Multiverse and Computation

-
The idea that quantum computation is a manifestation of the multiverse is not new. For example, David Deutsch believes that quantum computers can be used to test its existence. Personally I believe that the multiverse is good for scripts of scifi series (e.g., the Fringer) but that's all. But I think that something is also logically wrong with this idea.

Roughly, the multiverse is the idea that there many copies of our universe (or some universe) and each evolves differently, yet in each one of them there is a copy of me but all these copies are different pairwise. Obviously, at each moment many things happen that can have different outcomes so in one universe a spermatozoon fuses with an ovum while in another this never happens but in another universe a different spermatozoon fuses with it. Practically, this means that in the first universe person A will be born, in the second nothing will happen while in the third person B will be born. If all these things are quite possible (!), I wonder how and why a quantum computer would synchronize all these universes? In most of these universes there is no parallel of myself so who is going to participate in the computation that I just started?

In my opinion, hypercomputation is the idea that we do not know enough physics to definitely say that the Turing machine dictates what can and what cannot be computed. On the other hand, the multiverse, in general, and Deutsch's ideas, are about the certitude that
  • the multiverse exists
  • there are different forms of ourselves in parallel universes
  • quantum computation takes place simultaneously in a number of universes 
Some call this science but I call it pseudoscience!

Σχόλια

Δημοσίευση σχολίου

Δημοφιλείς αναρτήσεις από αυτό το ιστολόγιο

A comment on a comment

-
Recently, "someone" posted a review of my book on hypercomputation on the Brains site. The reviewer argues that This area is full of problems, some of which are physico/mathematical and some of which are conceptual. Unfortunately, from a quick sample, Syropolous's book does not avoid common mistakes and confusions—some of which I've been trying to correct in my own work. First of all, I have to admit that back in 2004 I read a paper by this reviewer, but at that time I did not considered it interesting. However, after I read this review of my book, I read The Physical Church-Turing Thesis: Modest or Bold? , the reviewer's latest manuscript, in order to see what he meant by common mistakes and confusions and how he was trying to solve them. In this manuscript, the reviewer puts forth a number of criteria that every machine has to satisfy in order to be ``useful for physical computing.'' These criteria are: Readable Inputs and Outputs Process-Independ
Διαβάστε περισσότερα

Is the Universe a Quantum Computer?

-
 The idea that the Universe (whatever we may mean by this) is a some sort of a computer is a recurring theme. Recently, Nature published an article by David L. Chandler that is entitled Could the Universe be a giant quantum computer? This article is actually a tribute to Edward Fredkin, who passed away last June. The main contribution of Fredkin to the philosophy of science is his "digital philosophy" that advocates the idea that the universe is a computer and everything in our universe is discrete. I would not like to argue against the validity of these ideas (I have done so in Hypercomputation: Computing Beyond the Church-Turing Barrier and in Demystifying Computation: A Hands-On Introduction ) . However, I would like to point out that if the Universe is not a computing device, in general, then it cannot be a quantum computer, in particular. Also, what I did not like with Chandler's article is that it takes it for granted that the Universe is a computer. He did not e
Διαβάστε περισσότερα

Turing Machine Simulation

-
 Hypercomputation is about machines that transcend the computational power of the Turing machine. However, I think it is quite instructive to really understand the power of the Turing machine. Therefore, I think play with a Turing machine simulator is quite instructive. The Turing machine simulator by Martín Ugarte is a very interesting and powerful simulator that I recommend to everyone who wants to play with Turing machines.
Διαβάστε περισσότερα