--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Hugo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Here's an astonishing fact, there are more possible > versions of string theory than there are atoms in the > unverse, most of them freely adjustable to hide any > negative results from experiments, like the SU (5) > symmetry break I mentioned the other day. Now, to me > string theory looks like a non-starter simply because > of it's complexity but what the hell do I (or anybody) > know about how nature actually works. It might be even > weirder than that. Disliking it because of it's complexity > may say more about me and Eintstein than it says about > string theory. But ST contradicts the vedic idea of > creation completely, not that John Hagelin will > ever admit it. That's another post or ten. > > Deutsch claims the universe is much simpler. Ok, the > idea that there are untold trillions of universes sharing > the same space might not sound simple but Deutsch is an > Occams razor kind of guy and he makes a pretty good > case, but it's tricky to be sure because everything he > says can be expained by string theory or quantum > superposition where particles are in two places at once. > Which is why we need a quantum computer to settle it, > if it does settle it. > > The funniest problem with the many-worlds- all slightly > different idea is that there must be billions of universes > with Deutsch in them where he thinks the many-worlds idea > is rubbish. Which is a bit of a head-scratcher until you > read his book The Fabric of Reality which has more amazing > ideas in it than I could recount here.
I've been staying out of the "build a computer model to test karma" discussion because I think it's silly. To be accurate, the model would have to include every *possible* variable and test for it. First, no human being has the ability to tell what "every possible variable" is, much less model it. Second, the "model" you're looking for already exists. It's called the world. If you look at that and feel that karma makes sense to you, experiment over. If you look at the world and feel that karma doesn't make sense, experiment over. :-) But as to the "many worlds" idea, this is actually one of the models for spiritual development that the Rama guy I studied with used to talk about. He was of the opinion that we exist not only in multiple incarnations in the linear framework of time, but that all of these incarnations exist *simultaneously*, in different dimensions or parallel universes. And he felt that on some level they "overlapped." That is, having a realization in one universe could "spill over" into another, and trigger a similar realization in this one. And vice-versa. As for the presence of "other dimensions" or parallel universes, as far as I can tell I have experienced them. You're going to have to take this with Judy's shaker of salt, because 1) it's a subjective experience, and no one can ever prove or disprove a subjective experience, and 2) it's MY subjective experience. :-) I rarely talk about this stuff here because the shit tends to hit the fan when I do, but you brought the subject up, so here goes. Keep your salt shaker handy. :-) To give just one example, we were out in the desert one night ("we" being Rama and about 300 of his students), about five miles up Carrizo Gorge in Southern California. We'd just eaten the sandwiches we'd brought with us, and were relaxing after the hike, and the "teaching" part of the desert trip hadn't really started yet. Rama was walk- ing around in front of us, and then stopped and noticed something. He turned to us and said, "Look...over there." I looked. It was just a wall of rock, part of the cliff face of the mountain we were sitting under. BFD. But then, as I looked, two vertical shafts of light appeared in front of the wall of rock, and the wall of rock "went away." It started to fade like the Cheshire Cat, slowly, first turning translucent, and then trans- parent. And it was only happening between the two shafts of light; the rest of the mountain was still a mountain. Finally, the rock wall between the two shafts of light went away entirely, and what I saw in its place was stars. LOTS of stars, not like the night sky from Earth. And kind of "swimming" or zooming around amongst those stars were beings of light, from whom I could feel something like intelligence. Then the whole thing faded and it was just a rock wall again. There were no drugs involved, there was no sleep depri- vation involved (it was early in the evening), and there was no suggestion involved. All that he had said was "Look...over there." And yet, when asked about what they saw, at least half of the group of people described seeing exactly what I had seen -- stars, and beings of light. Go figure. I'm not claiming that what I saw WAS an "interdimensional opening" that allowed me to briefly see into a parallel universe. I don't know WHAT it was. But it's sure one of the closest experiences I've had to something like that. Whatever it was, it was neat. And that's enough for me.