My view is that rather than being a simulation, our universe and an infinitude
of others,are programs that yields physical universes, as a programmatic
process. The underlying software and hardware are more real than the reality we
sense, but our lives are very real. Underneath everything is organized data,
programs, processes, and pipelines to other universes (or parts of a greater
very big universe). So theoretically, humans and galaxies and bacteria, get
promoted (as in software) to other places. I am stealing from Eric Steinhart's
Promotion hypothesis, to suit my own pitiful intellect, and emotions.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be>
To: everything-list <everything-list@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Apr 4, 2015 11:10 am
Subject: Re: The Object
Nice! Quite Platonist! "We never invent anything---we always only discover."
would assess a platonist.
Bruno
On 07 Jan 2015, at 23:54, Jason Resch wrote:
>From Douglas Jone's short story ( http://frombob.to/you/aconvers.html ):
>
But suppose it were possible to create physical universes like yours within an
appropriately specified computational universe. What could you say about the
origin of the universe then?
Very little, actually. Why? Because all general-purpose computers are
equivalent. If it is possible to perform this "computation" within any one
computational universe, then there are an infinite number of computational
universes in which this "computation" is performed. If you were to try to
follow the chain of causality back past the origin of your physical universe,
you would find an infinite number of causes.
These are all deep, deep questions. We have been thinking about them, and doing
experiments, for a very long time. Our mathematicians have proven certain
things... I’m sorry, I have to be very careful about what I say here. There is
the very real possibility of inducing cardiac arrest in certain people if I say
too much. So let me say some vague things:
There exists an object, a mathematical object, which has certain properties.
For reasons that should be obvious, there is no general agreement on what the
best name for this object is, so for the sake of convenience, let’s just call
it The Object.
Your world, that is, the entire universe that you can observe, is an
infinitesimal part of that Object. And so is mine. And so is every universe
that can possibly exist. And everything else that can exist, whether or not you
would call it a universe. All of Mathematics is inside that Object. And the
various parts of that Object are somehow connected together.
We expend a considerable amount of effort attempting to deduce the properties
of that Object. In a sense, we are Exploring it.
As I said before, we are Explorers, and we are exploring Everything. And
exploring the nature of the connections between the various parts of The Object
is the most fundamental kind of exploration there is. And some of the most
interesting kinds of connections are related to Consciousness.
The Object is Eternal. It exists outside of time. It has no beginning and no
end; it simply Is.
It contains many universes that have a property called Time, and you live in
one of them, and so do I. But these universes are Eternal too. The Time within
them is visible only from a particular point of view.
Whenever we speak of creating a computational universe, or of creating a
physical universe, or of creating anything, we are not really speaking of
creation; we are really speaking of making a connection. Making a connection
between different parts of The Object.
The parts are already there. They have always been there. And we don’t really
make the connection; the connection was always there too. We just discover what
is already there. In other words, we just become aware of it.
So whenever we think we’re creating something, this is just a vanity of the
ego, which exists within Time. Everything is already there, within The Object.
B: What do you mean, the Afterlife? Apparently, each of us gets an infinite
number of different ones, simultaneously. And this doesn’t just happen when you
die. It happens to you all the time.
In the last five minutes, you have split into an uncountable number of
different versions of yourself, each one in a different universe. And some of
those versions of yourself have found themselves in universes that are very
different from the one you all shared just over five minutes ago. Just because
you don’t recall ever experiencing a discontinuity that big, doesn’t mean that
it never happens to you.
The Object contains all possible computational universes, with all possible
initial conditions. So there are an infinite number of computational universes
which contain, as part of their initial conditions, You as you exist at this
precise instant. And this instant too. And all of the other instants of your
life.
And in precisely zero percent of those universes, which is to say an infinite
number of them, you will find yourself in a world like the one I live in, the
Realm of Possibilities. Where you will have freedom, and infinite choices, and
immortality. Where you can visit worlds of invention, and live innumerable
lives. Where you can follow, for a time, the paths of other Souls.
Of course, in the vast majority of those universes, you will find yourself
completely alone. But nevertheless, it can be shown that there are an infinite
number of universes that will also contain all of your friends and loved ones.
Even the ones who are already dead in your world.
And we can take this even further. It can be shown that there exist an infinite
number of universes that each contain almost Everyone!
You see, The Object contains the Continuum of Souls. It is a connected set,
with a frothy, fractal structure, of rather high dimensionality. The Continuum
contains an infinite number of Souls, all Souls in fact, and an infinite number
of them are You. Or at least, close enough to being You so that nobody could
tell the difference. Not even You.
And the Continuum also contains an infinite number of souls that are almost
You. And an infinite number that are sort of You. And because it is a
Continuum, and because there is really no objective way to tell which one is
really You, then any method one uses to try to distinguish between You and
non-You will produce nothing but illusion. In a sense, there is only one You,
and it is Everyone.
Of course, You can tell which one is you, can’t you? Or can you?
I saw some old posts in the archive on this list by a "Doug Jones", does anyone
remember him?
Jason
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