Simulation and Clues : Frozen Time

Look around, and you will see how time governs everything around us. On a cosmic timeline we mark events, when we have to wake up, eat, sleep, a day is over, monsoon arrives, a new year begins and a millennia ends. For long, we have considered time in three distinguishable phases i.e. past, present and the future with 2 simple rules that we can’t change the past and can’t predict the exact future. We experience time as a river; always flowing in one direction. But what if we are wrong? What if Time is like a frozen sea where past, present and future exist all together? Well, let’s try to figure it out.

Human civilization has always looked for ways to accurately measure time. The standard way to measure time is by looking at the naturally occurring repetitions and cyclic events like sunrise and sunset, full moons, constellation and movements. But in the last one century, we have achieved a precision of almost a billionth of a second by observing atoms. Yeah, we can measure time almost up to a billionth of a second. But no matter how accurate clocks are, they are unable to tell what time itself is. What is it that we actually measure? And yet if we remove the concept of time and its measurement, the world will collapse.

Now let’s see what modern physics has to say about time. During the early 2oth century, Albert Einstein proposed Time as one of the dimensions of a 4-Dimensional framework of the Universe called Space-Time. We used to believe that time is the same for everyone, everywhere at the same rate, but Einstein’s groundbreaking idea changed everything. He realized that time can run at different rates for different individuals depending on the speed they are moving and the surrounding mass. He believed that more you have of one (time-speed) less you have of other. Even if you don’t move in 3-Dimension, you always move through time. But when you move through space it affects the passage of time for you, and once you reach the speed of light, time stops. With this concept in mind and without going deep into underlying mathematics we can say what whatever we observe as time is in reality just a slice from cosmic timeline where everything that ever happened or will happen is already out there. We still see stars as they were 14 billion years ago, and they are probably already dead. We still see supernovae which exploded almost millions of years in past. So you see the concept of time mainly depends on where we are in space-time and how fast we are moving.

In simpler words, the difference between past, present and future is mere an illusion. Time itself is like a video made up of infinite frames. And it’s only when you move forward frame by frame, the concept of past, present and future comes into existence. NOW, here comes the similarity between our Universe and a simulation. You can easily compare this model of time with any form of computer simulation, video or video games and the likes. The characters or elements of these simulations will always experience time as if it’s flowing in one direction. Their perception of time will be exactly the way we perceive time, but we know their perception is WRONG. We, those who are outside these simulations, can always forward, backward, pause or stop it any moment and the people inside it may never realize. For those who are inside, time is as much of a mystery as it is for us. Even they will try to define their short existence as Past, Present and Future. Maybe if within those simulations, there is someone like Einstein who leads them to see time as a fourth dimension, would that make them wrong?

Probably we will never know for sure. Probably time is really like a frozen ocean where all our existence exist together.

 

 

 

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We are not Real : Simulation Hypothesis

In my previous few posts I insisted that our existence, this Universe and the things we feel, observe and relate to are not real. When we talk about this Universe as a work of fiction then it’s not a simple philosophy, its application of some of the well established theories from Quantum Mechanics.

These theories once started a great war about the very idea of reality. A war that lasted for decades between Einstein and a group of young and brilliant physicists, namely:  Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli.

Quantum mechanics tells us that everything is a work of probability and within a day our well defined universe turned into something far more chaotic and unpredictable. Einstein was definitely against this concept of uncertainties, and since then our perception about this Universe has changed far beyond a normal person’s comprehension.

We don’t know for sure how big this Universe is and if out there exists some intelligent life other than us. There may be a creator after all!

But it certainly won’t be the one that everyone thinks as “GOD”!

For long we thought this universe is created for us, as if we are the center of the universe and we lived with this idea for so long that it evolved into something far more dangerous- RELIGION. But with the advancement in the field of science and when cosmologists finally discovered the process of creation it was then possible to discard the long established idea of human centric universe.

Now we know first there was gas and with some simple and yet elegant laws of physics it evolved into something quite baffling as this universe. And again thanks to physics that no matter whether we like it or not, we and everything else in this universe has to follow these laws. Once we have almost solved the mystery of evolution of universe the next big thing to decode was ‘Evolution of Life’.

People were quite sure that ‘God dropped a seed from heavens’ and that’s how life came into existence. For long evolution of life seemed complicated and people have argued that it can’t be mathematically defined. But in late 1970 a mathematician named Conway developed a game called ‘Game of Life’ with just three simple rules i.e., birth, death and survival and it showed how life can evolve by itself without a need of some special ingredients or divine interference. When simulations were run, creatures in game of life were far more than mere glimpse of data, they were living and reproducing. If just 3 simple rules can result into that, then imagine what would the set of rules that governs our universe can do?

