"Ordered complexity is a fortunate product of random processes."

"Life is our quest to find meaning in an inherently meaningless world."

"There's no feeling that can't be generated, at least in theory, by manipulating the levels of different chemicals in the brain."

"Invoking God whenever there is a question we can't answer doesn't seem like the correct strategy to me."

"Most systems which show expansion and recurrence will show chaotic behavior. Complexity arises when, roughly speaking, there are competing effects. Like gravity trying to crush everything down, and the expansion of the universe trying to blow everything apart."

"Physics is bizarre both when we try to grow bigger and bigger into the cosmos and when we try to grow smaller and smaller into the atom. In fact, the reconciliation of general relativity (the physics of the cosmos) and quantum mechanics (the physics of the atom) remains one of the biggest challenges in physics today. In spite of that, the fact that we have reached from wondering whether the night sky is an overturned bowl with shining dots on its inner side to where we are today is exciting and impressive."

"There is no way to conclusively prove that free will exists, even if it actually does exist. So this is a question which is resistant to scientific analysis. It's not a scientific question. I suspect free will could be an emergent property of human consciousness, but I think it is more likely that there is no free will. Yes, I know quantum indeterminacy and the uncertainty principle. But there are completely deterministic interpretations of quantum mechanics. And even if I accept that the outcome of a quantum experiment is random and can't be predicted, it still doesn't mean our consciousness can influence this outcome. Determinism ruled out is not equal to free will verified."

"What I usually do is unusual."

"Sometimes, the solution is just to stop thinking and wait."

"It was argued, some decades back, that given the rapid pace of technological growth, we would soon find ourselves involved in intellectual debates with robots. However, true Artificial Intelligence (AI) turned out to be impossible, at least till now. It is one thing to hardwire a computer to react in certain ways to certain situations. It is another thing to build a robot that can learn by experience and reason for itself, based on its experiences. And even if the latter is possible to some extent, it is a terribly poor mimicry of the human consciousness."

"No matter what, physics will never fail to surprise and inspire me."

"I was once asked if God agrees to answer just one question of mine, what would I ask. Well, I would ask whether some event (please note that I'm talking about a fundamental event here), which has occurred in reality, is more likely to occur again (since it's a possible event) or less likely (since it has already occurred once)? Now, if something has occurred, you might think that it might occur again, because the conditions favoring this outcome exists. However, we can't be sure that the first occurrence of this event doesn't change these conditions, making a second occurrence of the same event much less likely. I think the answer to this question is crucial to understanding the fundamental nature of reality."

"You see a lot of motivational videos saying stuff like “nothing’s impossible” and so on… I used to get extremely angry when I heard stuff like that. It’s easy to say “nothing’s impossible” but we all know that’s not true. However, if you want to succeed, if you want to do a lot of good stuff in your life, you have to believe this and work hard. I mean, work extremely hard (and smart). And never give up, even when it seems like you’re losing the game. This confidence is required to get you over the initial obstacles. That’s why you should believe “nothing’s impossible,” and really believe that. Again, that’s not true. And you have to stop sometimes. But if you are passionate about what you are doing and think it’s right, don’t give up. This does not guarantee success, but this does increase your chances of succeeding by a considerable amount."

"The best way to find out whether we are reaching the limits of knowledge is to do real science and see how far we can go, instead of speculating about the end of science."

"A final theory is definitely possible, but we don’t understand the problems well enough yet, so it is not possible to comment on how far away the solution is."

"I have made many wrong decisions throughout the course of my life, and I do regret that. But I try not to focus too much on it. Humans make mistakes. The person you put your faith in may betray you any day, the choice you impulsively made may prove to be the wrong choice and so on… But whenever I feel regret, I convince myself that it could have been worse, and I have learned from my mistakes, these experiences have toughened me up and I am now better equipped to face the world, so, I say to myself and to you as well, let’s move on."

"I don’t believe in God, but rather in a naturalistic worldview. I argue that God is an unnecessary and illogical hypothesis to explain the origin and nature of the universe. God is not only a bad explanation for the universe, but also a bad idea for humanity. In fact, sometimes it seems to me that God is the source of much of the evil, suffering, and injustice in the world. God sounds like the ultimate tyrant, who demands absolute obedience and worship, and threatens eternal punishment for those who disobey or question him. God is the enemy of reason, science, and progress. I think it is time to reject this monstrous fiction and embrace the truth of Nature. It is time to free ourselves from the shackles of religion and live by the light of reason. It is time to be human, and nothing more."

"What’s the point of discovering this and that piece of isolated knowledge unless we can knit it together into a single theory?"

"My very existence seems pointless to me if I don’t know why I exist."

"Whenever you feel down, lost or defeated, the best thing you can do is to lie down under the open skies. You are nothing more than an ordinary mortal. We all are. Existence is transient, but it is beautiful. And it seems to me that a single failure in life doesn’t really take away that beauty."

"There's the famous saying that once you have tasted flight, you will always walk the Earth with your eyes turned skyward. This sums up humankind’s fascination with flying. Today, flying is no more a dream. The Wright brothers’ first flight could be done within the fuselage of modern airliners like the Airbus A380. Some would say flying has lost its charm. But every time you are in your seat – gripping your armrest as the plane rolls forward on the runway with the jets roaring and flaps extended – you know that it hasn’t."

"My experience with science has taught me that our life is indeed outside our control. I don’t mean we are puppets in the hands of some supernatural deity. But we mostly operate unconsciously, and based on instincts which are outside our conscious control. So if you love Imagine Dragons very much and are, at this very moment, humming the line “I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea” from their song Believer, you are technically wrong! Well, okay, you do have a greater control over your life than somebody else, but all the same, there are certain things beyond your control. It's up to you how you steer the boat, but you can't control the pattern of the waves or the wind."

"When I first read the Sherlock Holmes quote that "From a drop of water, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other," I thought Holmes was overestimating our powers of drawing an inference. But if you think about it, this is precisely how we do science. We had not seen or initially even heard of parallel universes, but just by studying a small portion of our own universe, we have been led to the hypothesis that parallel universes may exist. Just by studying a small portion of our universe, we have successfully discovered truths that apply to the entire universe. Or at least, we hope so."

"Instead of holding other people responsible for our hardships, it is psychologically better to hold a uniform law of Nature responsible for it, since the latter doesn’t induce negativity in the mind."

"To learn, you must begin with the assumption that you know next to nothing. You must be ready to consider any possibility, no matter how wild it may seem. This has been demonstrated numerous times in the history of science. A slight change in perspective can drastically change the realization of whether a possibility is likely or not."

"We constantly need reminders of the fact that we are privileged even to be alive."

