philosophically....get ready to have your head explode....

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Could someone or something switch us off? Could it possibly be true that our world is just a computer program, or a hologram, or a dream? Although it's about the weirdest thing you could think of, there are some tantalizing clues this might indeed be the case. The stuff we call 'reality' simply isn’t very real after all.

Welcome to the outskirts of reality. Welcome to the place where theoretical physics and philosophy meet, and where religion and science loose their meaning. Better fasten your mental seatbelts. What we’re about to tell you is just too weird. Too mind-boggling. And quite disturbing, really.

Here we go: the place we call reality may not be real at all. It may look real, and feel real, and smell real. But if you know where to look, and you look real close, you can see the cracks. Just like a Hollywood actor that suddenly realizes he's not surrounded by real buildings -- but by props made of cardboard paper.

If that sounds like lame science fiction; I agree. Indeed, we’ve all seen The Matrix. But could such a thing be conceivable? Could it be true? Are we really here? Or are we, as one reader of Exit Mundi suggested, only a computer simulation, run by an alien race?



Perhaps the simulation is getting boring, and the guy running the program is about to switch it off. We’d see some kind of huge ‘game over’-sign, and that would be it. One moment, we’re here. And the next – we aren’t.

If you’re easily disturbed, or prone to paranoia, better stop reading now. You may not like the answers to questions like these. What you are about to read may change the way you see things -- forever.


Why is the Universe Fine-Tuned?



First, there’s a very, VERY peculiar thing about the place we live in – something so weird and profound it sends shivers down your spine. For in fact, the Universe seems to be ‘fine-tuned’ to make life possible!

It has to do with the stuff most people find boring in school: the laws of physics. Ultimately, all of these laws are founded upon the ‘physical constants’. Such as the force of gravity, the ‘strong force’ that glues atomic nuclei together and the electromagnetic force, the driving hand behind stuff like lightning and computers. But why do these fundamental ‘presets’ have the values they have? Why aren’t they a little bigger, or smaller?

The British cosmologist Fred Hoyle was the first to realise this is no coincidence. A very peculiar thing about the fundamental constants is that they appear to have exactly the right values. If they were slightly smaller or bigger, atoms, stars, planets and people simply wouldn’t exist!

Take the strong force inside atomic nuclei. If the force were just slightly stronger, it would boost up the burning of stars so much, that they would explode only seconds after they were formed. We wouldn’t have a sun – or even a planet. If on the other hand the force were a tad weaker, it would be too weak to hold together elements like the heavy hydrogen isotope deuterium. Stars wouldn’t light up. And we wouldn’t be here either.

Astonishingly, the same goes for all other constants. As the famous British astronomer Martin Rees put it: “Wherever we look, we see examples of fine-tuning. Most of the physical constants and the initial conditions of the Universe examined so far appear to be fine-tuned to some extent.”

That leaves us with a gnawing, unsettling question: Why? Why are all physical contants exactly the way they are? Every cosmologist agrees that this can hardly be a coincidence. So what, or who, set the rules?


Matter: Chunks Of Music?

Next, you should know the stuff our Universe is made of isn’t very real at all. Sure, you can feel the chair underneath you, and see the monitor in front of you. But what we feel and touch and see in everyday life is actually a manifestation of some deeper, completely different kind of underlying reality.

One way to explore what matter is, is to take it apart. First, you’ll find tiny chunks of matter that are called molecules. Then, if you take the molecules apart, you’ll find the atoms the molecules are made of. And then, if you take apart the atoms, you’ll see it’s made of a nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of electrons. And what if you take apart that nucleus? You’ll be in for a big surprise. For inside an atom’s nucleus, reality as we know it actually ceases to exist.

An atom’s nucleus is made of tiny entities we call ‘particles’. But that’s just for lack of a better word. When you say ‘particles’, you think of little balls. But in quantum physics, there’s no such thing as solid `balls’ you can touch or see.

