Thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I look forward to reading your essay. -Darrell

5 days later

Dear Darrell,

Nice essay and great way to make the subject interesting and engaging with aliens! I particularly like that you consider dimensions real in their own right. I think in that case you'd consider my essay possibly worth reading and relevant to yours.

I think you deserve to have a higher mark, so I hope my rating has helped.

Best wishes,

Antony

    Dear Darrell -

    You cleverly point out all the pitfalls and paradoxes of trying to answer foundational questions; of course, evolution itself impels us to carry on ...

    My view is that we need to be able to think in physical (less-abstract) terms about these issues, and all our assumptions need to be revisited as well.

    The way you point out the malleability of our space-time coordinates is very interesting. I myself describe a cosmic paradigm of correlated energy vortices that include an evolving observer who occupies a 'Composite Zone' (space-time) within which his measurements are most viable. I see a lot of this in your treatment of space, time, gravity, and light.

    Another contestant wrote that a thought is a moment that incorporates past, present, and future; I show that since mind, organism, and cosmos are three energy vortices producing their own types of particles - past, present, and future are simply different locations in a system of correlated vortices. The past keeps coming back - while the future is never entirely unexpected. Strange as all this may sound - is it not fundamental to evolution?

    The narrow definition of Bit and It in Wheeler's concept needs to be expanded, a view I think is implicit in what you write - and ultimately Bit and It must be described as correlated.

    As for the questionable use of mathematics in discovering the cosmos - I ask: is not the historical expansion of mathematics into the field of reality a phenomenon that also precisely describes the evolution of the human mind within that field? In other words, we can't help it - we've got to figure it all out: we've conquered the planet, and now we have to conquer the cosmos .... but we must struggle to bring 'real' concepts back into physics - and as I say, this involves reconsidering all our assumptions.

    In conclusion, I agree with you that science moves much more slowly than common wisdom - I believe all discoveries were previously made (and a long time before) by artists, writers, and people living off the land.

    Someone told me that my own work is probably centuries ahead of its time ... strangely, I don't think he meant it as a compliment.

    It was illuminating to read your essay - I have rated it, of course - and I look forward to your views on my paper.

    All the best in the contest,

    John

    John, You've done some thinking in creating this response to my paper. I am not sure evolution is a be-all or end-all notion. Philosophical critiques of progress are abundant. How evolution relates to the second law of thermodynamics needs to be more deeply appreciated. As for conquering the earth, I am not sure the last battle has been waged. The earth may just eliminate us yet.

    I will read and rate your paper. I am expecting it to be an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, based on your comments here.

      Hello Darrell,

      Great fun to read! And not too many equations, which makes it for easy to follow.

      But I dont think binary information, will be a spurious basis for understanding existence. Suppose the binary information is existence/non-existence itself?

      Again I agree that dimensions must be taken as real in their own right. This much I discuss in my essay. I don't think we have any other areas of disagreement. A good rating from me.

      Best regards,

      Akinbo

      Thank you for your comments and brief critique. I will read and rate your essay before the deadline. -Darrell

      Dear Darrell,

      I have down loaded your essay and soon post my comments on it. Meanwhile, please, go through my essay and post your comments.

      Regards and good luck in the contest,

      Sreenath BN.

      http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1827

      Hello Darrell,

      I now there are many pages to visit before we can finally rest - but i do look forward to hearing from you soon!

      John

      Hello Darrell,

      Please visit my forum and give your opinion on my essay and my ideas.

      Best regards,

      Vladimir

      Dear Darrell,

      An 'alien commentator" to express a third party observation, now that is a great approach! I wholeheartedly agree that it is about time we climb out of this rut we find ourselves in and consider new perspectives. Although you have a different approach to the essay topic than I do, I found your analogies inspiring and most worthy of merit.

      I wish you well in the competition.

      Regards,

      Manuel

        Dear Darrell,

        You trying to proof what, and to whom? We are living in some unprecedented period where the people (the majority of them) just don't want to use such ,,unnecessary trifle,, that is called ,,logic,,. And we need something beauty/mystery/unsolvable, around of which we can talk long-empty as much as we like it! That will nice, secure and happy for everybody! My dear! Your sarcasm just killing! That is way I am hurry to rate your work on ,,high,, core. Please just check my approach on this issue, Es text

        I understand your secret - you are working with own brain!

