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Interesting. On both an aesthetic and intellectual level, I like the statement "consciousness is actually the reproductive system of the universe". Care to elab

Interesting. On both an aesthetic and intellectual level, I like the statement "consciousness is actually the reproductive system of the universe". Care to elaborate?

georgemcbay 12y ago
Well it essentially grows out of the idea that the universe might be a simulation, which is not novel though obviously unproven and perhaps wrong and in either case a controversial idea for some people. Going beyond that is the idea that maybe there's simulations in simulations. Just basic shlock-90s movie plot stuff in a way (see: The Thirteenth Floor, et al), but what if that's the basic nature of the universe(s)? And on a slight tangent, what if there's no "substrate" universe at all? (There not being one is no less weird than there being one, IMO), but if it is just purely mathematical rules based universes all the way down (and maybe around in some cases, if the idea of looped recursion is universally humorous)? Taken all of this admittedly out-there whackiness, perhaps consciousness (the big why question) is ultimately the means by which universes reproduce. Over a long enough timeline with enough luck and fitness a universe may develop conscious creatures eventually capable of creating more "simulated" universes (or not, if that universe is unfit), a situation very unlikely to occur by randomness alone. This thought-experiment theory takes the opposite approach from most in that it attempts to answer the why as opposed to the how.
- MichaelAO 12y ago
  Thanks for sharing. The simulation theory is definitely plausible (as proposed by Bostrom). A few years ago I stared writing a mini story entitled "Turtles all the way down" about simulations within simulations. It was a fun thought experiment indeed. Speaking of your tangent, the idea of there being at least one original or 'substate' universe seems to be a given by even the most exotic simulation theorists. I like your style ha. You might appreciate the work by Thomas Campbell and his My Big Theory of Everything. I don't endorse everything he says, but his premise is that we're living in a simulation and that "It's just data". His book was an interesting read.
  - georgemcbay 12y ago
    I will take a look, thanks for the references!

Interesting. On both an aesthetic and intellectual level, I like the statement "consciousness is actually the reproductive system of the universe". Care to elaborate?

georgemcbay 12y ago

Well it essentially grows out of the idea that the universe might be a simulation, which is not novel though obviously unproven and perhaps wrong and in either case a controversial idea for some people. Going beyond that is the idea that maybe there's simulations in simulations. Just basic shlock-90s movie plot stuff in a way (see: The Thirteenth Floor, et al), but what if that's the basic nature of the universe(s)? And on a slight tangent, what if there's no "substrate" universe at all? (There not being one is no less weird than there being one, IMO), but if it is just purely mathematical rules based universes all the way down (and maybe around in some cases, if the idea of looped recursion is universally humorous)? Taken all of this admittedly out-there whackiness, perhaps consciousness (the big why question) is ultimately the means by which universes reproduce. Over a long enough timeline with enough luck and fitness a universe may develop conscious creatures eventually capable of creating more "simulated" universes (or not, if that universe is unfit), a situation very unlikely to occur by randomness alone. This thought-experiment theory takes the opposite approach from most in that it attempts to answer the why as opposed to the how.

MichaelAO 12y ago
Thanks for sharing. The simulation theory is definitely plausible (as proposed by Bostrom). A few years ago I stared writing a mini story entitled "Turtles all the way down" about simulations within simulations. It was a fun thought experiment indeed. Speaking of your tangent, the idea of there being at least one original or 'substate' universe seems to be a given by even the most exotic simulation theorists. I like your style ha. You might appreciate the work by Thomas Campbell and his My Big Theory of Everything. I don't endorse everything he says, but his premise is that we're living in a simulation and that "It's just data". His book was an interesting read.
- georgemcbay 12y ago
  I will take a look, thanks for the references!