In fact, ‘particles’ like quarks, electrons and photons are so incredibly and utterly different from everything we know of, our language lacks the words to describe them. Particles can be in two places at the same time, and behave both like a wave and a tiny chunk of matter, depending on what you do with them. Particles can pop in and out of existence from nowhere. And ‘grabbing’ them is impossible: it is simply not possible to both know where a particle is and how fast it moves about.

But still, a particle has to be something, right?

That’s why more and more physicists turn to `string theory’. In string theory, matter is ultimately made of extremely small elastic circles, called strings. These strings vibrate. But not like anything we know: the strings vibrate in at least ten dimensions! Our particles are the vibrations of the strings. They are the music the strings make.

The Universe: Bubbles Of What?


Okay, hold that thought: matter is ultimately the manifestation of something else.

Gladly, there are also things that are normal. Take the Universe. Again, it is something we think we know. The Universe is that big black thing with all the lights in it over your head. Perhaps you’ve even heard it’s expanding: first, there was a kind of blast (called the ‘Big Bang’), and from that moment on, the Universe grew bigger and bigger.


But hold it right there. Once more, the real story is far stranger than that. For starters, the Universe has no ‘outside’. To ask what is ‘outside’ the Universe is a meaningless question – it would be like asking what continent lies ‘outside’ our planet. ‘Outside’ the Universe there are no dimensions, and there is no time. The Universe is best seen as an expanding bubble of dimensions in a sea of nothingness – although ‘nothing’ isn’t really a word you can use to describe what is ‘outside’ the Universe.

It is extremely difficult to fully comprehend what that means. According to one theory, there are many dimensional bubbles like the one we live in. Our Universe could be the result of two of such bubbles – or ‘planes’ – colliding. And wait, now you’re doing it again: you’re picturing a place with bubbles floating around. But there’s no such thing as a ‘place’. Instead, the other Universes should be wrapped up within our own reality, remember?


An even more bizarre theory has it the place we call the Universe is actually best compared with a hologram. Our Universe could be some kind of optical illusion, the result of several dimensions resonating.

And it goes even further. For in fact, it could actually be possible to create a Universe! Basically, the only thing you’d have to do is squeeze a huge amount of energy together into a very dense, small spot. This would lead to a Big Bang, the theories predict. We wouldn’t see it happening: the Big Bang would create a new dimensional bubble, far beyond reach of our own bubble.

OK, let’s pause for a second. Just think about it. Is it possible that our reality is actually made by some other civilisation, in some other Universe? It would explain why the fundamental constants are fine-tuned…


And You? How Real Is Your Mind?



So, to wrap things up: we live in a place that’s not really a ‘place’, we’re made of stuff that’s not really ‘stuff’ and what we see is only a small part of what’s really there. Matter, time, dimensions, the Universe – it’s all lucid, unreal. And to make things even more bizarre, for some reason, our Universe is exactly preset to make our existence possible. Pretty confusing, don't you think?



Gladly, you can cling to this one security: that you are here. No matter how weird the stuff around you is, you are definitely for real. No need to explain: you just know you are.


But do you really?


Let’s do an experiment. Speak out your name over and over and over and over again. After a while, you’ll notice something weird. Your name will begin to sound strange. It’s no longer something that is you – your name is just a word, a random sequence of syllables and sounds that other people utter when they want to catch your attention. If your parents had given you another name, you would listen to another sequence of sounds.



The same happens when you look in the mirror. Stare at your own face long enough, and you’ll suddenly realize it’s just another face. The face in the mirror is, of course, yours. But after a while, it won’t feel like that anymore. The face you see could be anybody's.


Most neuroscientists agree the same applies for your consciousness. The thing you call your ‘self’ is most likely an illusion, created by your brain. Your brain gives you vision, sound, speech, feelings, and thoughts. When you add all these things up, you’ll have some overall feeling of awareness you call your consciousness. But still, your brain is the thing running it. Your feeling of ‘self’ is best compared to a software program running. It looks very real – but it isn’t.


