The Universe as a System that Generates its Own Rules by Lorraine Ford

Hi Sherman,

The universe is considered to be isolated as a thermodynamic system (according to Barak Shoshany, the Perimeter Institute graduate student referenced in my essay), but also, the universe is isolated in the sense that it is all there is: almost by definition there is nothing outside it.

Some people cannot seem to believe that our universe could originally have had any capabilities at all, preferring to believe that capabilities, e.g. "law-of-nature" rules and the capacity to implement these rules, came from elsewhere, e.g. the 2000-year-old (i.e. seemingly primitive) concept of a Platonic realm. The concept of a Platonic realm, and the concept of an all-powerful God, are very convenient ways of "sweeping under the carpet" any difficult issues; and they indicate a lack of faith in ourselves and the abilities of our universe.

As I explain in my essay, rules are categories, i.e. rules are concepts, i.e. rules are subjective experience. What are the most fundamental concepts that our universe could have come up with is hard to fathom, let alone how many concepts at the lowest level: presumably there might have originally have been only one original concept.

The topics discussed in my essay are: The rules ; A note on the place of computers and robots in the universe ; and Emergence.

What is logic?

Rules are relationships (i.e. categories), and further relationships between categories. Rules do not derive from logic. On the contrary, logic derives from an existing premise or rule: logic is like a property of premises, rules and assumptions. Without a premise, rule or assumption, logic cannot exist.

P.S. Thanks for looking at my essay and commenting on it.

Dear Branko,

Thanks.

Re unity:

I cannot quite see that there is unity between the whole universe-system and its parts unless it has something to do with the number pi (I see that you mention pi in your essay, though I haven't yet read your essay). I don't think that all possible numbers, including all possible types of numbers, necessarily exist. I think that the numbers that exist (including the non-algebraic numbers pi and e) are not Platonic objects that abstractly exist: numbers ultimately derive from relationships/rules where (if represented mathematically) you can cancel the numerator and denominator categories, and end up with a number: a thing without a category. And once you have a set of initial value numbers for system variables, then other numbers logically derive from them due to relationships/rules. But clearly pi requires more: it somehow seems to require diminishing levels of relationship between separate categories or parts of a system. So if numbers are not Platonic objects, then it seems to indicate that there is hidden relationship structure in the universe.

Re is the universe eternal?:

Since I'm contending that the universe had a beginning, it may also have an end. Clearly, what is eternal, i.e. what exists outside time, is the ability to generate rules and awareness of rules. I think that models of the universe clarify the nature of time:

In a computer model of a small part of the universe, algorithms must be set up to run the law-of-nature rules i.e. to move the numeric values of the variables from one value to the next, and in addition, electric power must be applied to the system. But in the actual universe there is no behind-the-scenes electric power running the system, and no behind-the-scenes algorithms controlling the rules. Despite the fact that law-of-nature equations imply change is occurring, there is seemingly nothing forcing change in the system, nothing except the generation of new one-off local rules, which I contend is what is happening with the outcomes of quantum randomness. I'm saying that the generation of new one-off local rules is what is moving the universe-system forward to new numeric values, which has a logical effect on other numeric values in the system. So quantum randomness in effect generates time, leaving time always in the "Now".

Re multiverses and "parallel universes":

My view is that "parallel universes" probably don't exist, and multiverses definitely don't exist. Tegmark's multiverse seemingly would require an overall controlling multiverse-algorithm that generates whole new universes every time a situation arises where there is more than one possible outcome. The existence of such an overall algorithm seems improbable and unnecessary.

Conrad,

Thanks.

I think that is well put: "since now there is a new fact about the system, that has to be respected as a given by future events".

I guess I'm saying that systems rely on rules, and therefore that freedom is the freedom to generate/create new one-off local rules, within the context of existing rules. With the proviso that it is no use generating rules unless you are somewhat aware of your situation, at least within your local part of the system.

Lorraine

Hi James,

Thanks.

Looking forward to having a look at your essay.

Dear Branko,

I have decided to write a few paragraphs which more fully describe my views about numbers and time (see below). These views arise as a consequence of looking at the universe as a system that generates its own rules. I hope to read your essay as soon as I can.

