Why Do We Exist? Hakeem Oluseyi

About this episode

Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi discusses his life experiences and explores profound questions about existence and the universe.

Astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi has lived a life that sounds almost impossible: a childhood marked by poverty, violence, and constant upheaval; a teenage obsession with Einstein; a stint in the Navy; addiction and recovery; work as a janitor; and eventually a PhD in physics from Stanford. In this conversation, Michael Shermer and Oluseyi talk about his new book, Why Do We Exist? , and the biggest questions science can ask: what came before the Big Bang, whether the multiverse is real, why the universe seems fine-tuned for life, what dark matter and dark energy really mean, and why alien civilizations may be far rarer than we hope. Hakeem Oluseyi is a multidisciplinary astrophysicist, multi-patented inventor, award-winning author and journalist, and internationally recognized educator. His new book is Why Do We Exist?: The Nine Realms of Universe That Make You Possible .

People in this episode

Host: Michael Shermer

Guest: Hakeem Oluseyi

Topics covered

• existence
• astrophysics
• multiverse
• dark matter
• dark energy
• alien civilizations

Keywords

• astrophysics
• Big Bang
• fine-tuning
• multiverse
• dark matter
• dark energy
• alien civilizations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford

Books & works: Why Do We Exist?, Why Do We Exist?: The Nine Realms of Universe That Make You Possible

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