Of course, most people believe there is something like a ‘soul’ or a ‘spirit’ living inside of you. But when it comes down to facts, there just isn’t any evidence for that. Every thought you have, every move you make, every emotion you feel - it’s just brain, brain, brain.


There are actually experiments that prove it. When you disturb your brain in a certain way, your feeling of ‘self’ can get detached from your brain. Suddenly, it will feel as if ‘you’ are not inside your body anymore. You experience what is known as an ‘out of body experience’, or a ‘near death experience’.

But you don’t have to be nearly dead to feel it. The sensation can easily be created in a laboratory, by placing a helmet with rotating magnetic fields on your head. The magnetic field acts like a ‘jam signal’ on your brain. Suddenly, you'll feel like you're floating outside your body. But you aren’t. It’s just your brain going confused.

And you don't really need a helmet to do the trick. Visiting a place where the movement of the Earth's crust generates magnetic fields can give you the experience. Being in a situation where your brain doesn't get enough oxygen sometimes does it. Certain brain operations bring out the experience. Meditation and intensive prayer can generate it.


In fact, exactly this is why some people see ghosts, or Maria, or feel like they are visited by aliens. It is an incredible weird experience to be ‘outside of your brain’. Your brain will try to make sense of it. Immediately, the rational part of your brain will come up with an ‘explanation’ for the experience. You will sense a ‘presence’ near you. If you’re religious, you might see Maria, or Jesus. If you believe in UFOs, your brain might tell you you’re visited by aliens. If you believe in ghosts, you’ll feel the presence of a ghost of a dead person. But in reality, it’s your own feeling of self you’re experiencing.



So... Are We A Game Of Sims?

So there you are. You’re just a walking piece of matter that’s pretending to be someone. But in reality, things like matter, or self, or the Universe, or time, or dimensions are all illusions. Everything we see and everything we feel are, in fact, the manifestations of some underlying reality.


That leaves you with an unsettling question: what exactly is that reality?


The truth is: we don’t know. Could be almost anything, really. A dream, even. Or a simulation. Or a kind of computer game, an advanced kind of Civilization or Sims. There’s no way of knowing if there’s someone or something pushing the buttons. There’s no way of knowing if there isn’t, either.


And then, there’s this other thing most theorists agree on: our reality could suddenly end. Our universe could fold up. The dimensions we live in could be wrapped up. The very fabric of our physical world could be disrupted by some unprecedented, weird physical event. From one second to the other, our reality would no longer be there. Sounds like fun, right?


But then again, why bother? For that’s the deeper consequence of these things. If there is no such thing as a place we call Earth, we needn’t really worry about its end. Would the characters of a Sims-game feel sad or disappointed when you turned off the computer? Or would the people you dream of at night mind if you wake up? You guessed it: they probably wouldn't. What isn’t really there, doesn’t really end.


That being said, there’s only one small problem. You see: you have to be a good philosopher to really feel it that way!

i only read the start. about the constants of the universe.
the gravitational constant of the universe, if any bigger or smaller, would have not allowed planets to form. that is true. buttttttttttttttttt maybe the constant is not some random number, maybe it is derived by something we simply have no observed yet. also if these constants where any different, the universe would be different yes. maybe instead of planets/starts, we would have something else. maybe instead of mass/energy, we would have something else. maybe instead of time/space, we would have something else. maybe our universe is just 1 of many possibilities, with nothing special about it.
we think of life as something special. why? how is how people react to our surrounding different then how a single cell reacts, or a single atom? we think we have free will, and can choose what to do. we choose things based on ourself and variables that effect what we choose. we do not control the the reasons we choose things, just as particles do not choose what moves them, pushes on them, how much KE they have, etc.
so yeah maybe free will does not exists, and we are reacting just like arbitrary peaces of mass react conforming to the laws of nature and physics

I've actually thought about that whole thing about being a "Sims game" or "created by another universe." It's a rather perplexing question, but it's definitely possible.

