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Is the universe a giant mind?

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ruveyn
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27 Apr 2011, 10:22 am

SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today. Since computers can replicate the real world using equations, then obviously the real universe is just one big bunch of code that we live in where every particle is calculated in 11 dimensions. In a way, studying physics is kind of the exact opposite as creating a physics engine for a video game. This is why I believe alternate universes could have totally different laws of physics.


No one ever needed an umbrella for a simulated rainstorm.

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LikeGreenAndBlue
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28 Apr 2011, 1:15 pm

SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today.


Where did this computer come from then? Who is operating it?

Such ideas always scared the hell out of me because they suggest the existence of entities which are far beyond my ability to perceive them and of which I have absolutely no control whatsoever.



ruveyn
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28 Apr 2011, 3:15 pm

SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today. Since computers can replicate the real world using equations, then obviously the real universe is just one big bunch of code that we live in where every particle is calculated in 11 dimensions. In a way, studying physics is kind of the exact opposite as creating a physics engine for a video game. This is why I believe alternate universes could have totally different laws of physics.


Utter nonsense.

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29 Apr 2011, 9:28 pm

I take the example of life as we know to be analogous of the universe being aware of itself in a way which is akin to the way in which the discovered laws of nature seemingly complement each-other.


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ruveyn
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30 Apr 2011, 3:35 am

devark wrote:
I take the example of life as we know to be analogous of the universe being aware of itself in a way which is akin to the way in which the discovered laws of nature seemingly complement each-other.


Is a rock aware of itself?

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devark
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30 Apr 2011, 9:03 am

ruveyn wrote:

Is a rock aware of itself?

ruveyn


Sorry for being unclear, sometimes I feel as though my thoughts begin in such an inaccessible way that by the time I get them into words they lose the quality I had intended them to have.

I don't think the universe is a giant mind. Its, as far as I can tell, only made self aware by biological brains (And I use the term "self aware" here loosely and only in a brain/memory sense). It does seem quite endlessly regressive though, which in my mind evokes images and thoughts of fractals ( I know that I know, I know that I know that I know, ect...), and while they may only be conceptually related in this example that's all I'm willing to assert that they are.

Is a rock aware of itself? I don't know that it is, however I would assume the chance of its occurrence to be highly unlikely :)


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01 May 2011, 9:40 pm

SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today. Since computers can replicate the real world using equations, then obviously the real universe is just one big bunch of code that we live in where every particle is calculated in 11 dimensions. In a way, studying physics is kind of the exact opposite as creating a physics engine for a video game. This is why I believe alternate universes could have totally different laws of physics.


I arrived to the same speculative conclusion from the implications of virtual reality arising from computers millions of times more powerful than today's computers. Hypothetically, if we could create entities in that virtual reality that thought themselves as "conscious", then the same principle could easily apply to us. Essentially, it's like a simulation within a simulation implying the possibility of a never-ending recursion of simulations!



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03 May 2011, 12:47 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Is a rock aware of itself?ruveyn


What is the self that a rock may or may not be aware of?

Might a rock have a "memory" of sorts? Does it have past experiences and do these influence its current behavior, or does it solely respond to current experiences?

Are you the self you think you are aware of? Is it the same self you were yesterday and will be tomorrow, or not quite?

If I would experience precisely what a rock experiences (gravity, erosion, etc.), no more and no less, and do precisely what that rock does, would I not be that rock?


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ruveyn
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04 May 2011, 4:17 am

willem wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Is a rock aware of itself?ruveyn


What is the self that a rock may or may not be aware of?

Might a rock have a "memory" of sorts? Does it have past experiences and do these influence its current behavior, or does it solely respond to current experiences?

Are you the self you think you are aware of? Is it the same self you were yesterday and will be tomorrow, or not quite?

If I would experience precisely what a rock experiences (gravity, erosion, etc.), no more and no less, and do precisely what that rock does, would I not be that rock?


The Cosmos is not only mostly non sentient, it is mostly dead.

There is alive conscious stuff in the cosmos, but the cosmos, per se, is neither alive nor conscious.

ruveyn



Last edited by ruveyn on 04 May 2011, 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

ryan93
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04 May 2011, 4:44 am

Quote:
If I would experience precisely what a rock experiences (gravity, erosion, etc.), no more and no less, and do precisely what that rock does, would I not be that rock?


You couldn't experience being a rock. A rock isn't something to be. Rocks don't think "it sure is fun being a rock".


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SammichEater
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04 May 2011, 7:58 pm

LikeGreenAndBlue wrote:
SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today.


Where did this computer come from then? Who is operating it?

Such ideas always scared the hell out of me because they suggest the existence of entities which are far beyond my ability to perceive them and of which I have absolutely no control whatsoever.


I should have known not to post this on an aspie forum. I do not mean it literally, in that the universe is only a software application. What I was trying to say is that with a supercomputer with infinite processing power, an exact model of the universe could be generated using the known laws of physics.


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ruveyn
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05 May 2011, 1:33 am

SammichEater wrote:
LikeGreenAndBlue wrote:
SammichEater wrote:
I think of the universe as a computer simulation run by a supercomputer trillions of times more powerful than the ones today.


Where did this computer come from then? Who is operating it?

Such ideas always scared the hell out of me because they suggest the existence of entities which are far beyond my ability to perceive them and of which I have absolutely no control whatsoever.


I should have known not to post this on an aspie forum. I do not mean it literally, in that the universe is only a software application. What I was trying to say is that with a supercomputer with infinite processing power, an exact model of the universe could be generated using the known laws of physics.


How could we know if we had an exact model? It would would have to be tested everywhere and everywhen and on top of that the universe is not deterministic. So finding a match now does not imply finding a match later.

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07 May 2011, 5:53 pm

There is a thory that says our universe is in a black hole so our laws may not be "real" laws, but only made by the black hole (some of them)


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ruveyn
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07 May 2011, 6:07 pm

Reindeer wrote:
There is a thory that says our universe is in a black hole so our laws may not be "real" laws, but only made by the black hole (some of them)


The laws we find are the only thing we have. We have no choice but to take them seriously if the evidence supports them. What is "real" anyway?

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ryan93
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07 May 2011, 6:29 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Reindeer wrote:
There is a thory that says our universe is in a black hole so our laws may not be "real" laws, but only made by the black hole (some of them)


The laws we find are the only thing we have. We have no choice but to take them seriously if the evidence supports them. What is "real" anyway?

ruveyn


Either that, or we wildly postulate BS and hope we pick the right idea out of 1/no. of possible postulates...you'd be suprised how many people seem to be in favour of the latter :roll:


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10 May 2011, 6:38 pm

We should be entertaining the notion rather than fighting amongst ourselves. Even if you can't solve everything, how can you be so sure? So, get along or go to the religion forum where you can fight as much as you want and accomplish nothing.