Re: [asa] Tegmark and the mathematical universe

In response to Don, I hope to be able to get to this soon. Since it looks
as if it's 50 pages long it may take a little time to do it justice.
Menawhile the abstract that Moorad includes below sounds as if Tegmark has
discovered Plato. That inclines me positively though of course it depends
on what he does with it. The statement "I hypothesize that only computable
and decidable (in Gödel’s sense) structures exist" in particular puzzles me
a bit. I know what it means but am not sure how one justifies doing this.
If (as I think we've discussed a bit on the list) Gödel’s theorem provides
one way of speaking about miracles, this may amount to a "no miracles
please" criterion.

Shalom
George
http://home.neo.rr.com/scitheologyglm

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alexanian, Moorad" <alexanian@uncw.edu>
To: "Don Nield" <d.nield@auckland.ac.nz>; "ASA" <asa@calvin.edu>
Cc: <GMURPHY10@neo.rr.com>
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 8:53 AM
Subject: RE: [asa] Tegmark and the mathematical universe

> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Max Tegmark1
>
> (1) Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
> Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
>
> Received: 18 April 2007 Accepted: 2 October 2007 Published online: 8
> November 2007
>
> Abstract I explore physics implications of the External Reality
> Hypothesis (ERH) that there exists an external physical reality completely
> independent of us humans. I argue that with a sufficiently broad
> definition of mathematics, it implies the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis
> (MUH) that our physical world is an abstract mathematical structure. I
> discuss various implications of the ERH and MUH, ranging from standard
> physics topics like symmetries, irreducible representations, units, free
> parameters, randomness and initial conditions to broader issues like
> consciousness, parallel universes and Gödel incompleteness. I hypothesize
> that only computable and decidable (in Gödel’s sense) structures exist,
> which alleviates the cosmological measure problem and may help explain why
> our physical laws appear so simple. I also comment on the intimate
> relation between mathematical structures, computations, simulations and
> physical systems.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Mathematics is a positive science and as such it does not deal with
> ontological issue. I am not sure how one can define mathematics so
> generally in order to deal with ontological issues. Such definition of
> mathematics is radically different from what we presently understand it to
> be. I suppose Tegmark can also "derive" with his new mathematics the
> notion a Creator, which is logically unavoidable, who brought everything
> into being.
>
> Moorad
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
> Behalf Of Don Nield
> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2008 10:13 PM
> To: ASA
> Cc: GMURPHY10@neo.rr.com
> Subject: [asa] Tegmark and the mathematical universe
>
> This offer by Springer may be of interest to some people on this forum:
>
> Visit the journal homepage
> http://springer.r.delivery.net/r/r?2.1.Ee.2Tp.XAR7A.BxK87I..N.GNX4.34ZS.DDSAETX0
>
> ====================================================================
>
> Read Foundations of Physics for Free Until December 31
>
> The article by Max Tegmark, The mathematical universe, 38(2) 101-150 may
> be of particular interest -- NASA, NSF and John Templeton Foundation
> grants are acknowledged. I would like to know what George Murphy thinks of
> this paper and its significance.
> Don
>
>
>
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> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
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Received on Mon Nov 24 10:35:33 2008