"Clarke’s third law – any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic – is, of course, not a scientific law. It might be inappropriate to call it a “law” at all. However, this “law” captures a profound fact about the nature of science: At its highest level, science is best described by two words, both, ironically, starting with the letter ‘M’: “mysterious” and “magical.” And when we say ‘M’, we, of course, can’t ignore M-theory. Well, the M probably means membrane, but we could argue that “mystery” and “magic” would be good candidates too. M-theory is an extremely advanced scientific theory, almost like magic. And mysterious? Is it just M-theory that’s mysterious? It’s, in some sense, true for all of science. From the biochemists studying biomolecules to the high-energy physicists studying the problem of neutrino mass, I believe every scientist is ready to acknowledge that the universe they are studying is mysterious at all scales, from the cosmic scale right down to the subatomic scale."

"In some sense, information is responsible for the existence of the different objects in the universe. For instance, it is information of the arrangement of electrons and number of protons and neutrons in an atom that defines whether the atom is a hydrogen atom or a carbon atom (etc.). Different arrangements of these atoms will give rise to different forms of the same element. For instance, carbon can exist in two main forms: graphite or diamond. As a friend of mine put it in a Medium article she wrote, "The only difference between the tip of a pencil and your mother’s wedding ring (if your father wasn’t stingy) is the order of its constituent carbon atoms.""

"At one point of time, I used to think money was not important. There was something noble about not falling for money. But I’ve realized money is important. Yes, money can’t buy happiness, but having money means you’re likely to be happier, no point denying that."

"Big companies create an illusion of choice which makes us (consumers) feel powerful. For instance, there are many companies offering a particular product, and we feel it is in our power to choose from them. So the companies are competing to sell their products to us. While this is true, to some extent, it is also true that in many cases, if you trace the companies back to their origins, you will see that the real power is concentrated in very few hands. And they care mainly about profit, and not improving the quality of life."

"Sometimes I wonder about the human future. Climate change, the prospect of nuclear wars and pandemics - these are not good things. But we have survived worse situations, so I think the human race will not go completely extinct in the near future, provided there is no cosmic catastrophe, which is beyond our hands. But what I have realized is that just thinking about the human future is not going to do us any good. We should keep working and researching, and try to build a utopian future, while always trying to make sure that it all doesn’t end with dystopia."

"The sky is what we all have in common."

"Science is cold and impersonal, but we humans are emotional. Indeed, I sometimes find myself hoping that I were a supercomputer instead of a human."

"We can't prove everything, but we should believe things worth believing and not think about things not worth believing."

"You are trying very hard to answer a particular question, and then you have a fundamental insight that changes the entire worldview, answers a lot more than this particular question, and gives rise to a thousand new questions. There is a devilish intellectual satisfaction in uncovering the secrets of the universe. It's like we are playing with the mind of God. That's why I love physics: it's exciting, and it's totally worth it."

"You've to be a little selfish at times."

"Although chaos theory is the science of unpredictability, the rules of complexity are universal, and apply to all dynamical systems, regardless of their constituents. In short, chaos theory is the study of the underlying rules and order in chaotic, apparently random systems. So chaos theory isn’t really a theory of “chaos,” in the true sense."

"It's technically incorrect to say light is both a particle and a wave. Rather, light is neither a particle nor a wave. Light has neither particle nature nor wave nature. Light can act like both particles and waves."

"The ultimate power doesn’t rest with science. Science just does its work. And a class of people always find ways to use science to their benefit and to exploit the lower classes of people."

"If by a final theory we mean the simplest possible theory that will explain everything in a single theoretical framework, I think we will discover such a theory in the course of time. I mean, we’re definitely going to discover something - either the thing itself, or at least we’re going to find out where exactly we went wrong."

"A deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of reality will not only give satisfaction to a few scientists. I believe it will do more than that."

"Physics is not just math, in my opinion. Yes, to make sense of the exciting physics theories you read about in popular science books, and to work on these ideas, you first need to have rigorous mathematical training. But still, physics is more than just mathematics and calculations. Revolutionary physics theories start with some wild idea, some intuition, and then we of course need math to develop the theory."

"I think there are limits to what we can know about the fundamental nature of reality. But, more importantly, we must realize that our journey of uncovering the secrets of Nature, so far, has been a very successful journey. We have learned a lot, and we have been able to admire our ignorance in a better way. That's not a bad thing. We can't know everything, but that doesn't mean our journey has failed. What we have discovered is praiseworthy. And there's still so much more to discover."

"Whenever I start thinking seriously about metaphysics, the first question I ask myself is this: Why is there something rather than nothing? That'd have been most simple: nothing exists. No matter, no consciousness, no laws. But it's not possible that nothing exists. Something must exist. We are here asking these questions. So what is this something? Is our universe the most complex, unpredictable and random system possible? No. Because there are certain laws; there is some order. And life exists. Life needs some order, some stability, some properties that remain constant over time (okay, not over long periods of time). Life simply can't exist in a completely random and unpredictable universe. And of course, our universe is not the simplest possible system, for that is nothingness. So, we are somewhere in between the simplest and the most complex forms of existence."

"Studying just the parts might tell you nothing about how the whole system affects an individual part, and how they interact with one another."

"Life is like a game we all have to play. Only thing is: there's a lot at stake in this game; it's not something we casually play with our friends over tea. And it’s best to learn to play this game individually. Life is not a team game. And even if you prefer to view the game of life as a team game, it is always a good idea not to rely too much on the other players."

"Emotions are, to some extent, necessary for survival. For instance, if you don’t get afraid and move away quickly from the middle of the road on seeing an approaching vehicle, you are most likely to perish. Love also has an evolutionary reason. Reproduction is highly essential for the continuation of the human race. And love binds us together and gives the offspring better chances of survival. I don't believe love is anything more than the result of certain chemical reactions in the brain. Love is biology's way of bringing us together to produce more humans. Of course, this is why love is so important to us (at least, most of us), we continue to set much store by love, because we are preprogrammed to do so. But, personally, I view love as an unnecessary distraction and a waste of time. Maybe this is my way of rising above the natural instincts and the laws of Nature!"

"A completely happy life without struggle would be boring. And in some people (like me, and in fact I would say in most people), the best results come out when they are depressed, sad, struggling or under pressure. An airplane takes off against the wind."

"Science is not just our quest to understand the fundamental nature of reality, nor just our quest to improve the quality of life through technological advancements, but both. If the toiling masses didn’t feel the need for new technologies, science wouldn’t have evolved; and without the fulfillment of the basic requirements, there would be no question of contemplating the fundamental nature of reality. Theoretical physics wants to understand the fundamental nature of reality, but for that we need the help of technology. And new insights into theoretical physics will pave the way for new technology which will improve the quality of life (but may also do the opposite, in some cases)."

