Thread: The God Theory

I personally believe in multiverse theory. I only see it as a physical theory though: no more 'spiritual' than natural selection; in fact it's basically an extension of that principle. If the quantum physicists are to be believed, it is possible that quantum effects could cause several very different universes to be created, some of them by chance capable of supporting consciousness. We really need to sit tight until we get a theory of everything though, so we can work out what actually goes on in Big Bangs.

Originally Posted by Xei

I personally believe in multiverse theory. I only see it as a physical theory though: no more 'spiritual' than natural selection; in fact it's basically an extension of that principle. If the quantum physicists are to be believed, it is possible that quantum effects could cause several very different universes to be created, some of them by chance capable of supporting consciousness. We really need to sit tight until we get a theory of everything though, so we can work out what actually goes on in Big Bangs.

Just a question, but does it bother you to know that you'll be long dead and gone and we'll still be asking more and more questions about the universe? (The entirity of existence, not a universe as in the multiverse theory. I mean, literally anything that exists or that can be said to be)

I'm not so sure about that. We could well have a theory of everything in a decade or so. History has also shown a clear exponetial increase in technology and complexity.

But no, if I did die before we worked out those questions (if we ever do), it wouldn't bother me anyway. Because I'd be dead.

Originally Posted by Xei

I'm not so sure about that. We could well have a theory of everything in a decade or so. History has also shown a clear exponetial increase in technology and complexity.

But no, if I did die before we worked out those questions (if we ever do), it wouldn't bother me anyway. Because I'd be dead.

I almost fell on the floor reading this one.

The theory of everything...

History has shown exponential increase in technology and complexity, minus the dark ages.... (Not to mention all the technology that was possibly lost from Egyptians/Greeks/Romans)

I still think it's a product of the ego to think we are all of a sudden in the next 60 - 70 years going to truly understand everything. It seems like foolish overestimating of our intelligence and underestimating the true complexities of the universe.

Well I remember Hawking writing something in A Brief History of Time about how we've probably come down to the final level of reductionism... we have almost all the pieces, we just need a breakthrough now.

The trend is of course not a perfect exponential, this is a naturalistic model we're talking about here. But certainly we had exceeded everything by far that the past had brought by about 1800; now we're even seeing clear exponentiation within our lifetimes, with Moore's Law allowing us to double computational power every 18 months.

Originally Posted by Idolfan

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=W9feXe...e=channel_page

Interesting, no?

Now, I know the guy sounds like an irritating creationist at first, but bear with him.

This is along the lines of what I am starting to believe.

Yes that is very interesting indeed.

Max Planck, without indending to do so, killed off all the scienctific beliefs in physics over 100 years ago. But noone would believe him "That just can't be". That is were the 'new phyiscs' starts, which is - up to today - denied.

Scientific studies in the fields of quantum physics overthrow a lot of belief systems and also put science in its place, we are not close to any real answers at all. Well... but that is the exciting part - There just might be meaning after all, even if we can't see it. Too bad noone cares, since only few people really know about the insights of quantum physics and especially those in power couldn't care less. They would like to keep it, I guess.

The whole is more than just he sum of its parts.
"Modern" physics is not able to capture all there is, therefore making it unuseful. It helps getting an idea, but it will never achieve any real, or 'whole' answers.

Originally Posted by Xei

The trend is of course not a perfect exponential, this is a naturalistic model we're talking about here. But certainly we had exceeded everything by far that the past had brought by about 1800; now we're even seeing clear exponentiation within our lifetimes, with Moore's Law allowing us to double computational power every 18 months.

True, but for every answer we get, there are ten new questions waiting to pop up.

Originally Posted by Xei

I'm not so sure about that. We could well have a theory of everything in a decade or so. History has also shown a clear exponetial increase in technology and complexity.

But no, if I did die before we worked out those questions (if we ever do), it wouldn't bother me anyway. Because I'd be dead.

I didn't mean what you'd feel then, but how you feel now

What is the practical upshot of tToE?

Quite possibly advances in technology. Science has almost always been driven by curiousity; its only later that applications are found. Look at what Einstein did: General Relativity is almost entirely useless to us, at least at the moment; he was a man inspired only by a thirst for knowledge. Only after his huge range of discoveries did their practical use become apparent, including nuclear power from his energy mass equivalence, materials science from his proof of the existence of atoms, and pretty much all of modern technology from his creation of quantum physics.

The driving force behind development of the ToE is probably the intense curiousity about what exactly happened at the Big Bang, for which we need quantum gravity; applications of this scientific advance may then follow.

This god theory...I like it. Sounds more sound than a fire and brimstone hell or harp playing angels greeting you upon death. Don't even get me started on the 70+ virgins...