The Joe Rogan Experience: Harvard Physicist Eric Weinstein vs Terrence Howard’s controversial claims

Renowned Harvard University mathematical physicist Eric Weinstein appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience to engage with, and possibly challenge, one of today's most divisive and controversial figures in engineering and mathematics: actor-turned-thought leader Terrence Howard.

This novel approach to logic asserts various theories, including the proposition that "1X1 = 2."

Weinstein returned to Rogan's widely popular podcast following Howard's controversial guest appearance, which sparked criticism from fans and academics. During his time on JRE, Howard made extraordinary claims, such as recalling his own birth, possessing the ability to nullify gravity, and attempting to disprove the Pythagorean theorem, among other assertions.

Weinstein began the podcast by explaining his decision to return to the show, motivated by his concern over the severe criticism directed at Howard from academia regarding his theories. He contrasted the dynamics of peer relations between the podcasting industry and the academic sphere, highlighting the differences.

“If you think about the number of people in podcasting who sort of tried to lift each other up, it’s pretty good… And on of the reasons that is, is that there’s enough money on it. What happened in academics is that it went into a contractive state in which you killed or you died. So basically the ethics of academics plummeted after the early 70s.”

He continued:

“[The academic world] was always very competitive, but really what it is, is The Hunger Games. In acting, for example, if there’s money among the elite set, people have trouble with each other, same thing with tech, [where] they kind of fight each other but they all get rich together and then they bury hatchets and things like that.”

“You don’t see that as much in academics because it’s kill or be killed… So one of the things I wanted to do [on this podcast] was to try to just begin by steelmanning because I’ve been really disappointed in a lot of the critique that Terrence [Howard] has experienced.”

What was Harvard physicist Eric Weinstein’s assessment of Terrence Howard's theories?

As the JRE episode progressed, Eric Weinstein and Terrence Howard engaged in a respectful clash based on their academic expertise. One notable point of contention was Howard's usage of the term 'Supersymmetry,' which Weinstein strongly argued was inaccurately employed by the former actor.

After extensive discussion between the two guests, Joe Rogan interjected with:

"I think what he [Weinstein] is saying is you [Howard] are talking about a thing, and you're using the term 'supersymmetry', and he's saying that 'supersymmetry' only applies to a very specific thing."

Weinstein reaffirmed this by stating:

"You [Howard] are using a reserved term of art, and you're using it incorrectly, and you're gonna pay a penalty."

In response, Howard replied curtly yet humorously with:

“Okay, I don’t want to pay no penalty. I got enough taxes.”