The thing that really gets me, though, is how no matter if the universe has an end or is infinite is illogical. If it has an end, how can it have an end? There has to be something on the other side! If it's infinite though....that doesn't make sense either. Infinity isn't a real measurement. You would travel forever and virtually be going nowhere.

I am what I am, and always will be.
God

You are very versed in the language of Physics.... I think you have found your calling, writing a book on such a beautiful understanding I think would be a good Idea... your metaphores themselves are beutifull and easy to understand. I like it.

A lot of these questions only seem to be impossible because our threshold of knowledge has not reached the point to where we can make sense of such problems because we do not have the vocabulary to explain such phenomena yet. The idea of gravity was beyond the comprehension of all humans before Newton eloquently explained what gravity was. It is now common knowledge to even young children.

An invisible force controlling the universe was beyond the comprehension of man during a time when everything needed to be observed in order to be explained. Such as the idea that all matter must continually break down into something smaller may very well be a false assumption along these lines. We only think that matter must keep breaking down because that is the path that scientists are on now, as people before could not fathom an invisible force acting on visible objects. It usually takes a radical idea to break the traditional linear course of science to really explain how things work. One day someone will create a radical new theory that will explain why everything doesn't need to break down into something smaller and this will be as knowledge as common as gravity, and that the earth revolves around the sun.

Matt has provided a reasonable explanation to your first question. It would seem that we are mistakingly reversing the role of cause and effect here, and also looking for an explanation where there is none. Sometimes things occur on accident. There have been many inventions that have come into being purely on chance. This does not mean that it was "meant to be". For this line of thought implies that certain animals were created to be cooked because they taste better when cooked, and that certain animals were created to eaten raw because they taste better raw. Doesn't that seem weird to imply that? But this is no different than the type of thinking that makes us wonder why the universe must be "fine-tuned".

The "self" is a tricky word. As William James once observed, when we try to think of the "self", we are merely observing our throat and facial movements in a more perceptive manner (try it). Daniel Dennet also proposes that the "self" is not really one thing at all, but a number of competing "drafts" of information that are fighting for 1st place in the race for conscious awareness. The "self" perhaps may very well be simply a grammatical misunderstanding, such as the belief that "what is the meaning of life?" is a legitimate question.

Part of the misperception about these problems is that we think we have a lot of things figured out, when in fact, a thousand years from now people will be shaking their head at some of the methods that we tout as "advanced science" today, just as we shake our head at the methods that people used during medieval times to solve problems.

Some of these problems also fascinate us because they involve the end of life as we know it, but that makes them no more plausible than other outlandish ideas, just more "pertinent" because they effect the very thing that is most important to us: life. It is just as likely that elephants are phasing in and out of time all around us, but because the human eye can only perceive objects at a certain speed (you do not actually "see" the baseball traveling, but your brain fills in the gaps because the ball actually moves to fast to be perceived in a straight line; look up "beta movement") we may be missing different dimensions (and elephants) as we speak. It may also be possible that there is a mischeavious God that fills your mouth with raw fish guts every night in your sleep (only when no one else is around), yet cleans your mouth thoroughly before you wake in the morning so you would never know it occurs. Yet, these problems are not related to life and death so no one really spends as much time on them.

Besides, haven't you seen MIB? Our universe is obviously in an aliens marble!

Last edited by jonathan79 on 11 Mar 2007, 11:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was thinking about this to. Weird because I never have once given it thought until the last 2 days. What another coincidence (even though I don't believe in them).

If we created "Cyberspace," could that potentially be a new universe? The life in their would be programs. Maybe 'A.I.' becomes 'conscious?' The life we once controlled now controls itself, independently.

Comparable to ourselves as we become more 'self-aware?'

