the mathematics of everything: m. ram murty on numbers, mind, and meaning

in this episode of decoded, akshat bhaskar and amaira akbar sit down with professor m. ram murty, holder of the queen's research chair in mathematics at queen's university and one of the most respected names in number theory.

ram murty walks us through a career spent studying the distribution of prime numbers, the deep and unexplained connection between mathematics and physical reality, and why he believes numbers might be the closest thing we have to a universal language. he talks about growing up on star trek, the lecture at mit that pulled him toward philosophy, and why he still sets aside three hours a day just to think.

we also get into artificial intelligence. ram murty has used it to help disprove conjectures, but he is direct about its limits and concerned about what constant digital distraction is doing to how students learn.

the conversation moves between primes and the gita, mit lecture halls and vedanta, without ever losing the thread. clarity before consensus.