This is my first time learning about Carlo Rovelli. I’ve heard of loop quantum gravity but never knew the man behind it, nor of his antiwar political activism.

Having studied physics myself, I strongly relate to how he explains the connection between his interest in physics and his interest in the humanities and politics.

I’ve said this elsewhere, but for me, physics and Marxism are interesting for the same reason: both attempt to see past apparent reality in order to discover a more fundamental reality. Social illusions and fetishes are characteristic of capitalist society, and it was Marx who made the largest stride toward understanding these scientifically. There is a strong correspondence between this sort of social-scientific revelation and the science of physics, which upend our perception of reality through knowledge of quantum mechanics, relativity, thermodynamics, and many other subfields.