Arithmetical reality theories like comp and Tegmark's MUH assume that the only things that exist are those that must exist (in this case some simple numerical relations). This seems to me to be a good starting hypothesis - show that some specific thing must exist, such as the facts of simple arithmetic, and see what happens. Descartes tried this when he started with his own thoughts (i.e., as we generally assume, with the idea of computation). Which is pretty darn close to assuming just abstract relations exist...
My favourite answer to the question "Why is there something rather than nothing?" is "There isn't!" (See "Theory of nothing" for more details.) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
