us in a petri dish
i think the notion of us being in a petri dish being equivalent to us being in a different dimension is erroneous. specifically, if we are discussing dimensions, universes are related on a subset level, not on an equivalent level.
if we are in a petri dish ran by mice, then we are still within that universe and dimension. the dimensions which we find within this universe exist for us as well as for the mice. a concrete example on which to compare:
say we have 2 universes – one, in which a baby becomes a painter and one where the same baby becomes a businesswoman. say both of these universes have the baby actually being in a world that is inside a petri dish. they are still in the same dimension! one dimension, but 2 possible universes with in it.
hmm, on rereading i guess i’m agreeing with scarf’s 2nd last paragraph precisely.
a.i. and argument for matrix
hesi, i mentioned this to you. everyone else, here you go, someone far smarter than us argues The Simulation Argument: Why the Probability that You Are Living in a Matrix is Quite High.
i don’t want to go into discussing that possibility, except to say that in my opinion the discussion of artificial life or intelligence does not relate to the notion of multiple dimensions and universes. it is a seperate argument, for the sheer reason that it is possible logically for any combination of ideas on the above to exist without being contradictory. since we do not have clear evidence for one particular combination of “we are a petri dish” + “there are no alternative universes”, it is out of bounds to argue that from one, the other can follow.
in other words, there is no correlation between the two questions.
notion of folding
while i cannot possibly say that i am able to explain folding back to anyone coherently, it seems to make sense to me to draw parallels between 2-3 dimensions, to 3-4, etc. i.e. the folding of time and space must be allowed if we even want to argue that there is such a thing as a 2nd and a 3rd dimension.
more, more!
ha, didn’t expect this, did you :P
the tree photo makes more sense to me than all the rest of it. the macro vision of universes and dimensions is really cool to think about, but from day to day, i can affect and be affected most noticibly by things like trees :)
I had to recompile our software to pick up the new libraries etc
we then hit an issue with connectivity to the database server
but thats what i fixed (i hope) this morning, so we’ll see :)
* Twitch crosses her fingers for you
my apologies, I didn’t realise you were female.
I should turn my geek off. :/
I’m in Physics, don’t bother
1) you still have a comment of mine awaiting moderation that addresses scarf’s second paragraph and a bunch of other stuff. You can slap it in this blog if you want.
2) If you count multiverses merely as universes with different paths, then the whole notion can imply infinite multiverses which could and should included the wildest of (possible) paths. There would be new multiverses created every second, siimply because we divert from certain paths that couldve lead us to something else.
Example, I am in a path right now. I am faced with a choice, to try to beat a red light or to slam on the brakes. I decide to slam on the brakes. I live, etc…..so thats one path. The other path wouldve included me running the red light and hitting some other car, which wouldve meant me having to pay a hell of a lot, maybe having my license revoked, maybe going into a shit phase and by some wild diversion, I end up having a baby sooner than I wished. BOOM there’s a baby that requires a multiverse on its own.
So you see, your “multiverse” idea is more of an “alternate universe” idea to me, especially because all of the wildest possibility paths are all within the same universe. So even if this baby ends up being some soccer crack, a star 50,000 light years away would still be the same. Whats alternate about that? So that would mean that even if I dont notice any change, I would be going into an alternate universe becuse some baby was saved in Bosnia. If not, then we’d be in the alternate universe without that baby. But what difference would that make to me? None.
Of course, none of this is relevant if you throw in the “there are no choices” idea.
diny, that’s exactly what i’m saying. there are inifinite or finite but incredibly large numbers of alternative universes, all depending on the choices that we make.
what’s the documentary’s name? i don’t want to download it if i’ve seen it already!
and the fact that my choices don’t affect your being implies that you would be consciously aware of each and every possibility that had diverged in this world. you’re not, so you can either say that there are no choices and you live in the single possible manifistation of this universe, or that there are choices, and the universes split each moment.
i had a horrifying thought as i was just about to drift off to sleep. what if someone folded my dimension of time back onto an alternate possibility, except they used a mobius strip, so i ended up traveling backwards in time through this alternate possibility. i’d have no power to stop or change directions, because we don’t know how to do that. i’d just keep regressing. that would suck.
haha, nice one kev :P
“What We Still Don’t Know About the Cosmos”
Its got a british-sounding dude with a black sweater in a black background with white hair and it looks as if his head and hands are just floating in the air. That’s gotta be the trademark image of it. Plus it touches base with almost everything I wrote in the big-ass reply in the other blog.