OO O "sure sure, this all sounds fine and good. but
O O O obviously we can never interact with the other
O O O universes, we can never go there, there's no way
O O OOO to test whether they really exist, now is there?
O O O O so this is all a bunch of useless mumbo jumbo."
O O O O
O O au contraire.
OOO OO
O OO if they do in fact exist, and if in fact we
O OO O happen to live in one of them, then it stands
O OOOO to reason that the one we live in ought to be
O O *typical*.
O OOO O O
O O O O so what we do is look for common traits amongst
O O O O the universes. and if we find that our universe
OO O O O doesn't have any of these traits, well then,
O O O heck, it's probably not one of them and they
OOO O O probably don't exist.
OO OO
OO OO O O but if it does... ? well then, the theory has
O OOO some merit. AND we've found an explanation for
OOO why our universe has that trait.
O O OOOOO
O O O for example:
O O O O
O OO O 1. why is our universe non-deterministic?
OO OOO O
O a typical universe in my system has a finite,
O OOOOOO but hugely enormous, Komogorov complexity.
O O
O O OO what's that, you ask?
O OOO
OOO suppose i ask you to pick a random number. and
OOOOO O you say "what, between 1 and 10?" and i say "no,
OO O any random number."
O O OO O
O O O so you say "9747". and i say, "oh please! that's
O OOO O hardly random, it's so small!"
O O
OOOOO O O and you say "okay, 97478346586342856328472323456."
O O O
O OO O and i say, "ha! can't you get any more random
OO O OO than that? it's so tiny."
O O O O
OO O O O for a good random number, with no upper bound,
O OO O you need to pick one that's as big as the
O O universe.
OO O O O
O OO O O aha!
O O
OOOOOOO (in our case you didn't pick a random number,
O OO instead you were born into a random universe.)
O O O
OOOO O O here we find a good explanation for why the
O OO universe would be finite but so outrageously
O O O big. (is the universe big? well, count the
OOOO OOO particles and realize that each new telescope
O O increases this number by magnitudes.)
O O O O
O O OO more subtle, though, is the fact that the
O OO O ruleset for a typical universe ought to have a
O OO O OOO similarly large set of rules. this is contrary
O to common intuition among physicists, but i
O O O OO think deserves closer examination.
O OO O
OO according to quantum physics, our universe is
O OOO O constantly making "quantum choices" which are
O O O not strictly determined by its rules.
O O OOOO
O O but if we look at things a different way - by
O OO O OO including these choices as rules themselves
O OOO O - we find that our universe *does* in fact
O have a nearly infinite ruleset. (i.e. enormous
OOO O O Komogorov complexity.)
O O OO
O O O and from this perspective, my collection of
OO O O O O universes and the collection of worlds predicted
O O by the "many world interpretation" are very very
OOO O OO similar.
O O
OOO O OOOO under mwi, a world goes merrily along its way
O until it needs to make a choice. when a choice
O OO O arrives, the world "splits" into "parallel"
OO OOOO worlds, where each new world contains each
OO OO possible choice.
O O OOOO
O O under my system, at a given point in its
O O O O existence, each universe has an infinitude of
O O OO universes which are identical to it *so* *far*.
O OO O like "3.14159..." and "3.14158...". but then
O O a rule is triggered which cause the universes
OOO O to diverge. until that point is reached, the
O O universes run identically, and to an inhabitant
OOOO O they are indistinguishable.
OOO OO
O BUT unlike mwi, my universes don't seem to
O O O O interfere with each other. so.
O O O O
OOO OOO
O
OOOOO OOO 2. why doesn't the universe change it's rules?
O
O OOO OO well, here is a problem. gravity never reverses
O O itself, but it easily could. the programming of
OOO O OO our universe could include the rule "on july 4
O 2009, gravity goes backwards." and certainly, in
OOO OO some universes, this is exactly what happens.
OOO O
O O O but this sort of behavior better not be the norm
OO OO O for universes, as i've never seen it happen
O O O O here. why?
OO O
O O OO OO well, i see two possibilities.
O O O
O OOO O one, maybe our universe is somewhat special,
O it does have life after all. for life to evolve,
OOO OO OO its rules needed to remain stable for a billion
O O O years, and perhaps there's some momentum that
O OO keeps our universe obeying them today.
O O OOO
O O two - and this is my hope - perhaps
OO O OOO rule-stability is a natural property of typical
O O universes.
O OOO OO
O OO O but i don't know; it's what i think about these
O O O days. if you have any ideas, let me know.
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