Eric Weinstein gets raw in viral JRE debate with Terrence Howard, says money is the real reason behind academic in-fighting: "It's kill or be killed"

Renowned Harvard University mathematical physicist Eric Weinstein joined The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) to talk with and possibly debate one of the most polarizing and controversial figures in engineering and mathematics today: actor-turned-critical-thinker Terrence Howard.

Howard, who rose to prominence for his Oscar-nominated performance in 'Hustle & Flow' (2005) and his role as James 'Rhodey' Rhodes in the first 'Iron Man' movie, recently retired from acting and published a now-patented new language of logic called "Terryology". This new form of logic claims to prove the statement "1 x 1 = 2", among many other theories.

Weinstein hopped back on Rogan's massively popular podcast in light of Howard's recent guesting, which drew much ire from fans and academics alike. In Howard's appearance in JRE, he claimed that he could remember the events of the day he was born, that he could kill gravity, and that he attempted to debunk the Pythagorean theorem, just to name a few.

Weinstein opened the podcast by citing why he volunteered to appear on the show again. He was concerned with the harsh criticism that Howard suffered, courtesy of the academic world, due to his theories. He explained the difference between peer relations in the podcasting industry and the academic world, saying:

"If you think about the number of people in podcasting who sort of tried to lift each other up, it's pretty good... And one of the reasons that is, is that there's enough money in 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."

Watch the full podcast episode here:

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Eric Weinstein critiques Terrence Howard's theories

Once the JRE episode got into full gear, Eric Weinstein and Terrence Howard started to respectfully clash with their academic knowledge. One of the more contentious parts of the debate was Howard's use of the term 'Supersymmetry', which Weinstein adamantly dismissed as a term the former actor uses incorrectly.

After much back-and-forth between the two guests, Joe Rogan butted in 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 doubled down on this by saying:

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

To this, Howard coldly but also hilariously replied with:

"Okay, I don't want to pay no penalty. I got enough taxes."

Watch a clip of the conversation here: