Re: Does 2 + 2 = 5?
- From: "Icarus" <icarus_uk@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 11:07:20 +0100
Danny Boy wrote:
> I'm not sure the universe is defined that way. I've been hearing
> these snipits on NPR that physicians are actually looking for other
> dimensions. No joke. Supposedly it's not just the wackos either.
> Anyway, another dimension, if it did exist, would not be part of our
> universe, right?
Wrong. It would be as much a part of our universe as the 3 (or 4)
dimensions we're familiar with. Just because we don't know about it yet,
that doesn't mean it's not there. Nobody knew radio waves existed until
someone invented a device to detect them, but they've always been there.
> Logic and mathematics are good examples of non-physical things.
> Thoughts might be another. And yes, they're powerless to do anything.
> But maybe there are other non-physical things.
Logic and mathematics are like languages - i.e. ways of representing the
universe. They are part of the physical universe, just as everything else
is (including thoughts).
> I guess what I'm saying is this: either the Big Bang was caused by
> something outside the physical universe or the universe is eternal.
> What other options are there?
Another option is that our familiar common-sense understanding of reality
works well enough in day-to-day life but is actually wrong. We tend to
think that reality is based on cause and effect, on determinism (something
happens if it's caused by something else or else it doesn't happen).
Quantum Mechanics (if I understand it correctly) says that reality is
probabilistic, i.e. everything (including existence) is governed by
probability rather than determinism. The universe is a 'quantum foam' of
fundamental particles constantly coming into existence and disappearing
again, not because they are caused by anything but because there is a finite
probability of a particle existing in a particular place and time. Perhaps
the same is true of universes - That there is a finite probability of a
universe coming into existence, and finite probabilities for any and all of
the properties it may have, and we just happen to live in one that came into
existence uncaused with suitable properties to develop intelligent life.
<snip>...
.
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