on 27/2/01 4:38 AM, Marvin Long, Jr. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> ...and here beginneth part 2 of my response.
>
> On Sat, 24 Feb 2001, Dan Minette wrote:
>
>> Well, there's the quote of Wheeler
>>
>> "You may say that I am just a small spec in the universe, and that is true.
>> But, the universe itself would not exist for a primitive act of
>> registration."
>>
>> Let me phrase it this way. Lets go from something medium sized to smallest:
>>
>> Tree
>> Cell within tree
>> Nucleus within cell
>> DNA within nucleus
>> A water molecule
>> Hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon atoms
>> Protons and neutrons
>> Electrons, quarks, and glueons
>>
>>
>> At what point do things cease to have independent existence? What is the
>> minimum size that something can have and still exist independent of human
>> observations.
>
> Clearly there's no demarcation. Either it's all real and independent of
> human observation, and reality is a layered web of probabilities
> interacting; or it's all contingent upon human observation because a web
> of probabilities is meaningless unless somebody checks the score.
>
> Or one can turn the question around and ask: if humans ceased to exist,
> would bees cease to pollinate flowers? Would fire ants no longer build
> colonies in what used to be my lawn? Would elephants no long roam in
> Africa?
>
> In other words, what is the minimum degree of perception required to
> guarantee the existence of the universe? Would it take another fully
> intelligent and conscious species, or would animals the level of my
> neighbor's cat suffice? Granting that a cat wouldn't see exactly what I
> see when I look at a tree, would the tree still exist?
>
> Is an amoeba's "simple act of registration" sufficient to sustain the
> universe?
Presumably the universe existed for quite a while before any form of life
evolved at all. And a little bit longer before anything with consciousness
evolved. So it seems likely that it ticks along quite smoothly without
anything watching.
--
William T Goodall
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
