Re:Is the Universe Open-Ended? An intriguing proposal about ...
by ageofzfarm on Thursday June 17, 2021 @02:20PM
(#27542704)
> Maybe the author is assuming there are no elements in the universe that don’t follow quantum mechanics?
Exactly, the author is assuming the universe is a quantum Turing machine.
> It seems like everything should have a chain of causality back to some thing. Except there has to be at least one uncaused causes, or else it’s just an infinite regression and not meaningful.
It's not necessarily so.
Models that aim to describe the universe before the Planck epoch are speculative. There are known theories that does not include uncaused causes as a necessary condition while being internally-consistent.
They are often self-referential solutions to the Wheeler-deWitt equation.
e.g.: The Hartle-Hawking state and some interpretations of Carlo Rovelli's QLG
‘> These freebits also have to be quantum in nature. Why?’
Maybe the author is assuming there are no elements in the universe that don’t follow quantum mechanics?
‘ > Suppose you want to track back the chain of events that led to a specific incident—something interesting in a physics experiment, or a chicken crossing the road. For some incidents there will be a chain that goes all the way back to the original freebits. For some incidents? Shouldn't literally everything have a chain going back to the original freebits?’
It seems like everything should have a chain of causality back to some thing. Except there has to be at least one uncaused causes, or else it’s just an infinite regression and not meaningful.