On Tue, Jun 21, 2005 at 09:14:18PM -0700, Jonathan Colvin wrote: > Russell Standish wrote: > > >This argument is a variation of the argument for why we find > >so many observers in our world, rather than being alone in the > >universe, and is similar to why we expect the universe to be > >so big and old. > > > >Of course this argument contains a whole raft of ill-formed > >assumptions, so I'm expecting Jonathin Colvin to be warming up > >his keyboard for a critical response! > > Ok, if you insist :) > > I think the above are two disparate arguments. It is simpler by Occam to > assume that there should be many observers rather than only one (similar > argument to favouring the multiverse over only one big-bang). Once you admit > the possibility of one observer, it takes extra argument to say why there > should be *only* one. > > But we expect the universe to be old for cosmological reasons (takes stars a > long time to cook up the needed elements, observer take a long time to > evolve). Simplicity does not seem to be a factor here. A big universe does > not seem much simpler either. > > Jonathan Colvin >
Sorry, I was being overly telegraphic. A big and old universe with
simple initial conditions is the simplest way of providing an
environment rich enough to support conscious life. The process of
evolution implied also implies a large number of observers, and a
panoply of other interim forms (non-conscious life). By contrast a
universe that is just big enough (eg a few years old, and containing
just the planet Earth, or even just the room in which you're located)
requires a mind-bogglingly large array of initial conditions - really
needing a creative deity of some kind to bring it into existence. This
is what I mean by big & old universes being simpler.
Cheers
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A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 8308 3119 (mobile)
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