28
votes
Have I found a paradox, or is the universe digital? Or am I just plain wrong?
We run into essentially the same problem almost any time we try to combine the real numbers as described by mathematics with probability theory.
When applying probability theory to something like a ...
- 381
13
votes
Have I found a paradox, or is the universe digital? Or am I just plain wrong?
Zeno's Paradox is not a paradox. It is an attack on loose thinking. By emphasising the infinite nature of one thing, and not mentioning the infinite nature of another, it confuses people into thinking ...
- 139
10
votes
Have I found a paradox, or is the universe digital? Or am I just plain wrong?
The problem is that probability 0 does not mean 'impossible'.
If you have someone flip coins forever, what is the probability that he will never encounter a head? Well, it's zero. But it's possible!
...
- 201
7
votes
Do distinctions and concepts exist?
Concepts are relations between two or more phenomena. Distinctions are discrete concepts whose function is to classify. Concepts and language are very closely related. I discuss this in my post on the ...
- 981
7
votes
Do distinctions and concepts exist?
What you are asking about is the place of abstract objects in our universe.
There are basically three approaches to abstract objects:
Nominalism holds that abstractions are invented by us. This is ...
- 8,262
6
votes
Is Platonism a "religion"?
Plato's thought has been hugely influential on world religions, with Platonic ideas having been integrated into Christianity (and arguably Islam), via the intermediary of Plotinus, a influential ...
- 25k
6
votes
How can we prove something exists?
A question like, How can I prove something exists? must be placed in a context. Who is asking, and what will they accept as proof?
In an ordinary everyday sort of way, it might be answered by saying ...
- 19.5k
6
votes
Accepted
If the Universe(s) didn't exist, Would all maths still exist?
Mathematics is a study. That requires an agent.
From Wikipedia on Mathematics:
Mathematics (from Greek μάθημα máthēma, "knowledge, study, learning") is the study of such topics as quantity, ...
- 4,879
5
votes
Why is 2+2=4 a necessary truth?
The issue is complex and any "significant" answer is hardly reducible to the Yes/No pattern.
In modern mathematics, 2+2=4 is a theorem of arithmetic provable from Peano axioms.
In a nutshell, ...
- 35.5k
5
votes
Is it possible that I'm "God" or a special being/deity?
"Possible" really depends on what you have accepted as true
Solipsism:
Assuming you're the only perceiving being and everyone else is a figment of your imagination, your subconscious keeping you ...
- 534
5
votes
Theory of everything and God
Theory of Everything does not explain everything
The Theory of Everything is a hypothesized way of describing all four of the fundamentals forces within one theory. Today only three of those fit ...
- 4,879
4
votes
Why are we not just a computer program?
There's a whole bunch of related questions in there - too many for a concise answer. What you are asking is related to three main questions:
1. The question of strong AI, i.e. can there be a computer ...
- 19.5k
4
votes
Accepted
Intuitively, why are Universal Statements true in the Empty Universe?
Think of ∀xP(x) as an implicit conditional: ∀x(xϵU → P(x)), where U is the universe. In an empty universe the antecedent is always false, hence the conditional is vacuously true. In contrast, ∃xP(x) ...
- 42k
4
votes
Have I found a paradox, or is the universe digital? Or am I just plain wrong?
What you describe is a fundamental aspect of probability distributions (in Mathematics), i.e. the probability of each point tends to zero, which is why probabilities are calculated on intervals or ...
- 821
4
votes
Accepted
Have I found a paradox, or is the universe digital? Or am I just plain wrong?
The problem is that all positions on the table have the same probability. That means the probability for the ashtray to hit any position on the table is zero.
Not quite. The probability for the ...
- 228
4
votes
What's the role of "idealistic" philosophies of well-regarded scientists?
I will present a possible explanation for why the fiercest defenders of natural sciences often ended up with the most idealistic metaphysics in the history of the philosophy of science:
Science is ...
- 12.9k
4
votes
Accepted
Has the universe no identity?
There's a distinction dating from Frege (or earlier, perhaps the Stoics or Aristotle) between identity and individuation. There is no way of individuating the universe (taken as a whole of reality) ...
- 35.2k
4
votes
Accepted
Pandeism vs. Atheism vs. Darwinism: Do they achieve the same result?
Using the links provided by the OP, there are differences in concepts and results between pandeism and atheism.
For pandeism, the Wikipedia link states:
Pandeism ... holds that the creator deity ...
- 19.1k
4
votes
Accepted
Something vs Nothing. Reality of 0?
Contrary as it seems from grammar "nothing" is not a noun. Instead, the word is used to negate sentences:
Nothing moves quicker than light = There is not anything, that moves quicker than ...
- 20.7k
4
votes
How come when theories of concepts are made, there is never an agnostic point of accepting that there may be things we will never know?
I think what you mean is that there is a difference between how we perceive reality and how it actually is.
The most important and unbreachable dividing line is in your head. There are also dividing ...
- 7,338
4
votes
Why is science about the origin of the universe seen as equally reliable as other sciences?
The well-known, well-tested and well-understood laws of physics can be used to take the universe in its present state and answer the question: what did the universe have to have looked like 1 million, ...
- 6,460
3
votes
Accepted
Why do many physicists flat out refuse to think of what could be "before the Big Bang"?
Physicist Lee Smolin, among others, has theorized about what happened before the Big Bang. He also provides are reason for why physicists usually refuse to talk about it. Anything theory about what ...
- 26.8k
3
votes
Is there a school of thought that addresses an engine behind every physical aspect of the universe?
My short answer to your question in the title: We do not know.
And even more: We do not even know why our theories, expressed in mathematical form, apply to the universe. Concerning the latter point ...
- 20.7k
3
votes
How can we prove something exists?
One of the philosophical attempts to resolve this issue is found in the work of Immanuel Kant, who proposed a method of Transcendental Argument. His idea was that we should first agree on a protocol ...
- 4,732
3
votes
Is it possible to prove that the universe either is or isn't a simulation?
Although far from agreed upon by all philosophers, DesCartes' cogito - the famous "I think therefore I am" - was a result of him attempting to prove that the universe was not a simulation.
He starts ...
- 26.8k
3
votes
How can we prove something exists?
X exists if it can lead to certain experiences, and you argue that X exists by relating it to other experiences.
For instance, if I'm in the desert with some friends and I see water in the distance, ...
- 1,800
3
votes
Accepted
Can there be ugliness in the world of a Mathematical God?
Well here's one reason: Noise. The mathematical God is unselective as regards the reality it creates, and generates vast, indefinitely extensible hierarchies that are filled with collections within ...
- 4,732
3
votes
Is it possible that I'm "God" or a special being/deity?
If God is omniscient then God knows all things. If you were God you would have to know that you were, else there would be a gap in your omniscience. Since you apparently do not know that you are God ...
- 35.2k
3
votes
Is it possible that I'm "God" or a special being/deity?
This is called solipsism, the belief that you are the only real person in the universe (as you know it). It's arguably demonstrably true under certain limited circumstances: For instance, when you ...
- 25k
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