unknowns, And experiments have shown 
Enough to prove that it is what it is 

And we can't conceive of new realities 
Or visualise a fraction of what might be 
Our imagination, fails at application 
When we think of new possibilities 

So much of nature 
Is still conjecture 
And every new answer 
Asks a hundred other questions 

Once everything's disproved 
The one thing that's left 
The unchanging reality... is that 

We don't really know what we don't know 
We can't even say what we can't see 
We've found known unknowns, And experiments have shown 
Enough to prove that it is what it is 

And we can't conceive of new realities 
Or visualise a fraction of what might be 
Our imagination, fails at application 
When we think of new possibilities 

How did this something 
Come from nothing 
What forced its becoming 
Well different types of nothing 

Science is moving 
Perpetually improving 
Examining and removing 
Until we have one unifying thing... and it's that 

We don't really know what we don't know 
We can't even say what we can't see 
We've found known unknowns, And experiments have shown 
Enough to prove that it is what it is 

And we can't conceive of new realities 
Or visualise a fraction of what might be 
Our imagination, fails at application 
When we think of new possibilities