"In science, everything is subject to change. No matter how good and revered a theory is, if we find something in contradiction with the theory, we reject it. That clearly isn’t the case with religion. Religious teachings are based on ancient beliefs, and they hardly change. People bend religion to their wills. Alan Turing famously compared science to a differential equation, while religion is a boundary condition. Science is about finding the most general theory that best explains the world around us. We don’t need religion for that, much in the same way we don’t need the boundary conditions to find the general solution to a differential equation. And if we want to solve the equation for a particular case, we need the boundary conditions to get the exact answer. However, if we don’t choose the correct boundary conditions, we won’t get the correct answer. Religion is a wrong boundary condition. Another way to think about this is that religious beliefs limit scientists in their scientific pursuits, just like boundary conditions put restrictions on the solution of a differential equation. Anyway, the point is, I think science and religion are inherently incompatible. You’ve to choose one. There’s no way to unify the two in a sensible manner."

"We have discovered that there is some regularity in the world. For instance, certain experiments always produce the same results, or in other words, they are repeatable. To explain these experiments, we have strived to discover some laws: universal, fundamental laws that would explain a wide range of experiments or phenomena. This is what science does. From Newton’s days to the present, science has built up our view of the universe, using the convenient language of mathematics. Just like green insects living on a tree can camouflage better than red insects and survive, beautiful ideas (that gather a good amount of experimental support) survive in science. A natural selection of ideas has helped us filter incorrect and useless theories and move toward a universal theory."

"Albert Michelson once said that all that remained in physics was to fill in the sixth decimal place. All of physics, he believed, has essentially been discovered. Perhaps better accuracy could be achieved in the future, but there is nothing new to discover. Today, we know how wrong he was. And one day, time will probably show our future generations how wrong we are, now."

"According to quantum mechanics, either the outcomes of quantum events are entirely random or the outcomes of quantum events are actually deterministic deep down, and we perceive them to be random due to our limitations."

"One of the greatest misconceptions about quantum mechanics is that it is the science of only the subatomic world. We often forget that classical mechanics is only a rough approximation of quantum mechanics. Yes, you can derive all of classical mechanics from quantum mechanics."

"Replacing the concept of point particles with strings proved to be the crucial step to solve the conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics. Roughly speaking, there is a smallest possible distance, distances smaller than which can't be probed and don't exist (in some sense). Strings are not point particles, they are smeared out, and by putting a lower limit to the distances that can be probed, we can avoid the conflict between general relativity and quantum mechanics, which arises when we magnify spacetime to very small scales."

"It may be possible, in theory, to understand consciousness just by studying its parts. But I think when a lot of parts interact in complex ways, new kinds of laws apply to the system (not necessarily fundamentally new laws). And only by using these laws can we study consciousness, so we should still try to find these laws, even if reductionism works in theory."

"Sometimes, I find it disturbing that paradoxes exist. Does this mean what we know is flawed? I think paradoxes arise because we are part of the world, and we can't hope to obtain a complete, paradox-free understanding of the world. It is of utmost importance here to realize that we are actually bound by our language when dealing with paradoxes. There are many things that can't be expressed using our language. For instance, it is extremely difficult to define a number without using the word "number," or any other word like "amount," "quantity," etc.) which directly relate to a number. In fact, most of the things we think we know the meaning of are actually not sharply defined. We perceive only a slice of the reality, and we are part of the reality, so we certainly can’t expect to understand everything that goes on around (and beyond) us. I would argue that paradoxes don’t shatter the view of the world we have created. Rather, paradoxes are the key to a deeper understanding of the world. Paradoxes arise simply because of our limitations. Attempting to resolve paradoxes will help us get out of these limitations. You must realize that our main limitation is that we are part of the world. We can't examine the world from outside. All we can do is speculate and experiment. But this is still important. We must attempt to understand the world around us. Mainly because we can discover a lot of useful stuff on the way which will improve the quality of life. And also because only by attempting to understand the world can we understand our limitations, and to what extent we are bound to the world. Paradoxes may hold the key to a deeper and better understanding of the reality we live in. That's what I think, anyway."

"Zoom in, reductionism wins; zoom out, emergence wins."

"I have always been haunted by death. When I was very young, I was obsessed with skeletons. I wanted to see a real skeleton, and although there was one in the biology lab of our school, I was too young to have entered it. My grandfather took me to the biology lab of the school where he used to teach, to show me a skeleton. I stared at it, trying to imagine myself turning into a skeleton after a long, long time. I have entered the biology lab of our school many times after that, but there is something impressive and somewhat disturbing about that vivid memory of my first seeing a skeleton in my grandfather's former school. So yeah, it is hard to accept that the people I see around me might die anytime, and must die one day. Of course, the dream of achieving immortality has been a long lasting dream of humankind. No matter how hard we strive to achieve our goals, no matter how great a thing we achieve – we all know that we must leave these earthly pleasures behind one day. Life is futile. We are born, we spend some years on this Earth, and finally, we die. There has been no change in this inevitable truth. But at the same time, it should be emphasized that deep down, we don't really want to live forever. Initially, we are full of enthusiasm and terrified at the prospect of dying. But gradually, we get bored and after a period of time, we actually want to die. For the sake of argument, let's assume you somehow succeed in becoming truly immortal. You can go on enjoying life for as long as you want. But when you do the thing you love the most continuously, the charm wears off. And gradually you'll start to hate the thing you loved doing the most, or at least, not love it with the same intensity. You will also gradually lose the ability to find other things to love. That's when you'd see no point in living any longer. Essentially, we want changes. An unchanging life, even if it is a life full of happiness and satisfaction, is boring."

"The world is not beautiful but staying alive is wonderful."

"Music is a subtle balance between predictability and unpredictability."

"The holographic principle is much more than just a possible solution to the information paradox. It holds a key for a deeper understanding of quantum gravity. It is arguably one of the, if not the best insights in modern theoretical physics."

"With our painful limitations, it is hard to be certain of anything after all. We could be dreamers in an entirely different world, or worse, actors in a temporary simulation run by an alien kid for a science exam (who probably failed the exam). Or mere programs in a giant quantum computer, which we call the universe."

"As far as we know today, we are going to die, and death is the end of us. And there is no point to anything. You just have to accept it. For instance, you might think (hopefully) that you and your girlfriend were meant for each other. God made you two for each other. But in reality, she was not meant for you, you two were not destined for each other: chance brought you together and both of you liked each other (which is an evolutionary instinct anyway), adjusted yourselves to each other's tastes and gradually formed the belief that you were soulmates. If you would have met some other girl, and hopefully things would have worked out, then she would have been your soulmate. There is no divine purpose."

