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| English: This is an image of a two-dimensional hypersurface of the quintic Calabi-Yau three-fold. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It boggles the mind!
Related source » Complications in Physics Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis 'via Blog this' (h/t Newmark's Door)
[This related source is recommended in its entirety.]
“According to a popular but polarizing framework called string theory, the number of possible types of universes that can bubble up in a multiverse is around 10^500. In a few of them, chance cancellations would produce the strange constants we observe.”
— Natalie Wolchover, May 24, 2013 (simonsfoundation.org)
When it comes to string theory, as well as more traditional complexity, like quantum mechanics and general relativity, I, like most of humanity, am at best an interested layman. Anything I have to say about such subjects is nothing more than the personal thoughts and observations of a topically-informed reader.
On the other hand, when it comes to one's personal reality, I am inclined to think I have the same authority of expression as any other person who is not comatose. Hence, this post.
Roughly speaking, by which we mean within a factor of 10 (the definition of an order of magnitude), there are 10^80 photons in our known universe. That number is 80 orders of magnitude greater than unity (i.e., 10^0). For all intents and purposes, 10^80 represents the largest number that anyone would ever need for any real context.
Imagine, if you can, the enormity of the number 10^500, which is the same as a googol raised to the 5th power, namely (10^100)^5. You might as well treat that as a reasonable approximation for infinity.
If the totality of possible universes in the so-called multiverse is 10^500, and it is the goal of string theory to make some sense of such a reality, then I am inclined to think such pursuit of knowledge is utterly useless, given that that would be tantamount to understanding that anything and everything imaginable can and does occur somewhere in the multiverse. To my mind, the value of such knowledge is nil, and possibly negative, because it saps our capacity to understand our own little corner of the multiverse.
Understand that I am not averse to such endeavors. Humanity's thirst for knowledge knows no bounds. Nor should it. I also make no claim as to the worthiness of anybody else's research goals. I am simply positing that one's mileage may vary when searching for personal truth. One woman's truth is another man's mental masturbation.
For example, take psychiatric analysis. Please.
On the other hand, when it comes to one's personal reality, I am inclined to think I have the same authority of expression as any other person who is not comatose. Hence, this post.
Roughly speaking, by which we mean within a factor of 10 (the definition of an order of magnitude), there are 10^80 photons in our known universe. That number is 80 orders of magnitude greater than unity (i.e., 10^0). For all intents and purposes, 10^80 represents the largest number that anyone would ever need for any real context.
Imagine, if you can, the enormity of the number 10^500, which is the same as a googol raised to the 5th power, namely (10^100)^5. You might as well treat that as a reasonable approximation for infinity.
If the totality of possible universes in the so-called multiverse is 10^500, and it is the goal of string theory to make some sense of such a reality, then I am inclined to think such pursuit of knowledge is utterly useless, given that that would be tantamount to understanding that anything and everything imaginable can and does occur somewhere in the multiverse. To my mind, the value of such knowledge is nil, and possibly negative, because it saps our capacity to understand our own little corner of the multiverse.
Understand that I am not averse to such endeavors. Humanity's thirst for knowledge knows no bounds. Nor should it. I also make no claim as to the worthiness of anybody else's research goals. I am simply positing that one's mileage may vary when searching for personal truth. One woman's truth is another man's mental masturbation.
For example, take psychiatric analysis. Please.
Related articles
- David Gross on youth, revolutions, conservatives, QM, QFT, QCD, ST, multiverse etc. (motls.blogspot.com)
- Into another dimension! (casualcalculations.wordpress.com)
- New Physics Complications Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis (scientificamerican.com)
- Physicist Discovers Computer Code Embedded Within the Equations of String Theory (disinfo.com)
Post 1,972 “Reality in 500 Orders of Magnitude”
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