Regards,

Lorraine

Numbers in a universe without a Platonic realm

My essay assumes that there is no Platonic realm to miraculously explain difficult issues like the source of law-of-nature relationships/rules in the universe. The same applies to numbers, though my essay does not consider the issue of numbers.

I contend that numbers in the universe must ultimately derive from relationships/rules where (if represented mathematically) you can cancel the numerator and denominator categories, and end up with a number: a thing without a category. And once you have a set of initial value numbers for system variables, then (to some extent) other system variable numbers logically derive from them due to law-of-nature relationships/rules.

The number pi is a difficult issue. I am contending that numbers always exist as relationships, not as final results. So pi does not exist as 3.14159... but as a relationship between the above-described "things without categories". And I contend that that the pi relationship is more likely something like the relatively simple Leibniz formula for pi, rather than the more complex formulas for pi. But being a non-algebraic number, for the pi relationship to exist in the universe (rather than existing in a Platonic realm) seems to imply many entities (i.e. particles) somehow being party to the relationship. I.e. pi seems to imply a relationship that somehow holds the parts of the universe together.

Physics can be seen as the discovery of actual relationships that exist in the universe; but mathematics can be seen as the discovery of the properties and nature of all possible types of relationships that can be represented symbolically, where the vast majority of these potential relationships don't actually exist in the universe. But the existence of numbers in the universe, rather than in a Platonic realm, seems to imply that there is hidden relationship structure in the universe that can only be inferred, because it can't be directly measured because there is no category to measure.

It seems relatively easy to imagine that the symbols + - x and ÷ could represent actual relationships that exist between actual categories in the universe, forming law-of-nature rules and initial-value numbers. But what these relationship symbols represent about the universe is quite different to what they represent to us because we have to put time and energy into calculating the "solutions" to mathematical equations, but in the universe there is no behind-the scenes calculations involving time and energy in order to arrive at the correct numerical values for outcomes. So what the multiplication symbol represents to us, and what it might represent to the universe, are 2 different things. So the square root relationship is not necessarily a difficult issue if you consider that multiplication of 2 identical categories giving a new category might be a reversible relationship from the point of view of the universe, and if you consider that numbers only exist as relationships, not as final results. So i, the square root of minus one, is not necessarily a difficult issue, if you want to assert that there is no Platonic realm. But the exponential relationship is more difficult to see.

I'm asserting that there is more to our universe than might be expected, and that belief in a Platonic realm underestimates the capabilities of our universe.

Time in a universe that generates its own rules

Models of the universe can clarify the nature of time in a universe that generates its own rules:

In a computer model of a small part of the universe, algorithms must be set up to run the law-of-nature rules i.e. to move the numeric values of the variables from one value to the next, and in addition, electric power must be applied to the system. But in the actual universe there is no behind-the-scenes electric power running the system, and no behind-the-scenes algorithms controlling the numeric values of the variables contained in the rules. Despite the fact that law-of-nature equations imply change is occurring, in the actual universe there is seemingly nothing forcing change in the system, nothing except the generation of new one-off local rules, which I contend is the way to describe what has happened with the outcomes of quantum randomness. I'm saying that the generation of new one-off local rules, re-initialising the values of one or more local variables, is what is moving the universe-system forward because the new numeric value(s) have a logical effect on other numeric values in the system. Further, I'm saying that the generation of new one-off local rules in effect generates time, leaving time always in the "Now".

Dear Richard,

Thanks for reading and commenting on my essay.

My view is that (what we symbolically represent as) initial value numbers, initial value rules, and law-of-nature rules are generated by the universe or elements of the universe (from particles to living things), because no Platonic realm exists to explain the source of numbers and rules. My view is that belief in a Platonic realm underestimates the capabilities of our universe, and therefore that belief in a Platonic realm skews our views about our universe.

The logical consequence of these numbers and rules might well be depicted by your impressive Figure 6 (if what you depict is correct). But my essay is mainly about where the rules come from: it presents the view that it is a logical position to consider that the universe itself, and elements of the universe, that have literally generated/created these rules.

Lorraine