I recently came across a paper by C. W. Rietdijk (who is perhaps most famous for using special relativity to prove the existence <https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rietdijk%E2%80%93Putnam_argument> of a pre-determined, timeless, physical reality) in 1966.
As it turns out, he was active and publishing into his 90s, and in 2018 published: "*Four-dimensional reality continued.* The implications of the block universe for the origin of matter, consciousness and a possible afterlife. The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox and its role in four dimensions" I have found much of it to be fascinating and also in line with Bruno's theories. For example, some excerpts: In the beginning, there was only truth, logic and their relation. No possible reality can do without them. As we move from a 3D to a 4D theory of the Universe, several crucial questions need to be asked and answered. One of the most important of those questions concerns the creation of matter. In this section, we deal with this question and ask ourselves: Was matter actually created and how *real* is it? In 4D a Big Bang is both inconceivable and irrelevant; a 4D universe is static—there are no changes in the time direction, therefore a transition from a Universal Void to the existence of matter cannot be. In both 3D and 4D, we must start from the irrefutable fact that “something” must have always been there, and we believe this to be the laws of nature. Voltaire’s argument about the existence of God (No watch without a watchmaker) begs the question who created the watch*maker*, unless we assume that the laws of nature and the universe created themselves. It is our firm belief that the Pythagorean theorem needs not be created, nor the fact that the circumference of a circle is 3.14… times the diameter; the laws of nature and the collection of truths, values and their interrelations are primordial and have always existed. The fundamental stuff of the Universe in 4D consists of logic, mathematics and natural law, which of course exist and always have existed. It seems impossible to eliminate truths, values, etc., from the Universe. Note that in a deterministic conception, there is only one universe. This is the universe that we see; a static 4D universe which is not void. The laws of nature—which have always existed—imply that intelligence has always existed and has always been present, with its correlates “experience” and “Aha-erlebnis,” perceivable to man here and now. It would seem that intelligence must have preceded everything, but in our search for the origin of matter, we cannot content ourselves by simply stating that (3D) matter is produced by intelligence. It *is* possible from the concept of completed intelligence (viz., intelligence including experience and the Aha-erlebnis), to create the deceptive *suggestion* of the existence of matter, experienced in a collective dream, dreamed by living, intelligent beings. This is what we consider to be consciousness. The recognition of the differences between patterns is an Aha-erlebnis. The elementary particles as we know them form patterns, including very implicit or hidden patterns. The marker points and their patterns are the way Intelligence orders all that exists in the world, including feelings, thoughts, colors, sounds, etc. We hypothesize that the microparticles in the Universe form Universal patterns, or abstract, theoretical points that answer to the laws of nature, formulas and logical principles; the common coordinate points in the Universe. These points form a kind of skeleton of the grand pattern of the collective “dream;” a blueprint or map of the Universe. Jason -- 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 [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CA%2BBCJUhdA%3DBFmb-_DwR0fULnE2H86Dqz2-7bJTFZUtLXXg9yuw%40mail.gmail.com.
