anoddmind Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Recently, I was reminded of an article I read in a science magazine almost a year ago. It was an article on a mathematical/physics theory that had a bit of philosophy tied into it, "Boltzmann Brains." It is not at all impossible for an item (for popularity's sake, let's say a hookah) to appear and dissapear in the middle of empty space. The exact same device that you are smoking from right now...*poof* an exact duplicate of it, than in a matter of a few seconds... It's gone. now with this knowledge acquired by some science egghead that lived over 100 years ago came the birth of an idea now called a Boltzmann Brain. A Self aware thing that, potentially could learn and know more in one of it's short lived existences than we could hope to learn in over thousands of years. This brain could be anything from, just a brain, a silicon based super computer, or even a humanoid life form complete with space suite and oxygen tank. (no kidding, the article said this) Now, it seems to me that this on it's own, even if published as a piece of fiction, would have been laughed at. Hold on, it gets better. So, recently another group of our best thinkers got a hold of Boltzmann's works and added a little philosophy to it. "Assumption is crucial in everything that we do, if we cannot assume that our observations are that of the common observer, than we could never conclude anything." So... as space expands, and the potential of a Boltzmann Brain appearing becomes greater (the likely hood of one having appeared in man's existence this far is next to none,) the greater the chances of them outnumbering us are, and the more likely it is that our observations are no longer the common observation. Now we have a handful of the smartest people on the planet all worked up over this, and trying to figure out how to ever prevent a Boltzmann brain from ever appearing. is it just me, or are some of our smartest scientist coming across as being a little dumb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonthert Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Science is just a religion, my son. You can use it objectively or just be an asshole. I would like to quote the classic Star Trek at this point "Brain and brain! What is brain !?"-From the episode "Spock's Brain" where native women were attached to a machine to make them learn and then, after the learning effect wore off, they became dumb as posts again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anoddmind Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 I fail to see the spiritual implications of preventing Boltzmann Brains from coming to exist, besides if no one ever criticizes our researchers/scientists/philosophers, then many people would just believe in anything that they say. hmm, okay maybe I see the spiritual implications now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathrynx Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9IrDH74CTMOne of the greatest episodes ever, and if you watch the series with the brain sagas in them, I think that sums up what these scientists are doing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erufiku Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Related read: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/science/...;pagewanted=allIt's interesting. Way beyond me, but still interesting how the concept of the Boltzmann brain suddenly introduces concepts such as reincarnation into scientific discourse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikemyusername Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 and whats the problem if a brain pops into existence in another universe and dies quickly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColibriDon Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Wait...so...we're looking into the possibility of a brain just appearing that just knows things...? lolwut? Did I just stumble into the episode of Futurama where Fry and the Niblonians are trying to stop the giant brains from...learning? Maybe I just don't understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikemyusername Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 QUOTE (ColibriDon @ Mar 18 2009, 11:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Did I just stumble into the episode of Futurama where Fry and the Niblonians are trying to stop the giant brains from...learning? fuckin A man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K1024 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 man i was just about to post about that episode of futurama...dude giant brains that can kill us all is scary shit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bye bye now have fun Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 i was watching some show on quantum physics and they were talking about that you could throw a ball threw a solid wall or that the ball would quantum tunnel is like a trillion trillion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeytheclown Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that matter is mostly empty space, stop trying to complicate thisSmokeythe' My brain hurts! " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erufiku Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Well... I still don't get what's the problem. Yes, human life is pretty much infinitely improbable but if free floating brains are more probable then why not randomly appearing exotic sports cars? Seems even more probable since they're less complicated and non-organic. So next time they land a probe on some planet should we be keeping out eyes peeled for a Porsche? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikemyusername Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 brains....