"The more different the objects you are trying to describe are, the more the amount of information you need to completely describe the objects."

"Today, few of us need to worry about food supply, sneaking tigers and jungle fires. We are no more hunter-gatherers. Thus, we have strived to know more, to push beyond our limits. We have gone from debating whether the Earth is a flat place supported on the back of huge turtles to whether parallel universes exist or not. We have lost much in the way of this journey, but perhaps gained way more. Science is strange – both when we try to grow bigger and bigger into the cosmos, and when we try to shrink smaller and smaller into the world of quantum mechanics."

"We don't realize how beautiful our lives are, till something bad happens and we are confronted by a new, harder life."

"To reach a satisfactory conclusion, the ideal reasoner should exclude all possibilities, even if he has enough evidence that a particular possibility is very likely to be the case."

"The journey of life should, in my opinion, be more like an amusement park ride rather than traveling. We ride for the sake of enjoying the ride, not for any particular destination. Sometimes, we should worry as little as possible about the destination and enjoy the journey. Just live in the present. Enjoy life. Stop thinking about where you'd like to go. Of course, some amount of planning is required in life; we can't just live aimlessly. But the trouble is: most people get too caught up in the plans and forget to live the one life they have."

"There are several reasons why we may never find a theory of everything, such as the limitations of our observations, the incompleteness of our mathematics, the complexity of our models, the unpredictability of our experiments, and the uncertainty of our interpretations. Also, there may be multiple theories of everything, each valid in a different context, or that there may be no theory of everything at all, but rather a fundamental randomness or indeterminacy in the nature of reality."

"The quest of scientific discovery is a quest that may never end, but one that is worth pursuing, for it reveals the beauty and mystery of Nature, and the wonder and curiosity of the human mind."

"I admit that life is not fair. But I think you will get more if you choose to live."

"With increasing distances, gravity decreases. However, the more the distance increases, the more is the increase in entropy. Although this does not mean that gravity decreases entropy."

"Quantum effects simply get averaged out in the classical world."

"The complex and ordered structures that we see in Nature, such as living organisms, are the result of random processes, such as mutations, natural selection, and environmental fluctuations. He implies that there is no inherent design or purpose behind the emergence of complexity, but rather it is a lucky outcome of randomness. He also suggests that complexity is not a static or fixed state, but a dynamic and adaptive one that can change and evolve over time."

"As I've said previously, I think free will is an illusion, and human actions are determined by the laws of physics and the physical state of the brain. Quantum mechanics does not imply free will, because even though it introduces randomness and uncertainty at the microscopic level, it does not allow for any conscious control or intervention. And neuroscience shows that human decisions are influenced by subconscious processes and environmental factors, and that the conscious mind is often unaware of the true causes and motives of its actions. Well, free will may be a useful and pragmatic concept, but not a scientific truth. Free will is a product of human perception and cognition, and it’s important because it serves as a basis for morality, responsibility, and agency."

"Long ago, we believed that some God is responsible for the functioning of the world, and that God is superior to us. With the advent of science, this view has changed. We started to believe that the world runs according to certain laws, and it is possible for us to discover these laws. The universe is deterministic and orderly. However, with the progress of science, even this view has been challenged. The universe is random. And of course, as Neil Tyson has said, the universe is under no obligation to make sense to us. But then again, the universe is based on deep principles. Deeper than we can imagine. The universe, deep down, may indeed be completely deterministic and orderly. The apparent randomness is emergent from this deeper structure. Chaos with its own underlying order."

"Happiness really is not the most important thing. Certain illusions can make us feel happy, for instance, but we are not content with illusions. We want to know the truth. And that's the whole point of science."

"You have to make a choice: you want to do something great, and initially face rejections, taunts etc., or you just want to live an ordinary life. The choice is yours. There is no correct or incorrect choice. But, you must remember that greatness demands a lot of sacrifices on your part. Some people are okay with that, while it is too much for others."

"What I find very disturbing is that on one hand, the rich people are getting the chance to use new technologies and learn and earn. On the other hand, the poor people don’t have access to science and technology. Talented people who are born in a poor household remain unrecognized. We must realize that science is not only for the rich. Science is for everyone. As long as this problem is not addressed, I don’t think there is any point to science. Quantum field theory is meaningless to a villager who barely gets enough food to feed his children. An MRI machine means nothing to a patient who doesn’t have the money to visit a local doctor. Yes, it seems that Nature is cruel. Look at the rich and the poor. The upper class people have always exploited the lower class people. This has been the case from the beginning of the human race till date. Economists are framing policies to eradicate poverty. But I think there will always be a division between people. The utopian world where there is no division between the rich and the poor is highly unlikely to ever be reality. Nature doesn’t care about the weak and the poor. Nature doesn’t care if a particular life is unfair. All Nature cares about is that the species survives as a whole. Nature also doesn’t care whether the competition is fair. So of course, Nature is cruel. Now, I don't mean Nature is conscious and actually cares or does not care about these things, this is just a way of speaking. So anyway, all Nature cares about is that the human race evolves. It doesn’t care whether the life of each individual is fair or not. Somewhat like the fact that all we care about is that we survive. Not that each cell in our body survives. At this point, an important question comes up. Does this mean that the stronger ones will always bully the weaker ones? The rich will always exploit the poor? I think the answer is no. Maybe this will not vanish entirely, but this can’t go on indefinitely. Not because Nature or God will intervene. Rather, humans will intervene. Look at history. There have been revolutions. Always. And there will be too."

"I am often asked why am I a nihilist? Well, yeah, I do consider myself a nihilist. But before you jump to the conclusion that I'm a depressed guy who thinks nothing meaningfully exists, everything is an illusion and that sort of thing, let me tell you: I am not a nihilist if that's your definition of nihilism. I just believe there is no inherent meaning in life and ultimately our lives are futile, and this only increases my urge to live my life in a way that is meaningful to me. I also believe that some features of the universe are the way they are because of chance, and not due to some divine reason."

"The idea of unification is a fundamental philosophy in physics. For instance, with the discovery of atoms, ice, water, and water vapor have been, in some sense, unified into water. All three are made up of water molecules. Today we have some brilliant insights about unifying the strong, weak and electromagnetic forces. But, as we have seen, it has been particularly difficult to unify gravity with the quantum-field-theoretic description of the electromagnetic, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear forces. When things are massive as well as tiny, both general relativity and quantum mechanics must be taken into account, but they are incompatible. If we try to unify them, we get infinities and other nonsensical results. We probably need a deeper theory to find out what's really going on."

