4 ms·

That's why the mathematical universe hypothesis (everything is built from mathematical structures) seems likely to me.

• halyconWays 2y ago
  It's sort of unsatisfying to say that math has the ability to experience itself, though
  • criddell 2y ago
    Is it? That’s basically what a conscious AI would be and I have a hard time coming up with reasons why a software brain couldn’t replace a biological brain.
• TheOtherHobbes 2y ago
  It seems incredibly unlikely to me. It's more likely all physics is argument by analogy from limited human experiences, and math is just a culturally consistent subset of that. What look like genius predictions are mostly (Einstein aside...) generations of post docs throwing equations at their whiteboards to see what sticks. A few happen to be confirmed by experiment. Most are quietly forgotten. I strongly suspect we literally can't begin to imagine what's really going on.
  • criddell 2y ago
    > I strongly suspect we literally can’t begin to imagine what’s really going on. I also happen to believe that might be true. In the same way a dog will never understand single variable calculus, there probably are concepts that are out of reach for us.