Evidently from some simplest of equations we can derive something as complicated as life itself. Well, I will not argue about the evolution of life and god in this post. Let’s keep it for later and come back to REALITY.

When we talk about human centric universe then there are some physicists who strongly believe in it with their Anthropic reasoning. Anthropic Principle asks what’s the use of universe without life? Wouldn’t it be useless to have such a beauty out there with no one to comprehend it? What’s the point of having such a vast and complex creation with no intelligent life around to explore it? And thus universe exists because we exist; that universe is controlled by our existence, Really? That’s funny, even I don’t buy that. So let’s observe this universe more carefully and look for the clues that make this Universe special and not US!

In my previous post I discussed in length how our universe seems to be defined by some magical numbers (constants) and if those turned out to be slightly different then it could have resulted into a catastrophe. For example, there is a constant called Cosmological Constant which keeps this universe from falling apart, cosmological constant is tuned to 120 decimal places and is the most extreme example of fine tuning. But fortunately fine tuning problem was solved with Multiverse, all with different big bangs and different physical laws and constants. (Refer my previous post about tuning the universe to understand how critical it is to have the values which we have and thus for the very existence of the universe as we know it or for that matter the evolution of any possible intelligent life forms).

Though we have uncovered a lot about mysteries surrounding this universe but the farther we go back in time we find it hard to explain the evolution as we currently lack that ability to create the exact extreme conditions in our laboratories which existed right at the moment of Big Bang. So if you have gone through my previous post you may realize how lucky we are to be here and to experience this grand design. But obviously and unfortunately Theologists never accepted that we may exist by luck, but they argued about a universe designed by a godly creator and specially for us. A notion that even Anthropic Physicists feared to entertain. But then all the discoveries in cosmology were pointing scientists in a direction of a creator. So, is there really a creator?

Now we have some understanding about how life on earth evolved and reached to a point from where we can ask questions about our own evolution. We have seen how intelligence gradually increases, but looking at the recent discoveries in neural sciences and about brain in particular we have found that we have almost reached our maximum potential intelligence for this particular brain size, at least we as human beings. But, now we are about to enter a new phase of development, the Trans-human phase where we can self monitor and modify our intelligence and nature with the advancement of medicines and technologies.

Within a century probably we will be able to create backup copies of our memories and consciousness, can avoid aging, possibly will replace body parts with processors, living virtual life over a materialistic life, all connected to one grand consciousness.

Technological aid can take our intelligence to a next level – Super Intelligence. What is super Intelligence? Not even a single super computer today is super intelligent, super intelligence would be something like when you give it an amoeba and it contemplates Quantum Mechanics. But the computer of this century gives us an idea about super intelligence, the simulations and parallel calculations they are capable of performing.

Currently computers are simulating virtual worlds in games like World of War craft, Counter Strike, Call of Duty and many more online games. But we can expect them to simulate far more realistic and vivid environments in next fifty years or so. And probably one of those super intelligent processors will be able to simulate the whole big bang, the very start of a universe to understand the working and underlying principles that govern our universe. And if a computer is intelligent enough to simulate a whole universe then it’s quite possible that it ends up simulating far more than just a big bang and a universe, may be a world within universe, a world teeming with life.

Our whole universe could be one of those simulations that we are not aware of, but where does that leaves us? We as a part of a simulation? We being a simulation within a simulation, or probably a byproduct (not intentional) of a such simulation?

For long this idea of simulation haunted me and it may haunt some of you too, or may be it ignites a whole new curiosity. For those who are curious about this reality being an illusion, in next post we will look for the clues and use Quantum Mechanics to prove that WE AIN’T REAL, so stay tuned.

 

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Tuning the Universe: Alien Design and Oscillatory Universe

In my last post (Tuning the Universe: Constants)  we talked about a fine tuned Universe which is in a way  perfectly suitable for our existence.  We also created a hypothetical Universe where some of the constants were slightly or drastically different and analyzed its effects on our perception of reality. But the question that was left unanswered was “Who did this fine tuning?” or “Is it a mere coincidence?” You might wonder about the possible candidates for fine tuning that I mentioned in my previous post and how one would work this problem out.

Theologians keep arguing about a Divine Creator who turns a few knobs of constants to tune this Universe until it reaches a perfect configuration to sustain human life. The argument comes from the rare possibility of constants attaining those stable values by themselves. Lets have a look at two such theories on fine tuning.

Alien Design

You all might be familiar with Engineers from the movie Prometheus and how Elizabeth Shaw led a mission to a faraway mysterious alien planet seeking the underlying truth about our very own existence, funded by a multibillionaire in search of immortality. Ancients called them God but actually they were a technologically far superior alien civilization. What if that is true?

