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Informational entropy causes a snag. It is impossible for any information system to express all the information about a more complicated system than itself. I
by IsaacSchlueter 18y ago
Informational entropy causes a snag.
It is impossible for any information system to express all the information about a more complicated system than itself. Ie, the computer capable of simulating the entire universe, down to the smallest of the small would have to be bigger than the universe. (Because, whatever the smallest piece is that it tracks, it'll have to express that in something bigger, that smallest thing being the smallest thing that exists.)
The other alternative, is for the simulation to drop a lot of detail about the thing being simulated. But then we'd see compression errors. (Or, maybe that explains why QM sometimes seems like God just said, "F--- it, whatever, just flip a coin or something, I don't care"? ;)
- rms 18y agoWhat makes you think the entire universe exists?
- IsaacSchlueter 18y agoYou know, if you keep up this kind of intellectual exercise, you'll go blind.
- rms 18y agoNot necessarily, but already we're hitting up against the limits of what we we are capable of thinking. I like the model of a computer universe. It makes sense to my consciousness. That's more than most of the other models, and it has some interesting consequences.
- IsaacSchlueter 18y agoIt was a joke. I was suggesting that this is mental masturbation. When the theory can make a risky prediction that can be verified by an appeal to observable evidence, I'll consider it. Anything that starts with you'll never be able to test it, but... is not science or philosophy, but religion.