--- On Thu, 9/4/08, Abram Demski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > So, my only remaining objection is that while the universe > *could* be > computable, it seems unwise to me to totally rule out the > alternative.
You're right. We cannot prove that the universe is computable. We have evidence like Occam's Razor (if the universe is computable, then algorithmically simple models are to be preferred), but that is not proof. At one time our models of physics were not computable. Then we discovered atoms, quantization of electric charge, general relativity (which bounds density and velocity), the big bang (history is finite) and quantum mechanics. Our models would still not be computable (requiring infinite description length) if any one of these events did not occur. -- Matt Mahoney, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=111637683-c8fa51 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