One hypothesis about fine-tuning is that universe was designed and fine tuned by highly advanced aliens. This solves the problem of Universe fine tuning it by itself. To understand this imagine after a few centuries and with the current exponentially increasing pace of technological advancement we reach a point where our supercomputers surpass the combined potential of every single human that ever lived. The knowledge of physics reaches beyond the understanding of the Universe and we can explore the hidden dimensions, biochemistry and biology unlocking the basic design rules for all the organic life forms., That will be the time we ourselves will be capable enough to create an artificial universe or life –  using all the correct ingredients. Artificial Universe is something outside our dimension or within a computer simulation or maybe outside our universe, there is a vast possibility and uncertainty where this universe can exist. That universe will not require an abstract fine tuning because we already know what constants are stable and would have figured out the missing pieces in the next few centuries. Quite similarly it is possible that our universe itself is a product of such calculated design. Those super advanced aliens could have eventually learned to engineer a new Universe and we could have emerged in one of those, deliberately or as a byproduct.

Theologists take this hypothesis in their defense and call it a certain proof of a God. But they miss the argument that even a super advanced alien race is a product of Darwinian Evolution and thus no different than we humans. And certainly in religious concepts God is a supernatural power with no concept of something before or after him, but here our intelligent guys are nothing but simply an advanced alien race. So, don’t confuse Alien Design with Creationism. In the words of Richard Dawkins, the famous author of ‘The God delusion’:

” It could be that at some earlier time, somewhere in the universe, a civilization evolved, probably by some kind of Darwinian means, probably to a very high level of technology, and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet.”

Alien Design is quite a fascinating hypothesis that can’t be denied because if you look at the Universe, physics, biochemistry or biology, you will find a signature of some kind of a fine-tuning or a designer. It’s kind of a fingerprint, of the Designer.

Oscillatory universe

Thanks to the Big Bang Theory we all are familiar with the Big Bang, but you might not be aware of the term ‘The Big Crunch’.

To recap, Big bang is an abrupt expansion of the universe from a very small, hot and dense state or singularity (which is an infinitely high energy and density at zero volume), whereas Big Crunch is the collapse of the same universe almost to singularity once it reaches the maximum point of expansion. And if the Oscillatory Universe theory is true, our Universe is something that exists between a never ending cycle of a Big Bang and a Big Crunch. Or you can say that our universe can be the first of a possible series of universes or it can be the nth universe in the series.

Some physicists don’t believe that universe reaches singularity after Big crunch but it bounces back to an expanding one due to the infinite repulsive forces, thus expansion followed by Collapse and so on. One bounce represents end of the previous universe and it is quite possible that every time one cycle completes the laws of physics reset themselves to same or different values of constants and thus providing every following universe with a new set of constants. Or we are here discussing about these constants because eventually there turned out to be one universe out of those n number of universes which supports the evolution of intelligent beings. Oscillatory universe theory raised many questions about the way universe work and our purpose in it, in a constant search for answers physicists stumbled upon something beyond our understanding, Dark matters and Dark energy. If mass of all the visible materials is calculated then it constitutes only 4% of the total mass of the Universe, and rest is invisible. That invisible mass is Dark energy and Dark matter, we can’t see them but can indirectly observe their effect on galaxies and space. For Big Crunch it’s necessary for gravity to slow down the expansion of the Universe and collapse it back, but that is not happening and expansion of the Universe is accelerating at an increased rate, and the reason is Dark Energy.  With the new findings about Dark Energy and Dark Matter Oscillatory Universe hypothesis doesn’t stand strong and probably the Universe will end in a Big Freeze, without collapsing and without giving us a second chance.

In my next post we will discuss about more fine tuning candidates like Multiverse theory, Simulation Hypothesis and Alternate realities.

 

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Tuning the Universe: Constants

We look around and find this world simple, beautiful and very enjoyable. We enjoy tides and beaches, stare at the moon, wish on falling stars, take a sunbath, smoke pot, fall in love, kill, evolve and breed without wondering about the underlying chaos and uncertainty in the fabric of our existence. I always wondered why we are here or do we have a purpose? Or is it just by a mere chance? One magical thing always kept me baffled as I thought about this universe. How the finely tuned universal constants came together to create a universe of this magnitude and complexity yet support the evolution of an intelligent life on earth? What if the value of those constants were slightly different? What would be the implication on the evolution of life?

Thankfully, those constants are what they are and not any bit different, or we wouldn’t be here wondering about the origin and evolution of our very own existence.

