5
votes
Accepted
Mathematical universe hypothesis: Why shouldn't all imaginable universes exist?
I think both summaries of yours are wrong, and both quotes are simpler (but even more profound imo) than you think.
In the first, Tegmark is saying the MUH predicts only mathematical structures exist. ...
- 2,385
4
votes
Computer vs brain in many-worlds interpretation of QM
But classical computers rely on quantum processes too, which underlie the function of semiconductors. You can't just say 'wooo quantum things are weird the brain is weird, therefore they are the same,...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Could everything exist? What would this even mean?
Short Answer
Is the concept of "everything" logically coherent?
I would say largely yes, but within the framework of your views on ontology. Therefore, your "everything" and ...
- 22.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Does the forcing phenomenon prove some sort of set-theoretic multiverse?
While forcing does certainly have serious foundational consequences, I think this is a situation where bringing forcing into the picture makes things seem more mysterious and powerful than they ...
- 3,211
3
votes
Is the science community reluctant to consider the evidence to support some sort of higher intelligence?
I wonder what's happened to the concept of faith...
Look, science is ultimately functional. It wants theories it can 'do stuff' with; it wants understandings that give it insight into the pragmatic ...
- 18.5k
3
votes
What is the response to this criticism of the fine-tuning argument?
Your wish that there were no evidence to support the unlikelihood of the universe is unjustified wishful thinking.
The values of the constants of the universe, things like the Baryon number, and the ...
- 10.5k
3
votes
Can many worlds interpretation have universes with different laws?
Couldn't MWI predict universes with different fundamental laws of physics (as a level-4 multiverse hypothesis would do, like string theory)?
No. To understand why, you need to really grok what MWI ...
- 440
3
votes
What is the response to this criticism of the fine-tuning argument?
The first thing to say is that if you want to read a more detailed treatment of fine-tuning, a good start would be the SEP article on it.
In regard to fine-tuning arguments based on fundamental ...
- 22.8k
3
votes
Could everything exist? What would this even mean?
Firstly, we don’t know that there’s an infinite multiverse. If there is then the probability of any given thing existing approximates to 1 but mutually contradictory things can’t exist in the same ...
- 637
3
votes
Accepted
Is Neil Barton's algebraic/ontological distinction equivalent to the actualist/possibilist distinction?
So complex question (and I am very rusty), but certainly there is a very real branch in the Hamkins style Set theoretic Multiverse that wants to treat the plurality of set theoretic worlds as a kind ...
- 5,279
2
votes
Does free will contradict the theory of infinite universes
I will attempt to make your argument more concise:
P1: Free will exists.
P2: The theory of infinite universes is true.
C1: (From P2) Therefore, there exist an infinite number of unique universes.
C2: (...
- 202
2
votes
Does free will contradict the theory of infinite universes
No, there can be infinitely many universes without there being a universe that contains each possibility or a world for every possibility. For example, an infinite number of possible worlds differ ...
- 5,498
2
votes
In a multiverse is it more likely that a universe is created by an intelligent being rather than chance?
The following question assumes a multiverse of universes, infinite time and the ability of intelligent agents to create entire other universes:
Would this mean that after an infinite period of ...
- 19.2k
2
votes
Being a determinist and a believer in a multiverse seems contradictory
You might be misunderstanding the Everett ("many-worlds") interpretation of quantum mechanics. On the Everett interpretation, there's one universe, and its change in time is described ...
- 2,467
2
votes
Did physicist Max Born think that mathematical structures are platonic entities?
The answers to both "some kind of platonism" and "infinitely many universes instantiating mathematical structures" is no. Born is closer to Hegel than to Plato, and even further from Tegmark than ...
- 42.5k
2
votes
Occam's razor and the Multiverse Hypotesis
According to Wikipedia the association of Occam's razor to many worlds goes back to Hugh Everett who originated the idea of many worlds in 1957:
Since the wavefunction merely appears to have ...
- 19.2k
2
votes
Is there any physics-model version of Tegmark's hypothesis?
Max Tegmark answers the question Is the physical world isomorphic to some mathematical structure? with the claim that "The physical world is completely mathematical" and "Everything that exists ...
- 19.2k
2
votes
Can many worlds interpretation have universes with different laws?
Yes, we can imagine that two worlds with distinct physical laws both exist, but that's not part of what's usually meant by many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
The basic idea is that
...
2
votes
If other versions of us existed on alternate worlds, would we be morally responsible for the actions of these alternate versions of us?
This is actually something my brother and I explored over 30 years ago! While every decision is a point of divergence, some decisions, action OR reaction, have a greater impact. The decision to get up ...
- 21
2
votes
What is the response to this criticism of the fine-tuning argument?
The simplest argument is (simply) that if the constants of nature were slightly different, we wouldn't be here to register that fact. So however improbable our universe may be, we are nonetheless and ...
- 7,772
2
votes
Do multiverse theories undermine intelligent design arguments mathematically?
I don't subscribe to religion, but if I were to argue it, I would probably say something to this effect:
Life is impossible without a god.
If there is life, then there must be a god.
If a universe ...
- 139
2
votes
Computer vs brain in many-worlds interpretation of QM
Are there philosophies or philosophers that argue consciousness in the brain arise due to a superposition of the different patterns of electrical activity just before they decohere into the different ...
- 175
2
votes
The supposed "knockdown argument" for Simulation Theory -- what did I miss? (IF we can create simulations indistinguishable from reality...)
To me, premise one fails because of resolution.
In order to create a simulation that is indistinguishable from base reality, it has to operate at the same resolution. That is, the smallest unit (e.g. ...
- 2,818
1
vote
Does an Eternal Multiverse Undermine Causality, Time and Free Will?
Your comments
"I do not believe in anything until it has strong and concrete evidence, especially experimental evidence"
and
"I believe in B-theory because it is a physical fact about ...
- 2,385
1
vote
Accepted
Why are some things considered "impossible" even in other universes?
Your question covers quite a range of issues.
When we are just imagining possibilities, we can choose what to hold constant and what to consider a variable. In the example you give of imagining light ...
- 22.8k
1
vote
Computer vs brain in many-worlds interpretation of QM
Short Answer
According to WP: Many-minds interpretation:
The many-minds interpretation of quantum mechanics extends the many-worlds interpretation by proposing that the distinction between worlds ...
- 22.8k
1
vote
Do multiverse theories undermine intelligent design arguments mathematically?
Depends on the nature of the universes within the multiverse.
If they do indeed contain a random distribution of events such that even extremely rare events can be said to be the far end of the ...
- 1,968
1
vote
Do multiverse theories undermine intelligent design arguments mathematically?
The argument is logically sound, yet it is not good, because we haven't established that there is in fact a multiverse. The multiverse hypothesis is still highly speculative and a shaky grounding for ...
- 5,124
1
vote
Mathematical universe hypothesis: Why shouldn't all imaginable universes exist?
Maybe Tegmark is referring to descriptions like, "Two universes otherwise identical, where in one of them everything is a nanometer to the right of where everything is in the other." Or, &...
- 12.4k
1
vote
Are there universes where rules of mathematics do not follow?
"Impossibility" assumes a fixed logic frame, preceding the possible existence of any universe. Logicians consider Logic itself to be contingent -- IE there are potentially infinite versions of logic. ...
- 10.5k
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