RE: Time - Crunch or Stretch? (was Re: Big Bang is Bunk)

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Jul 28 2001 - 11:02:36 MDT


Mitch writes, in part,

> I tend to agree with Kurzweil, that the fate of the universe
> will be decided, not by the weak nuclear force, the strong
> force, electromagnetism, or even gravity, but by intelligence;
> in which the other four forces crumble in the face of.

I don't know of anyone who said this before Tipler in "The
Anthropic Cosmological Principle", in 1986. Kurzweil shouldn't
get any credit for this observation. Some excerpts from Tipler
and Barrow's 1986 book:

"To say that intelligent life has some global cosmological
significance is to say that intelligent life will begin to
transform the Universe on a cosmologial scale." (p.615).

"...Finally, the time is reached when life has encompassed
the entire Universe and regulated all matter contained
therein. Life begins to manipulate the dynamical evolution
of the universe as a whole..." (p. 675)

and in the intervening pages he presents many detailed
arguments, including a suggestion that the evidence is
*weakly* indicating that the universe is closed.

Lee Corbin

----Original Message-----

In a message dated 7/28/2001 4:05:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
reason@exratio.com writes:

<< I should point out that the cosomology has moved on from this one -- poor
 Tipler outlined a great and moving final resurrection analogy (pretty
 similar to Greg Bear's storyline in Eternity, funnily enough, small
 universe), but the cosmological underpinnings of his model were pulled out
 from under his feet within twelve months of publication.
 
 Insofar as we can say anything about the future behavior of the universe,
 the big crunch seems to be an increasingly outside bet. Long, cold, dark and
 isotropic is the current forerunner...
 
 ...not that we don't get to experience a subjective eternity in either case.
 It's a funny old world.
 
 Reason >>

As you did note-its merely the current forerunner, on the other hand, other
astronomers and cosmologists have come to see an accelerated expansion as a
fairly recent thing. There is also counter theories, based on the same
observations that suggest frequent expansions and partial collapses.
Physicist Larry Krauss at Case Western University has suggested that we'll
never know the fate of the universe. Baring that, I tend to agree with
Kurzweil, that the fate of the universe will be decided, not by the weak
nuclear force, the strong force, electromagnetism, or even gravity, but by
intelligence; in which the other four forces crumble in the face of.

Mitch



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