"There are many things that need to be changed in today’s world. But if I could change just one thing, it would be poverty. So many talented young people can't pursue proper education due to poverty. So many people die due to different diseases because they can’t afford a proper treatment. I would want to see poverty eradicated from the world even if it's the last thing I do."

"Science is both a boon and a curse, and although we are making great advancements in science and technology, there are a lot of things to worry about, like climate change, artificial intelligence, nuclear wars, pandemics... There is always a chance of disaster when we are tampering with really big and deep things about which we understand very little."

"Nothing can be a substitute for truth."

"It shouldn't matter to a great extent whether you're winning or losing. Winning or losing depends on what goals you have set for yourself. What you consider winning might be losing to someone else. But as long as you are learning and improving and enjoying the process, you are a winner."

"Language is a human construct, and it is foolish to assume that language is capable of describing everything."

"Mental health is probably one of the most serious issues today. Only someone with a mental illness understands what it's like to be a person with a mental illness, but there are a lot of people doing whatever the hell they want and blaming it on their mental health. They’re using mental health as an excuse. This is outrageous. It’s important to realize who’s really out of control and who’s faking it. Although I am completely clueless how this can actually be done. Think about it."

"Our science describes the world from a third person perspective. We know how inanimate objects work and everything, but most scientists ignore (or pretend to ignore, at least) the fact that it is through our consciousness that we perceive everything."

"I think the future is exciting, and has lots of wonder in store for us. At this point of time, we may have more in common with our ancestors than our descendants. However, the future is, at the same time, uncertain and frightening. But it has always been so."

"I am an agnostic, and I also consider spending too much time on the question "Does God exist?" a waste of time. It will lead us nowhere. And the question is not well defined. What do we mean by God? Discussing God means getting lost in metaphysical speculation. But in general, I believe that we don't need to invoke God to explain the universe. Either we will understand it fully in the course of time, or at least we will understand the fundamental principles on which it is based (even if we can't calculate every detail and every feature of it from this knowledge) or maybe there will always be some questions we won't ever be able to answer. It's foolish to assume that we can understand everything about the vast universe, although we have uncovered quite a lot. But I don't think it is a good idea to leave whatever we can't explain to God. Just accept that we can't know everything."

"Before the birth of neuroscience, we thought the universe was the greatest mystery. But perhaps a greater one is the brain that sits on your shoulders. Billions of these nerve cells called neurons account for the fact that you are currently reading this. Billions of neurons are connected by synapses in our brain. Special chemicals called neurotransmitters dart between the synapses and give rise to your conscious experience. Synaptic connections form and deform – and you form and forget memories; synaptic connections strengthen as you practice an activity – and you master it to carry it out unconsciously; neural activity becomes rhythmic – and you fall asleep. In fact, most of the time, you are unconscious, blissfully ignorant of the fact. Isn’t that amazing?"

"Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, in my opinion, is perhaps one of the greatest achievements in science. This may seem to be an overstatement to some, but I'm serious. What I love about this theory is that it explains the world without the need of a creator or designer or God. It explains how spontaneous processes in Nature can give rise to order and complexity and produce the illusion of design."

"I admit I’m somewhat cynical. I have a certain disregard for anything conventional, and I also have this natural instinct not to trust people, not even when there’s absolutely no reason to mistrust them. But I think that’s, on the whole, a good strategy. I have no faith in, well, pretty much everything. And I don’t feel sad about that. That’s how it is. The world is absurd, mad and meaningless. And I have ruled out both physical and philosophical suicide. I’m learning to embrace the madness and absurdity."

"You need some serious training to become a scientist. It's not… easy. You have to be curious as well as skeptical, you have to be good at spotting potential connections, generalizing concepts, handling equations, thinking radically, analyzing data and stuff like that. But I believe you can do anything you are determined about, as long as you are patient and hard-working."

"As I have said many times, I believe consciousness is an emergent phenomenon. The only way you can get me to say that “consciousness is fundamental,” excluding, of course, the option of me turning insane or something like that, is if you agree to the claim (or rather, condition) that this consciousness, which I call fundamental, is just some kind of information. This fundamental consciousness has nothing in common with the human consciousness. It does not have feelings (the way we understand it), emotions and stuff. It is just some kind of information. And it gave rise to the material world. So, consciousness can be a fundamental phenomenon. We are, in some sense, just generalizing the concept of consciousness. You can think of the fundamental consciousness as a bodiless, formless thing, like information. This fundamental consciousness needs no physical matter to exist, because it is fundamental. I know this idea can be difficult to grasp for a human mind, but there you are. I mean, I’m not saying all this is true. In fact, it’s more likely to be incorrect. But if you agree with John Wheeler that information is most fundamental, then this surely is a possible interpretation. But yeah, I believe human consciousness is not fundamental. The biggest evidence in support of this claim is perhaps the fact that human consciousness is so dependent on human biology (more specifically on the brain), and this is an established fact in neuroscience. If consciousness is something fundamental, why are our consciousnesses so dependent on the brain? I think our behavior depends on our biology because the consciousnesses in us have indeed emerged from our biology, from physical matter, but a different consciousness might exist fundamentally. Thus, consciousness can be a fundamental phenomenon, but with time, more complex versions of consciousness have emerged out of the combination and interaction of matter, and this matter is created by the fundamental consciousness (or information, if you like). Thus, these consciousnesses are emergent. So, consciousness is both fundamental and emergent! Well, I just said that matter could be derivative from information, and we can postulate that this information is nothing but the fundamental consciousness (in other words, we can call the information fundamental consciousness). So consciousness may not be a property of matter, but rather a relation between matter and information. The point I wanted to make is that even if there is a fundamental consciousness, we shouldn't expect it to be, in any way, similar to the human consciousness. Also, the idea that information is fundamental and matter emerges from information can be incorrect, after all. Wheeler's interpretation is a bit too radical, and it may not be true."

"Einstein didn't really explain gravity, he explained what really gives rise to the illusion of this attractive force called gravity."

"Never be satisfied with your success. You don't deserve a break, you deserve more success. So work hard, go ahead and grab it."

"Once you can overcome the fear of death, I mean, really overcome it, you essentially become unstoppable."

"The greatest dilemma a responsible human faces is perhaps the dilemma between struggling to make the world a better place to live in, and just enjoying life."

"Although it feels like we are free agents, at the end of the day, we are ultimately a complex collection of atoms constrained by the laws of physics, stranded in this meaningless world for a short period of time. We are born, we spend a few years trying to find something to live for, and even die for, and then ultimately we all succumb to death. We don’t have forever. Time flies."

