On 2/2/2014 1:44 AM, LizR wrote:
Someone asked how a block universe "comes to exist" and if it comes into existence "all
at once, or a bit at a time" (or something like that).
I wish I could find the original question, to make sure exactly what it was. But I
haven't managed to find it, and I can't spend all night trawling the forum for it, so I
will just put my take on the matter here.
Assuming I've got it right, this seems to me a rather odd question. Asking how a block
universe comes into existence presupposes that this is a process that must happen within
a time stream.
I can imagine a semi-block universe in which, as you've often remarked, the past is a
block and the universe keeps adding new moments and growing. This would be like Barbour's
time capsules, except just sticking everything into one capsule, like a history book that
keeps adding pages. But yes it implies another exterior "time" in which this "happens";
but then so does Bruno's UD.
My point is that we needn't take these models seriously. We just use them to try to
picture things.
Brent
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