08w27:2 Max Tegmark Posted July 3rd, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments Goodreads | 2008 week 27 number 2 (Max Tegmark) The summary, as I’ve understood it. ‘if 2 + 2 =4 and that means the same things as two plus two equals four or deux et deux egale a quatre then the equation points to something independent of the symbols we use to represent it, and further, it represents patterns independent of the language and symbology of human beings. Contrast this with Richard Rorty’s claims (as I understand them) that it is precisely this use of symbolic language which suggests there is nothing inherent in the Universe – no underlying Truth or nature. For Rorty, 2 + 2 = 4 is only true for those of us who understand what those symbols mean. In other words, it’s a quirk of our mind to assume that just because we recognize a relationship/pattern and use words to describe it, doesn’t mean it actually exists independent of our minds. Like, we recognize ‘fingers’ and have words in each language to describe them, but absent human beings human fingers would not exist. Thus, absent human beings, a universe described by human math would not exist either. – Timothy Is the Universe Actually Made of Math? http://goodreads.timothycomeau.com/shorty/discovermagazine/tegmark/ Max Tegmark | Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Tegmark Max Tegmark | MIT (Homepage) http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/index.html The Mathamatical Universe http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0704/0704.0646v2.pdf Shut up and Calculate (the so called ‘Director’s Cut’ of The Mathamatical Universe) http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0709/0709.4024v1.pdf Many lives in many worlds http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0707/0707.2593v1.pdf
08w03:3 A brain floating in space on a midwinter's day Posted January 15th, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments Goodreads | 2008 week 03 number 3 (A brain floating in space on a midwinter’s day) Big Brain Theory: Have Cosmologists Lost Theirs? | Dennis Overbye http://goodreads.timothycomeau.com/shorty/nytimes/cosmobrain/ “It could be the weirdest and most embarrassing prediction in the history of cosmology, if not science. If true, it would mean that you yourself reading this article are more likely to be some momentary fluctuation in a field of matter and energy out in space than a person with a real past born through billions of years of evolution in an orderly star-spangled cosmos. Your memories and the world you think you see around you are illusions.”
04w52:2 The Elegant Universe Posted December 22nd, 2004 by timothy. 0 Comments Good Reads Mailing List | 2004 week 52 number 2 (The Elegant Universe) < Thanks to Matt Crookshank for letting me know about this – Timothy ——————————————————————— The Elegant Universe | PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html “To view any part of this three-hour mini-series, choose an episode from one of the three columns below and select either QuickTime (full-screen option available) or RealVideo to begin watching. Each hour-long episode is divided into eight chapters.” —————————————- http://goodreads.timothycomeau.com To remove or add yourself to this list, go here emailed by Timothy on Wednesday 22 December 2004 @ 11:43 AM
