From: Spudboy100@aol.com
Date: Wed Mar 05 2003 - 11:00:50 MST
Lee noted:
<<http://xxx.lanl.gov/list/gr-qc/new
> Title: Philosophical Implications of Inflationary Cosmology
> Authors: Joshua Knobe, Ken D. Olum, Alexander Vilenkin
Thanks a million! This is almost as good as Tegmark's.>>
I always thought that Olum and Vilenkin (never knew of Knobe) we sharp minds.
Tegmark, as a working cosmologist, was part of a team that has detected some
"pattern" in the CMB, that were wholly unexpected. It could just be banding,
of sorts, or it might possibly be evidence of "organization." Check it out on
the BBC News website for SCI-tech.
<<The central, compelling, and overwhelming fact: the theory
of Inflation, accepted by roughly 95% of cosmologists, calmly
predicts an infinity of Earths of any given description.
The philosophical implications are simply staggering. No
longer can I be "The Speaker for the Uninstantiated", as
I used to aspire. I even must retract "It is our duty to
rescue as many people from non-existence as possible",
which I have been claiming for fifteen years!
Why? Very simply because everyone already exists. I had
been aware that this was an implication of MWI, and Hal
had even stated as much on this list a few months ago.
But an *interpretation* of QM, coupled with the "ghostly"
feel of the Other Worlds, combine to render the existence
of every possible person and alien moot.>>
Everyone may exist, but I would state that the challenge is, to be part of a
civilization that creates and promotes 2-way communication with them all!
This strikes me of an enhanced Dyson future. It is also impossible (for now)
yet, if one measures how well human creativity has succeeded with telecom, in
the last 180 years; there is some merit to suspecting that we, and our
descendants (silicon-human-whatever) may continue to succeed in this
endeavor.
Mitch
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Mar 05 2003 - 11:08:04 MST