Hmmmh, I think I understand a bit more of what you say. But I do not know enough about probability to have a very clear opinion for now. However, I find it to be an intriguing topic
And that tiny bit of encouragement is all I need to rant off nerd speak for a half hour. Enjoy, ignore, etc etc!
How to view the world as probability only!First off, a disclaimer: I don't necessarily believe this is all the way things are, nor do I believe the universe works like this (though I do believe it's possible). It's only of the theories I entertain because using math to get a different view entertains me. But I'm not like a religious fundamentaist with a protracter or something. I also left out all the "in my opinion" and other courtesies because it gets tedious to type them over and over. I assure you I'm not trying to preach or say that this is absolutely true.
Definitions!
Equation: I'll be using this word, but it doesn't necessarily mean something as simple as x + y = z. Suffice to say I'm not even sure the math exists yet to quantify the types of equations I'm talking about. Think of equation as just a way of explaining and predicting results, don't dwell on what the math might look like.
Probability: The chance something can happen.
Probability function: An equation that calculates the chances that various things can happen. Given a certain input, you end up with "what happens".
Collapse: When an equation is said to "collapse", that means it settles on a particular solution. Like you have x+3 = y...once you know x is 2, the equation collapses to a point, where y is 5.
Okay. So first off, why probability? Well, the one thing they've determined is that if you take a particle, you cannot predict where it will go or what it will do. What you can do is construct a probability function that tells you the chances of where it's going, and the most likely places it will go.
So the building blocks of the universe, at least for the time being, seem to be "random". Or at least only quantifiable by these probability functions instead of classical physics equations (you hit particle, it heads off in a certain direction with a certain velocity).
So picture you're looking at a particle. You want to know what it will do. You can make a function for that particle and at least be reasonably sure.
Zoom out. Look at an atom instead of a particle (and this is where everything gets shaky and not-so-believeable). Since it's composed of these things that only function by probability, it makes sense that the atom "should" function this way as well.
Zoom out. You have a protein. Same deal, it's still composed of components that deny classical physics.
Zoom waaaaaay out. All matter you see is composed of these little pieces, that we can't fully predict what they're going to do. You could (if given like a bajillion supercomputers and a lot of time) compose probability functions for matter. Yes, the probability functions would have an infinite number of possibilities, but thats no big deal for math, you can just have an infinite number of solutions and you're straight.
Now. Take a cognitive step back, and realize that you are not forming equations to explain things, you are viewing the fabric of the universe. The equations are already there. They are everything. Nothing else matters, or is outside of them. They explain and encompass anything that can and will happen.
This leads to the thinking of consciousness as just a probability interpreter. Watching these probability functions collapsing all around you. You see the wind blowing through the trees, you're seeing all the vast equations governing the probability of each individual particle to go this way or that, and watching them resolve themselves as they pick a track.
I like this explanation because it makes the universe an unpredicatable place (or very predictable I suppose you could argue, if you knew all the starting conditions for what you were trying to figure out...this led one particularly crazy scientist guy to say that whoever know the position and initial velocity of every particle at the big bang would be able to predict the entire outcome of the universe...i.e. God). There are rules (which are easily incorporated into a probability function), but only to a point. Here there be dragons and what not.
So, have the probabilities already been resolved? The starting factors leading to an inevitable conclusion (fate)? Or are we constantly changing the rules just by the act of being here. More than a probability interpreter, we're active. We manipulate the equations. We're probabilty creators. I just demonstrated this by reaching over and eating a post it on my desk. Did all the quantum probabilities set in motion since the beginning of the universe cause me to do that, or did I collapse the wave myself?
Etc. Etc, things get shaky at this point, and you can go off in plenty of directions. Ptew, by the way.
Oh, all this is also completely, utterly, and totally impractical. But fun!
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Topic: Quantum Relativity (Read 8133 times)