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What we’re seeing is a manifestation of the layered nature of our descriptions of reality. At the deepest level we currently know about, the basic notions are things like “spacetime,” “quantum fields,” “equations of motion,” and “interactions.” No causes, whether material, formal, efficient, or final. But there are levels on top of that, where the vocabulary changes.

— Sean M. Carroll The Big Picture (2016)

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More quotes by Sean M. Carroll

It can't be stressed enough that the multiverse is utterly hypothetical—but that doesn't mean it isn't real.

But sometimes reality chooses not to conform to our preferences.

But the very fact that matter in the cosmos is still moving, rather than at rest, is the single most surprising thing about the universe.

In contrast to the arbitrarily complicated evolution of a (nonintegrable) classical system, all a quantum state ever does is move in circles.

Metaphysical principles are tempting shortcuts but not reliable guides. There are good reasons why things often seem to happen for reasons—and also reasons why that’s not a bedrock principle.

The Big Picture (2016)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Sean M. Carroll (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.