"I am used to discouragement and injustice. Sometimes there's nothing to be done except feeling angry and hopeless, and a multitude of emotions try to take control of your mind. The more you learn to ignore your emotions and isolate yourself from the world, the wiser you become as a person. That’s why I love the concept of nihilism. Nihilism helps me keep my emotions under control and maintain an indifferent attitude toward life, which, I think, is very important."

"All you need to do is fly. It's up to you whether you'd rather be a bird or an airplane."

"Some people speak of my success, but my failures are too many to count."

"This is a world where you can't trust anyone, including yourself. Do what you think is right and hope for the best. But at the same time, be ready for the worst."

"Initially, I was not interested in any particular science. I was not interested in anything, to be honest. I used to constantly brood over the commonplaces of existence. Maybe to get out of that constant brooding, I took to pondering over the universe, consciousness, etc.. I mean, of course these things are, in some sense, commonplace, but are not well understood, leaving some room for revelations that are not commonplace. This pondering produced an inexplicably pleasant and wonderful effect on my mind – it felt rewarding. But slowly, it became clear to me that I can’t gaze at the night sky for my entire life, hoping for answers. So then I started exploring physics and soon realized that physics is not just a science that determines the velocity of a falling object or the potential difference across a circuit. It is the most fundamental science, and my philosophy was to apply physics to - well - pretty much everything. I started thinking that perhaps physics has the potential to provide the answers I seek. I am probably no better at physics than the average student, but physics is my passion. I love physics not because I'm exceptionally good at it (although I am much better at physics than other subjects), but because I think pursuing physics would be the best use of my time. I just love physics. I myself sometimes wonder why, and I don't know if this love is irrational, but there's no denying the fact that I love physics (or perhaps I should say I love the feeling I get while thinking about physics)."

"Do science to know, not to show."

"Whenever things start going against you, remember that you are writing a story that will one day take the world by storm."

"It's so very hard to live life, but it's harder to die. We have to live. Currently, you may be losing this game called life, but remember, it's not over."

"We all have suffered, and suffering is a part of life. It’s more or less the same story with everyone. But apart from that, the world today is not as it should be, and we need to investigate this situation keeping the big picture in mind. We must not get carried away by the crowd heading in the wrong direction. Someone must take the first step, and that someone may very well be you."

"Don't be a product of the system, be yourself."

"Sometimes, I've been so worried and depressed that the very idea of bliss is unsettling."

"I don't love and respect my parents just because they stand by my side when the world is against me and support every (sometimes unusual) decision I take, I love them for what they are. We've had our arguments, sure, but there is no denying the fact that there is a strong bonding between us: me, my father and my mother. And this bond is what keeps me going in the toughest times."

"Chaos theory does not prove that Nature is random and unpredictable. It is, in theory, possible to make a prediction, but for that you need to know the initial conditions of the system to a high degree of accuracy, which is practically impossible."

"It's usually not enough to just work on improving your chances of success, you should also focus on decreasing your opponents' chances of success."

"You'll obviously think highly of yourself if you surround yourself with people below your standard. You'll then lose your urge to grow. Surround yourself with people better than you, and fight like anything to end up better than them."

"The idea that spacetime is emergent is really a great idea. I think there is some good evidence suggesting that there is an underlying structure, from which space and time may be emergent."

"I don't expect the universe to make sense to me, but the fact that I don't even get just this world around me bothers me sometimes. And when it does, I tell myself, the world makes sense only if you force it to."

"Always consider yourself lucky. So many things could have gone wrong; it could have been worse."

"I have nothing against Artificial Intelligence. In fact, I sometimes feel that a society run by AI will, in some aspects, be better than the present human-run society. And AI is capable of doing stuff we humans find difficult, and we can easily do stuff that the AI finds difficult, so we, together with AI, can probably work wonders. Yes, AI poses a threat to us humans. But I think that’s not the biggest problem right now. The problem is that everything about AI is controlled by a few powerful people and top companies. The poor and underprivileged people are not really benefited by AI. We need to ensure equal access to technology, and strive to build a world where power is not concentrated in just a few hands."

"You shouldn't feel sorry for people in distress wondering what if this happened to me. Try to be genuinely sorry for them because it happened to them."

"Be ready to lose this game, because you need to win bigger games in the future."

"It could be chaos with its own underlying order, or apparent order with underlying chaos."

"Be ready to face the world, instead of cowering behind a shield of negativity."

"At one point of time, I used to think money was not important. There was something noble about not falling for money. But I’ve realized money is important. Yes, money can’t buy happiness, but having money means you’re likely to be happier, no point denying that."

"I never longed for utopia, but this is worse than an apocalypse."

"Either nothing happened, or else everything happened. Of course, the latter is our only choice, for if nothing really happened, we wouldn't be here pondering this."

"I often hear this question: what’s the ultimate truth? The question actually makes no sense because no truth is ultimate except one, and you can never experience that one truth, so technically, it’s not a truth to you. I’m not sure if my current state of mind is forcing me to say this, but here’s the ultimate truth - death. Imagine you’re on your deathbed. A whirlwind of faces, memories and emotions… you remember the silly reason for which you cried, the trivial reason for which you argued with the one who had your best interests at heart, the stupid reason you were so hard on yourself… and you wonder, what is left at the end? Nothing. And that’s the ultimate truth."

"I have never allowed my depression to affect my daily routine, my family and my academics. And when I think about the ones around me, about the average person, I admit that it seems I am winning the war against life. Life is always throwing obstacles down my path, but I have emerged victorious in most cases."

"Most of the groundwork of Einstein’s theories were laid down a long time before him. Einstein’s genius is that he challenged the conventional beliefs and connected the dots in the right way to create an entirely new and astonishing picture of the universe."

"To the people who know me, I am famous for being fickle-minded, and when I get interested in something, I dive deep into it, but lose interest eventually and move on to something else. The reason I'm saying this is that some people have wondered whether physics is also just a temporary obsession of mine. Well, the answer is no. I have been interested in physics for the last five years, and never for a single moment did my interest waver. Before these five years, I admit I used to hate physics and math. Well, maybe hate is a strong word: I did well in my physics and math exams and could understand what was being taught to me, but I just didn't care whether a braking car would stop after ten seconds or an image would be formed twenty centimeters from the mirror. At that time I was too caught up in neuroscience and consciousness to admire physics (and math). In fact, if you were to tell my five-years-younger self that he will end up writing a book on physics, he would've laughed his head off. And today, physics is a big part of my life. You never know what life has in store for you."

"At the end of the day, it's you, and you alone."

"Well, yeah, there are so many people out there who hate me, but in addition to that, they are also afraid of me, and for good reason. If the latter wasn’t true, I probably wouldn’t be alive today." 