What constants am I talking about? What are those and why should we care, we are here and that’s all we always cared about? Doesn’t it prove a divine creator turned few knobs to fine tune those constants to their values, so we can exist and provide Him with His daily dose of worship?

Well, don’t get confused when I say ‘Fine Tuned’. It’s not about some divine mathematician sitting there and doing some complex calculations to come up with those values of universal constants. Here, by fine tuning I mean how naturally the laws of physics set these Constants in a universe(probably universes) and fortunately we are in the one which suits our existence. Frankly, the number of these constants vary from physicist to physicist but I’ll try to briefly discuss about most of them.

Following are those widely accepted Universal constants and few dimensionless constants as suggested by Martin Rees(Physicist):

force-particles

1. Speed of Light(c): It’s value is around 3,00,000 km/s, the fastest ‘thing’ in this universe. No matter what we do, we can never exceed this value. It’s like a universal traffic police, always keeping you in check and reminding you of your limits.

2. Gravitational Constant(G): This is responsible for keeping things in their place, like moon around earth, earth around sun, sun within a cluster of stars, stars around a giant black hole which is at the centre of milky way. This ‘G’ also keeps this whole universe from blowing apart.

3. Plank’s Constant(h) is one of the most critical universal constant. Even the slightest change in its value can drastically alter the whole nature of reality.

4. Weak and Strong Nuclear forces which provide stability to atomic and subatomic particles, thus to everything that exists.

5. Ratio(N) of the strength of gravity to that of electromagnetism which governs the balance required to keep these two long distance forces interfering with each other, say avoiding moon to repel apart from earth and keep in its orbit.

6. Strength(ε) of the force binding nucleons(proton and neutrons) into nuclei thus making the subatomic universe a little less chaotic and stable.

7. Relative importance (ω) of gravity and expansion energy in the Universe

8. Cosmological constant (λ), defines the strength of a force against gravity which is not because of some particle(mass, charge etc.) but is built into the very fabric of space-time.

9. Ratio(q) of the gravitational energy required to pull a large galaxy apart to the energy equivalent of its mass

10. Number of spatial dimensions in space-time(x,y,z) and a temporal dimension(Time). This very much defines and stabilizes the reality as we know it.

Universe with random constant values would be highly hostile and yet no less than a unpredictable beauty. If you have to create a Universe using random values then just imagine the number of universes you can create? But what if these constants were little different in the universe we live in?

Universe with random constant values would be highly hostile and yet no less than an unpredictable beauty. If you have to create a Universe using random values then just imagine the number of universes you can create? But what if these constants were little different in the universe we live in?

Let us take a scenario where, in a Universe some of the laws and constants of nature are quite different. Say if the value of Light Speed(c) is very much smaller than its actual value. If you are driving along a street you can see the nearby things getting shorter and smaller because the things you observe are due to the light bouncing off them and when it reaches you is relative to your speed.

If the value of planks constant is greater than what it is then things will be all fuzzy because of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty principle. It would be impossible for hunters to shoot in such a fuzzy world, they won’t be certain about the position and speed of their hunt at the same time. 

If the magnitude of strong interaction were slightly weaker than it actually is, the number of stable elements would be smaller and you will be radioactive because the iron in your blood cells won’t be stable. If the strong nuclear force were 2% stronger than it is, Hydrogen would fuse so easily that it is likely that all of the Universe’s hydrogen would be consumed in the first few minutes after the Big Bang and there won’t be stars as we see them, there won’t be any life as we know it. If there would have been 4th spatial dimension(say u) in addition to x,y,z then gravitational force would have been very weak, there would have been no stable elliptical orbits for planets to revolve around their star, would have either collapsed into star or thrown away.If value of Cosmological constant (λ) were greater than it is, our universe would have blown apart shortly after big bang (when this all started). These are just few situations when we alter the values of those constants, in a broader term the chances of evolution of life in such a hostile scenario is highly improbable. We should find ourselves lucky about the apparent fine-tuning which is no less than a miracle.

We have seen what the world would be like if the Universal constants were different. But the question is how these values evolved? Is there any natural or scientific explanation? Why not some supernatural God or maybe some intelligent designer? Highly evolved Aliens? Or is it just a Coincidence?

It is possible that some of these constants are something like the ratio of circle’s circumference to its radius. it may turn out that there is only one possible way for a universe to be. Far from a creator needed to twiddle to the knobs for constants, there are no knobs. This has been a center of debate between physicists and theologians. There are many theories out there trying to answer this mystery of fine-tuning . Few of them are Alien Design(not God), Oscillatory universe(Parallel Universes), Bubble Universe and few more . In next post we will go through most of them and eventually to arrive at a point where we can ‘safely’ say ‘Nothing is Real’.

 

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