Scott Aaronson - Quantum Computing, Complexity, and Creativity

Scott Aaronson is a Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin, and director of its Quantum Information Center. 

He's the author of one of the most interesting blogs on the internet: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/ and the book “Quantum Computing since Democritus”.

He was also my professor for a class on quantum computing.

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Episode website here.

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Timestamps

(0:00) - Intro

(0:33) - Journey through high school and college

(12:37) - Early work

(19:15) - Why quantum computing took so long

(33:30) - Contributions from outside academia

(38:18) - Busy beaver function

(53:50) - New quantum algorithms

(1:03:30) - Clusters

(1:06:23) - Complexity and economics

(1:13:26) - Creativity

(1:24:07) - Advice to young people