"I don't get this world, but I refuse to give up."

"I’d opt for a mind with a few great ideas and the ability to turn them into reality rather than a mind full of ideas without the ability to turn them into reality."

"Sometimes, I don't understand myself. So why on Earth should I expect people to understand me? Yeah, most people don’t understand me, and I couldn’t care less about that."

"I am en route on an airplane of an airline called Life, and my destination is unknown."

"I have always put a special emphasis on science popularization. Science popularization is the reason I write articles, books and upload videos to YouTube. I want to do science (physics, more precisely). But at the same time, I also want to popularize science. Do you know what makes me love Stephen Hawking so much? Of course, partly because he was able to do so much with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. But that's not the main reason. What I love the most about him is that he was both a scientist and a science popularizer. His book A Brief History Of Time has inspired countless laymen to study - or at least think about - the big questions in physics. I think science popularization is very important, especially in my country India. Only science, if properly used, can reform the world and make everyone's lives better. Doing science is important, but spreading awareness about science and developing a scientific mindset in common people is also very important. So from the very beginning, I have put a special emphasis on science popularization, and I will continue to do so in the future."

"When things are good, we find it hard to believe things could ever be bad again; and when things are bad, we have trouble believing things would ever be good again."

"I have no trouble believing that consciousness is an emergent phenomenon, and many consciousnesses have emerged from physical matter in the same, objective reality. Oneness might seem to be a very appealing idea, but we don't have enough scientific evidence that supports oneness, in my opinion. I think reality exists objectively, independently of our minds. Yeah, we definitely don't perceive the reality as it is, this reality is bizarre. But its existence doesn't depend on our minds. There's no strong evidence supporting the idea that our minds determine the state of the universe. Quantum physics does not refute realism (at least, certain forms of realism)." 

"I don't think we deserve consciousness if we are not trying to figure out what consciousness is, although it's true that if consciousness was simple enough to be understood, we wouldn't be smart enough to understand it."

"The world is moving very fast these days, and writing has somewhat lost its value. Either because the writing becomes outdated or because people hardly have enough time and patience to read it. Also, publishing has become easier in today’s world. This means it has become difficult to find really good material. But I’d like to urge every budding writer to never give up on their dreams and keep writing good stuff. Regardless of what is happening in the publishing industry, good content is always valued by readers."

"Basically, almost everyone around you is trying to make money off you by stimulating your brain to experience certain emotions. And the irony is that they do this to stimulate similar emotions in their own brains."

"New developments in science usually don’t prove that our older theories are incorrect, rather that they are special cases, applicable under some special circumstances, of a more general theory."

"Philosophy and metaphysics create a world of their own and allow you to explore it, but they never converge to the truth. Science converges to the truth."

"Many people believe physics should be an empirical science. The modern speculative theories like string theory do not qualify as physics, because they make no testable prediction, and we have no way to verify that they are actually true. But I don't think that these theories are entirely nonsense and that we should stop working on them. Because if a theory is mathematically elegant and answers a lot of theoretical questions, it could be true. We understand very little about string theory, so maybe it's too early to expect experimental support. If you don't know the details of the theory, how can you figure out an experiment to test the theory? The problem today is that theoretical physics has advanced much, much faster than experimental physics, which is why we can't bridge the two. But that doesn't necessarily mean modern theoretical physics is nonsense. String theorists didn't make up the story of strings and extra dimensions, they were led to those conclusions by some well-defined mathematics. But yeah, it may be true that there is no unifying theory, and even if there is such a theory, the approach majority of physicists take to discover such a theory is not the correct one. Like maybe some of our preconceived notions are incorrect. We need to consider each and every possibility. We should look for alternatives to string theory and loop quantum gravity in addition to researching these theories. We shouldn't get stuck on these theories."

"Maybe the poet had something else in mind when he wrote the poem, but we can find other - maybe even better - meanings."

"Nothing in this world excites me anymore, with the possible exception of the fact that science has been able to reveal so much about the bizarre nature of reality and there is still so much more to discover."

"It is hard, if not downright impossible, to tell what is real and what is not with any certainty."

"A letter has no inherent meaning, but when

P, H, Y, S, I, C and S are spelled in this order - it means the key to unlock the secrets of the universe, and beyond."

"It’s often said that the more we know, the more we realize how much we don’t yet know. Well, of course that’s true. However, it’s also true that the more we know, the easier it is for us to learn more about that topic. Because what we have learned about it puts constraints on what there is yet to know about it, thus narrowing down the possibilities."

"You don't know what I'm going through right now, but you've probably faced worse, and perhaps that's the source of my strength. And also, probably now's the right time to say it, to all the wrong people I've put my faith in, you'll get the "answers" to your "questions" soon, and to all the beautiful people who've always wished well for me, you're not going to regret it."

"It is important to realize that there is nothing to lose from investing a reasonable amount of money in scientific research. Even if a theory or an experiment fails to do the thing we originally wanted it to do, we learn a lot in the process, and this information comes in handy in other areas of science."

"We shouldn't expect life to have any inherent meaning, but again, that does not mean we should feel sad about it. On the contrary, we should accept the fact and create a meaning and dream for ourselves, and work hard to achieve it."

"What's the most fearful fact to me? Well, whatever it may be, it surely is not the fact that so many people would be happy if I died. Yeah, I know so many people want me to die, to lose, and sometimes I do feel like a complete loser. But these people don't really frighten me, they give me strength. They really do. They propel me forward. So, as I believe I have said once before, keep hating me. I don't care. Well, I do care, but not in the sense you might think."

"You may have a Lamborghini, but you can't control the traffic on the road. Having a supercar is not enough to ensure that you go fast, there always are some factors beyond your control."

"I think the universe might be deterministic deep down, and it appears random and probabilistic to us due to our limited knowledge and incomplete understanding of it. The reason I say the universe might be deterministic is that even randomness can be deterministic. There are laws that apply to random systems; random doesn’t mean it can’t be studied or understood. All I mean by deterministic is that the universe functions according to some universal laws. However, as pointed out by one of my readers recently, I have claimed that ordered complexity is a fortunate product of random processes. How do I reconcile this with my belief that the universe might be deterministic deep down? Well, to be honest, right now we don’t have enough knowledge to determine whether these two statements are conflicting. And when I say ordered complexity is a fortunate product of random processes, I simply mean that everything happened spontaneously and not because of some greater power or God. But I don’t think this rules out the possibility of a deterministic universe. Notice the phrase “ordered complexity.” Ordered implies that certain rules are being followed, and thus determinism may hold."

"Sometimes it seems to me that something must always remain; else ultimately nothing will."

