tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690166.post111599165466645144..comments2023-10-11T09:02:03.255-04:00Comments on Some Things Rich and Strange: "High-energy physics: An emptier emptiness?" by Frank WilczekPatrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15755186507887274754noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690166.post-1116991449336711242005-05-24T23:24:00.000-04:002005-05-24T23:24:00.000-04:00One of Einstein's most famous quotes was "did God ...One of Einstein's most famous quotes was "did God have a choice in creating the universe?". In Theoretical Computer Science, there's a notion of a <EM>Universal Turing Machine</EM>(UTM) - and it's believed that all practical means of computation are equivalent, that's know as <EM>Church's Thesis</EM>. Any UTM can simulate any other UTM as well as all less powerful systems of computation. So in a certain fundamental sense, it doesn't really matter too much whether you buy a Mac or PC, since they're both realizations of a UTM. I understand it's even possible to actually run PC programs on a Mac, albeit somewhat more slowly. By analogy, one might hope that we inhabit a truly "Universal" Universe. While there might be other equally valid ways to have created a universe, perhaps it's possible to simulate these alternative universes in <EM>our</EM> Universe, at least if someone gives George Lucas a big enough budget. So while God may have created us a Mac universe, while we wished he had gotten us a PC, that may not turn out to be as important as it may have seemed, once we understand the big picture. Or something.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15755186507887274754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11690166.post-1116961156625529682005-05-24T14:59:00.000-04:002005-05-24T14:59:00.000-04:00Something from nothing. Wow. I think this is a v...Something from nothing. Wow. I think this is a very big deal. I mean, isn't that a big reason that people say there has to be a God? Because things had to come from something? And that is why they can't wrap their heads around the Big Bang as the origin of the universe? I think a lot of people will say that even those particles that were in the Big Bang's initial teaspoon of matter "had to come from somewhere"? I never found that line of "reasoning" personally compelling but it is very, very common and I hope this finding gets to widely known. Though (sniff) I doubt that it will.Lizziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03397247083673165825noreply@blogger.com