An invisible force controlling the universe was beyond the comprehension of man during a time when everything needed to be observed in order to be explained. Such as the idea that all matter must continually break down into something smaller may very well be a false assumption along these lines. We only think that matter must keep breaking down because that is the path that scientists are on now, as people before could not fathom an invisible force acting on visible objects. It usually takes a radical idea to break the traditional linear course of science to really explain how things work. One day someone will create a radical new theory that will explain why everything doesn't need to break down into something smaller and this will be as knowledge as common as gravity, and that the earth revolves around the sun.


Yup - that's exactly right!

Oh about the Marble and reference to a Will Smith Movie....

It's actually about AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Will is the observer
The other Guy (He's a realy good actor and I love is movies just can't fathom his name) - he is the stabiliser

AI = Observation + Stabilisation. -the never ending loop that is the Marble.

If you really want to be shocked, you should read Diaspora by Greg Egan. The chapter on Wang's Carpets will make most other notions of reality-as-a-simulation seem passé.

See also:
http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/multiverse.pdf

See also: "A New Kind of Science" by Dr. Stephen Wolfram.

I never finished that one, but wasn't at all impressed by what I read of it. As I recall, he starts by introducing cellular automata and demonstrating that they can be used for computation (which isn't novel at all), and then spends a lot of time handwaving about how complex configurations can "emerge" from simple rules and simple initial states, with lots of visually impressive examples but no rigorous definition of what "complexity" really means.

He spent a lot of time acting like he discovered the idea that seemingly complex data can have very little Kolmogorov complexity, but he never used that term or acknowledged that it was already a well-understood concept.

More or less things I've thought about.

The thing is, I believe that it can be said that we do in fact exist. What exactly existing is, is debatable.


Lovecraft came up with the idea that there was this powerful alien being, that could rightly be considered a god (and was worshipped as one). And, all reality was just this things dream. If it ever woke up, then our reality would cease. (And that ultimately it doesn't mean anything)

Yeah. He wasn't exactly a happy man. (Other people profited from him after he committed suicide)

Enjoy it while it lasts before... SYNTAX ERROR


Anyway. It was an extremely enjoyable read. Although my beliefs differ slightly, I did appreciate your writing your thoughts. The only thing I'd say is that perhaps it should be presented as more of a theoretical speculation than a factual informative piece. The existance of dimensions beyond the third or the existance of quarks, the edge of the universe or the big bang are all theories, unproven. It seems strange that we're not able to understand some of the things that are around us but consider how it must have been when people were told that their entire world was just a ball of rock circling around a glowing ball of gas floating around in something that could only be deemed "space."

In any case. I think that when you look at it as closely as you have you can come to two different conclusions, and from that generate two different beliefs. I shall honor the socratic method.

Part A:
Is it easier to believe that the world was created by an alien computer programmer; or is easier to believe in the existance of a divine being?

Part B:
Is there a difference?

I believe that Zeno's motion paradoxes prove that perceived reality is in fact illusory. I
believe the universe is only a mental & spiritual construct. When one observes the colors
of and in nature, how can one not believe a personality is involved? When one dreams while
asleep, I believe live sentient beings are actually generating it. I believe we share life (our consciousness) with other life(divine) that acts " behind the scenes! " I believe these beings
are the actual source of man's inspirations of art, ingenuity, and creativity!

I think things like this are part of why things like gnosticism, Kaballa, and of course the sorts of spiritual ideas that people like Silvia Brown talk about - tend to be catching on a lot as they seek to explain all this a bit deeper. I think that if we're going to try to apply meaning to the fact that we're on a framework of energy we have to think of it this way as well - it would be just as weird if we had particles that really were irreducible, and if we were completely different sorts of beings living in the hypothetical universes with different constants we'd just as likely be observing that there'd be no other way that we could exists as we know ourselves at that point. A lot of it I think is really just hyper-analysis of perspective itself.

The ever elusive question of



WHY?




You've been away for a while, skafather84.