Todd Duncan

Department of Physics & Engineering 

108 Price Hall

tduncan@pacificu.edu

About Me

I study and teach physics as a way of engaging with deep questions of existence. I'm interested in understanding the nature of ultimate reality as best I can, while helping others discover their own ways to explore deep mysteries. I try to follow questions and insights where they lead, guided by the practices of particular subject areas, but not constrained by their category boundaries. The inquiry process of physics & astronomy has been central to my exploration, but my interests overlap with philosophy, systems science, history, cognitive science, music, art, poetry, engineering, etc.  A common theme is investigating systems that appear complex and disconnected on the surface, looking for their simple underlying essence. I appreciate whatever answers we discover, but my primary aim in investigating the universe is the direct experience of engaging  with the mystery.  So I choose topics to work on based on their ability to connect my awareness to that deep mystery, and to help others connect in their own ways to the mysteries behind everyday experiences. 

Most of my current work is focused on science education and outreach. Whenever possible I also carve out a little time to stay active in fundamental research, following the thread of insights related to my own core questions (see below for more information on my research interests). I also direct our new Astrophysics Minor, which I'm excited about as an opportunity for anyone, regardless of major, to explore their connection to the broader universe.  Here's my CV if you'd like more details about my background. 

Teaching

My approach to teaching is well-expressed by the words of Parker Palmer, "To educate is to guide students on an inner journey toward more truthful ways of seeing and being in the world." In my classes I focus on providing a welcoming space for conversation and exploration, a solid foundation in the conceptual principles of the subject we're studying, and opportunities to explore applications of these principles with an emphasis on clear connections to students' individual interests and experiences. 

Recent classes I've taught include:

Research

My research interests are all expressions of a theme that has driven my fascination with science since childhood, which I've come to describe as "looking for meaning in the modern universe." Science offers a self-correcting inquiry process for exploring our experience and building a worldview that guides our actions by giving us insight into who we are in relation to the rest of the universe. The framework of this perspective is described in a short book (An Ordinary World: The Role of Science in Your Search for Personal Meaning) available as a PDF here or in print here. My research projects are different aspects of filling in that framework. 

The rest of this section says a bit more about the essential theme that guides my investigation, followed by a few specific topics I'm currently exploring. If you're a student interested in working with me, you're welcome to get involved in any of these projects, or propose something else you'd like to explore. I suggest starting with your own questions: What are you curious about? Spend some time brainstorming the questions you'd most like to investigate, and I can help you turn one or more of those questions into a manageable project. (Here are some of my core questions as examples.)

What makes a meaningful universe?

A line of thinking often attributed to science goes something like this: We may feel subjectively that our thoughts and actions matter in some way, but this perception is an illusion. An honest look around at the universe shatters this myth and reveals that our lives are ultimately meaningless. If we are to be hard-nosed realists, limiting ourselves to scientific, evidence-based reasoning, then we must accept that human existence is an inconsequential accident of no ultimate significance in the grand scheme of things. 

     Is this attitude really justified by the evidence? To address this question, it's helpful to take a step back and shift our perspective. Forget about our own, real universe for a moment. What if we had complete freedom to start from scratch and set up a "meaningful" universe? What would it be like? What key properties would it have?

     A really key point is recognizing that the patterns we call physical reality can be just as well interpreted as necessary  in order to implement a meaningful story as they can be interpreted as "alienating"  and demonstrating that life is "meaningless." In general terms, the perspective I've been led to through my investigations is to view the universe as something akin to a "story" that is creating its own "language" (the patterns we call the physical universe and the laws of nature) in order to describe itself. 


(with physics student Logan Switzer & English Dept. colleague Jenna Thompson)

For understandable reasons, consideration of conscious experience has generally been excluded from the practice of physics. The exclusion of experience from our models of the natural world has preserved an important level of rigor and solved many problems. But it has also created problems and raised questions that may be impossible to answer without bringing this aspect of reality back into consideration as part of our description of the natural world. In this project we're exploring what it might look like to carefully reintegrate consciousness experience into the fundamental ontology of the patterns we investigate in the practice of doing physics. What might we be able to explain as a result of this reintegration, and how might we go about using this new framework to help answer foundational questions in physics?

(with student Logan Switzer)

I'm particularly interested in exploring this question as a way of shedding light on the nature of explanation in general. 

(with students Maria Ibrahimkhail and Logan Switzer, NASA Oregon Space Grant STARR program)

Link to Logan's poster and white paper from spring 2023.

(with former physics student Erika Dunning & math student Justin Hurworth)

A key aspect of my approach to science is emphasizing the experience of the scientist as an important part of the process. (Along the lines of Goethe's approach of "dwelling within the phenomena" as described by Henri Bortoft in "The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe's Way Toward a Science of Conscious Participation in Nature.")

(with Portland State colleague Jack Semura and former physics student Casper Xallen)

In the same spirit that Fuchs, Zeilinger, and others are seeking a deep, conceptual principle that underlies the mathematical rules of quantum mechanics, I'm trying to identify the simple physical principles underlying the broad unversality and inherent irreversibility of the second law of thermodynamics. The ultimate aim of this project is to formulate a simple, direct answer to the question, "What fundamental property of nature would have to change in order to 'turn off' the second law?" Some  ideas in this direction are described in:

Student Activities

I'll try to keep this section updated with selected examples of what current and former students are up to, to give a sense of the possibilities for new students. 

A few publications & presentations that introduce some of the core ideas of my work

Other recommended reading

A few of my favorite quotes...