        Happy to meet you.

        Best wishes,

        George

        4 days later

        Darrell,

        Good for Tubal. You capture the perspective of scientists -- "each suspects the other is missing an important insight" and they "stovepipe" -- "correct from within their own discipline."

        Liked your play on the word "bit" at the end: "Has human metaphysics gone amok? Or has human mathematics gone amok? You will figure it out in a bit."

        I tend to criticize much of the same concepts, including "consciousness" determining reality and being present at the BB and the tendency to confuse behavioral characteristics of micro and macro objects in "It's Great to be the King."

        I would like your views on it.

        Thanks for an interesting read.

        Jim

        Dear Darrell,

        You have rightly grasped that the dichotomy between classical physics (CP) and the quantum physics (QP) is due to the misconceptions we have about 'Natural numbers' (NN). In CP we think that NN are continuous, where as in QP we think that NN are discrete ones. It is this differentiation in NN which is responsible for the above dichotomy. So if we can know how these two forms of NN arise from our conception of them helps in solving the current problem in physics. Then we can know why space and time are continuous at the classical level and discrete at the quantum level. The figures you have given help one in understanding your line of thinking. Over all, a nicely presented essay with lucid references to Wheeler and centered on his thought. Thanks for writing an interesting article based on an unique idea of NN. For this I have rated this essay with maximum score.

        Please go through my essay also (http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1827) and express your comments on it in my thread before the dead line of 7th Aug.

        Best wishes,

        Sreenath

        Dear

        "You actually live in your most recent past to change your next potential future You live in your most recent future to decide your next past"

        This is an essential perception of Tubal which could have been taken from my contribution to this contest.

        Seeking the foundational issues however I think is not an insanity it is a natural sense of humanity that begins already when you are a child, and cannot stop to pose the question "WHY" at any answer that is given to you.

        The duality of Tubal and Darrell is a property of humanity that shows that we are further on the path we are walking on than we think, each recent past as you put it is parallel with my "eternal NOW" where every past and future are AVAILABLE , placing yourself in another "universe" is opening different doors to that different available universes. Reading science fiction authors proves our ability to perceive other realities, like the one of Tubal.

        I liked very much your essay, visited your website, agreed with Sreenath about the rating you/Tubal deserves (and did the same) and hope that you or even Tubal can spare some non-causal time to read/comment and also rate [link:fqxi.org/community/forum/topic:1810] my essay : "THE QUEST FOR THE PRIMAL SEQUENCE"[:link]

        best regards

        Wilhelmus

          Dear Darrel,

          You are absolutely true. The imagination has major role than maths in any theoretical advancements. Mere mathematical juggling cannot carry us nowhere. VERY GOOD!

          I can invite you too in my essay (http://fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1855).

          I hope you would have good prospect in the contest.

          Regards

          Dipak

          Dear Tubal,

          Only at this late stage have I discovered the truth about my essay from your quite brilliant master version! It was certainly implanted in my mind by a Bundal. It's a relief to finally know where all the notions came from that I thought were 'original'.

          But do tell me How many Bundels don't believe in us? Are there skeptics and troglodytes there too, or it is just us?

          My Bundlemaster certainly agreed "Mathematics May Be a Spurious Basis for Understanding Existence.", and current maths can't yet even describe the evolution of nature. I have written of a cyclic cosmology (see 2011 essay) and certainly agree; "Both space and time need to be discrete... Space and time have an ending and they have a beginning. It is a continuous process."

          But time is short and I must entice you e read my essay before the end of the world as we've known it (for the last two months). It has been called things like; 'groundbreaking,' 'wonderful' and 'fantastic' in my blog (just don't read the Abstract - I did that myself!) And if you hurry I hope you'll have time to (top!?) rate it for my mentor. (If you think it's rubbish please leave it till Thursday!!

          And I think it's the entirety of 'human comprehension' which has gone amok! Do they have any new paradigms where you are. We seem to have entirely run out here. We may stay in this rut till we're recycled again.

          Very best regards. ...Ohh!- a shortcut; The Intelligent Bit.

          Peter