Interesting article…
On Edge, Martin Rees – a noted cosmologist, someone who definitely knows what he’s doing – has an article about multiverse cosmology. (This is a general-public article, BTW, not a technical one)
Now, I’ve got one primary objection to this article, which is that it makes multiverse cosmology sound like something much more agreed upon in the scientific community than it actually is; its current status is more on the lines of “a definite possibility, one whose details haven’t been worked out yet, but has some really good features as a prospective model.”
But that aside, he has some interesting things to say on the subject. One intriguing possibility he brought up, which I hadn’t heard before, was that in an infinite universe, someone has very likely developed extraordinarily powerful computers, ones powerful enough to simulate not just individual life forms but even large sectors of the universe itself, and that for all we know, we may be living in such a simulation.
The philosophical implications of this sort of thought are rather intriguing. On the one hand, we couldn’t necessarily intrinsically tell whether we’re in such a simulation or not, since we don’t have any outside reference points to work by; but it may be possible under such circumstances to communicate with the simulators, by some means or another, and indicate that yes, there’s life inside here.
The good/bad thing with this line of thought is that it seems that one could use it as a basis for virtually any argument; it’s like theology, but even less constricting. Can’t explain some property of the universe? Maybe the simulators programmed it to be that way. (Like the “well, that’s just how God planned it” excuse – a great way to avoid answering any inconvenient questions)
What’s interesting, here, is that this seems to arise naturally as a consequence of certain kinds of cosmology: If the universe really is large enough to contain all things, one must expect such simulations to exist therein. But this gives us no information whatsoever about whether we’re elements of such a simulation.
Anyway, this is just sleep dep and a great deal of physics (from the past few days) talking at this point. There are some interesting issues brought up here, but they’re about on a par with solipsism as far as really arguable points. Perhaps it’s time for bed.
Time to be careful
[politics filter]
For those of you who haven’t checked the news yet, there was an attack by al Qaeda today on Casablanca – five simultaneous bombings, current numbers are 41 dead, many injured. This being the second major attack in a week, there’s good reason to believe that this is the signal for a major escalation, and further attacks are to come.
While their strength is definitely greatest outside the U.S., in a band going across Northern Africa through to Central Asia, the readiness of whatever forces they may have available in this country is unknown. An attack on American soil therefore cannot (and should not) be ruled out. However, the biggest threat right now is to American and/or Jewish interests (n.b. the target list for today’s bombings…) abroad. If you have any family or friends out there, make sure they’re being alert.
Hmm.
Strange dream last night. I had been doing a stint of military service (in a place where people spoke Hebrew, but looked more like Switzerland… but dangerous…) and was finishing up my stint as a major. I had to decide whether I wanted to re-up, knowing that if I did I would make colonel in pretty short order, or start the next phase of my life then. Both seemed pretty attractive.
I’m pretty sure this dream had some fairly significant symbolic meaning for me, but I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m not a hair away from any desirable rank in physics, but I am thinking about starting a new life…
Good evening
Productive day of preparing talk. Followed by meeting my lady friend for dinner, cuddling and a nap, climbing a hill to watch the eclipse, and going to see the Matrix Reloaded.
All in all, I’d say that was a good way to spend the night.
And the movie was excellent.
Now, back to work…
Just so y’all know…
Total lunar eclipse tonight. If you’re out west, the eclipse will already be going when the moon rises. Basic times to know are:
Eclipse starts, 19:03
Moonrise, 20:04
Totality starts, 20:15
Peak, 20:37
End of totality, 20:47
Yonatan Zunger’s Blog 