Reality is Virtual
Part I - The Digital Clockwork Universe
"We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct."
Neils Bohr
Chapter 1 – Introduction to Part I
Unanswered questions
Science has done a good job of explaining how the universe works. Yet unanswered questions remain:
• Why does light behave like a wave at times, and as a particle at other times? • Why does Quantum Mechanics describe matter as a wave until it is observed? • Is the Universe Analog or Digital? • Why it is that nothing travels faster than the speed of light?
Part I explores a theory that explains these, and other, unanswered questions.
Is the Universe Equivalent to a Computer Simulation?
Scientists create computer simulations to learn about the Universe. Although simulations are simplified versions of the universe, they are still useful for learning how the universe works.
It is an article of faith among Scientist that the universe is under-standable, and that in time we will understand all of the laws of nature. With computer technology continuously improving it will be possible to create a computer simulation that includes all of the laws of nature in the future. Imagine what we will learn from such a simulation! A simulation that includes all of the laws of nature will be equivalent and indistinguishable from the real universe.
Real Universe EQUIVALENT TO Simulated Universe
Anything that occurs in the real universe will also occur in the simulated universe. What about the opposite direction ? Is this true?
Simulated Universe EQUIVALENT TO Real Universe
But digital computers have limitations. Do the limitations preclude a perfect simulation of the real universe? Examples of digital computer limitations are:
• A finite number of digits of precision • A limit to the number of computations that can be performed in a fixed time interval
The crazy theory presented in Part I is that these limitations actually explain quite a few otherwise unexplained properties of the universe.
Whenever the theory that the universe is a computer simulation explains an otherwise unexplained phenomenon I will highlight the fact by presenting the information in a box like the one shown below.
Explained by UNIVERSE is equivalent to a COMPUTER SIMULATION Whenever unexplained aspect of the universe is explained by this approach the concept will be written in italics and en-closed in a box.
A Digital Clockwork Universe
Isaac Newton introduced the idea of the "Clockwork Universe". In his model the universe is likened to a clock wound up by God and then set free to tick down in accordance with the laws of physics. The future path of the universe is entirely predetermined. Once the state of the universe is measured all you need to do is to apply the laws of physics to calculate its future state. Nothing is left to chance – everything is predetermined.
Developments in the early 20th century thoroughly invalidated this idea. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle tells us that the more precisely you determine a particle’s location, the less precisely you can determine its velocity . The Schrödinger equation of Quantum Mechanics produces probability density functions that can be likened to a foggy cloud of possible outcomes, with the fog’s density highest at the most likely results. Only when an object is observed does the universe choose a value out of the fog of possible ones, weighted appropriately but apparently randomly. So, even the most powerful computers imaginable programmed with all physical laws and loaded with the current state of the universe will never be able to predict the exact future state of the universe. Isaac Newton’s Clockwork Universe is out.
This part of the book explores a similar idea, that the universe is a digital computer simulation, thus in honor of Newton’s pioneering thinking the title of Part I is "The Digital Clockwork Universe."
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