"It's definitely a good idea to busy yourself with work and keep your mind off useless and negative things, but you should confront yourself and spend some time with yourself at least once daily."

"I prefer being alone, and I’m perfectly happy with that. If you genuinely feel good alone, that’s alright, you don’t need to force yourself to be extroverted and outgoing. Of course, I’m not asking you to shut yourself up in a room, but there’s nothing wrong in being an introvert." 

"The world doesn’t obey physical laws. Physical laws don't, for instance, cause the apple to fall down. We have formulated the physical laws, and they just do a good job explaining the way the world works, nothing more."

"There are a lot of theories about consciousness and physics, and in general, I do believe physics, neuroscience and computer science can one day explain consciousness as an emergent property of physical matter. I think consciousness arises from the arrangement of and interaction between the physical matter that makes up the brain, and nobody purposefully arranged this matter in this way. It's just permutation and combination. All the possible combinations occurred, and by itself, this "magical" combination also occurred at one point of time. Although I call it "magical," I believe it is, in theory, possible to explain consciousness using the known (or not-yet-known) laws of physics. Deriving the properties of something as complex and sophisticated as consciousness from first principles would be practically impossible. We don't have the computational power to carry out a calculation of this magnitude. But all I am saying, it can be done in theory. Consciousness is subject to the laws of physics."

 "I feel privileged to be alive during such a time in history when we already know so much about our universe, but there's also that thrill of discovering the beautiful unknown. Can't wait to see what happens next in theoretical physics!"

"Research can demand radical revisions to existing theories, or maybe the solution is simple and lurking just around the corner. Only time will reveal the truth."

"It’s better to stay in the dark and play the game from the dark, simply because it becomes easy for your enemies to spot you if you come out in the light. It's not about courage, it's about cunning."

"College is only a platform after all. You are the rocket that needs to liftoff from the platform.

Good colleges offer a bigger platform than the other ones. However, if you don't have the fuel within yourself, no matter how big the platform, you won't be able to liftoff. But it's true that your college also matters to some extent." 

"Dark matter and dark energy are simply terms we have coined to phenomena which can't be explained at present. It is surely possible that we will discover some deeper theory in the future which would explain these phenomena, or shed light on what problems with our current theories have given rise to the misconception of the existence of these phenomena."

"My interest in physics was mainly sparked by reading popular science books. These books can really be a great source of inspiration, and I loved reading them. Not as demanding as textbooks. And instead of teaching you the old and conventional concepts, these books give you an overview of what’s happening in the field right now. Of course, you need to read textbooks if you want to become a scientist. I just think it’s a good idea to start reading popular science books from a young age to spark your interest in science."

"Almost every time there has been a conflict or contradiction in physics, a radically new idea has settled it."

"What makes a statement scientific is that it could have been false, but is shown to be true according to experiments. Experiments are crucial to tell us if the scientific statements we have discovered are true in our world."

"If we wait long enough, Nature tries out all possible paths."

"I admit that sometimes it seems like I am winning the war against life, but I’m aware that my castles are built on sand - they can turn into dust any moment."

"Things have not been going too well for me lately, but I promise I'll be back soon. I've always thanked my well-wishers, and I thank you now as well. But in addition, I'd like to thank my - to use a slightly strong word - haters, who greatly outnumber my well-wishers, for pushing me to rise above the rest. Keep hating me!"

"I have plans, and not all of them will make you smile."

"Nothing’s fair in today’s world, but if everything was fair, in the true sense, we probably wouldn't exist. In the true sense, chaos is the only thing that’s fair. I am not talking about chaos theory. I am talking about real chaos. A state of complete disorder, from a physics viewpoint. Why do I call chaos fair? Because a state of complete disorder is supposed to be the same at each point in space and time. I mean, it's a complete disorder. It's not governed by any rule(s). You can’t distinguish a particular region or direction from another region of direction in space, and it doesn’t change with time as well. If you could, the implication would be that there was some order, some rule(s) which gave rise to the difference. But the problem with order and rules is that they don’t treat every point in space and time equally, which isn’t fair, and hence the difference. Of course, in the context of space and time, there’s nothing “fair” or “unfair.” In the context of society, well, chaos would mean some sort of anarchy. Yeah, technically it’s fair. Because everything is in a state of disorder. It treats everyone equally, regardless of their background or status. Order, on the other hand, implies someone or something is in control. The rules always favor the ones who made the rules. But of course, most of us don’t really want anarchy."

"I do not seek to impose my views on anyone, but I hope to inspire curiosity and debate."

"Making sense of the world around us is no easy feat, especially when we are so good at finding meaningful patterns in things which are actually meaningless, and discarding the obvious, meaningful truth dancing in front of our eyes."

"At times, it feels good to think about the transient nature of existence, and at times it's depressing. But to me, it is more relieving than depressing. It helps me keep mental peace."

"Right now, we have a lot of threads or information in our hands. We are just trying to find the best needle that can knit a complete theory of the universe using all these threads. And we don't know for sure whether such a needle exists."

"Although I like to think of myself as this curious science enthusiast fascinated with the universe and consciousness, I know that a much better and more accurate description would be an ordinary, powerless mortal who is just stranded in this damned world."

"I read somewhere that people's gaze turns us into objects of their world, rather than subjects of our own world. That's indeed relatable. I mean, I sometimes feel like I don't fit into this world. And I also believe that has got more to do with society than my mental health, and even if the latter is the reason, I'd say the reason behind my developing mental health issues is mainly society. I think I'd be much better off alone. Or at least, I'd like to see society getting what is deserves. It's not that I haven't tried to approach all of this in an optimistic and positive manner, but, for whatever reasons, I've been utterly disappointed. Society only takes notice of "villains" when their power and influence have blown out of proportion, but don't forget that villains are not born, they are made by society. There are millions of oppressed and repressed people out there who are powerless right now; but one of them will rise to become the next villain."

"I think there are two ways to think about your life: a tragedy or a comedy. And I think the latter is probably the better option. I mean, when you think deeply about it, there is something similar about tragedy and comedy. And that life is a tragedy is probably true and appealing. But there’s hardly anything you can do thinking life’s a tragedy. On the other hand, if you accept that life is a comedy show and you’re a joker, you transcend all rules and ethics, and you find peace in death and destruction, which obviously is supposed to be a bad thing, but I don’t think so. I’m the joker, and life’s the biggest joke."

"It's better to walk your own path alone than waste your time doing what thousands of people have done before, and what thousands of people are blindly doing now. Always prefer being extraordinary alone to being friendly with a bunch of ordinary people. Move on, higher, alone."

"Nothing really matters in the end."