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Nagus Zek Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 IMO the more you resist something, the more you become itso perhaps in our scientists...strange... pursuit of trying to preventing a Boltzmann Brains, they will accidentally help one occur sooner.but, WTF is wrong with them?!First why would you freaking want to prevent a Boltzmann Brains, wouldn't it be a great advancement in humanity. Potentially even a new race if the person had a family.Second why the hell are they actually spending resources trying to prevent a ridiculous theory???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charley Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 QUOTE (anoddmind @ Mar 17 2009, 06:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Recently, I was reminded of an article I read in a science magazine almost a year ago. It was an article on a mathematical/physics theory that had a bit of philosophy tied into it, "Boltzmann Brains." It is not at all impossible for an item (for popularity's sake, let's say a hookah) to appear and dissapear in the middle of empty space. The exact same device that you are smoking from right now...*poof* an exact duplicate of it, than in a matter of a few seconds... It's gone. now with this knowledge acquired by some science egghead that lived over 100 years ago came the birth of an idea now called a Boltzmann Brain. A Self aware thing that, potentially could learn and know more in one of it's short lived existences than we could hope to learn in over thousands of years. This brain could be anything from, just a brain, a silicon based super computer, or even a humanoid life form complete with space suite and oxygen tank. (no kidding, the article said this) Now, it seems to me that this on it's own, even if published as a piece of fiction, would have been laughed at. Hold on, it gets better. So, recently another group of our best thinkers got a hold of Boltzmann's works and added a little philosophy to it. "Assumption is crucial in everything that we do, if we cannot assume that our observations are that of the common observer, than we could never conclude anything." So... as space expands, and the potential of a Boltzmann Brain appearing becomes greater (the likely hood of one having appeared in man's existence this far is next to none,) the greater the chances of them outnumbering us are, and the more likely it is that our observations are no longer the common observation. Now we have a handful of the smartest people on the planet all worked up over this, and trying to figure out how to ever prevent a Boltzmann brain from ever appearing. is it just me, or are some of our smartest scientist coming across as being a little dumb?this theory ties into the theory that time and space only exists for the observer. (Ie you or anyone else is not looking at your hookah then it can be anywhere in time and space till you turn to look at it again. you leave your room and your room vanishes till you go back inside it.) now for the brain it is theorized that a sentient entity can poof into existence through random fluctuations of a chaos state. (ie time and space only existing for an observer.) however this theory actualy disproves itself with the help of religion (I am an athiest and this theory still disproves itself.) given enough time the chaotic state would spawn an onipatant entity ( what you would call a god) but this would destroy the chaos state that created it becuase the entity would be an observer of all time and space there by canceling its own creation.and an interesting interpitation of this theory is that there is only one sentiant being in all of exsitance a single mind and that the rest of us are simply beings without substance that exsist soly in that mind our thoughts and bodys nothing but a delusion of that single mind. (of course this means the brain has to be one sick mofo to create all the crime and suffering in our world)In other words my friends this theory is bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKammenzind Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 This thread angers me every day. I always get excited and think it's about a zombie apocalypse or something... but I'm always horribly disappointed and continue to fall for it. Damn you!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkParade Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 personally to me anything that we can imagine can become a reality even if it is only to one person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charley Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 then maybe your the single mind get some therapy so you can fix our delusional world. or rent a zombie flick for AKammenzind. and let him have a little head shot fun with the undead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted April 24, 2009 Share Posted April 24, 2009 QUOTE (Charley @ Apr 24 2009, 09:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (anoddmind @ Mar 17 2009, 06:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Recently, I was reminded of an article I read in a science magazine almost a year ago. It was an article on a mathematical/physics theory that had a bit of philosophy tied into it, "Boltzmann Brains." It is not at all impossible for an item (for popularity's sake, let's say a hookah) to appear and dissapear in the middle of empty space. The exact same device that you are smoking from right now...*poof* an exact duplicate of it, than in a matter of a few seconds... It's gone. now with this knowledge acquired by some science egghead that lived over 100 years ago came the birth of an idea now called a Boltzmann Brain. A Self aware thing that, potentially could learn and know more in one of it's short lived existences than we could hope to learn in over thousands of years. This brain could be anything from, just a brain, a silicon based super computer, or even a humanoid life form complete with space suite and oxygen tank. (no kidding, the article said this) Now, it seems to me that this on it's own, even if published as a piece of fiction, would have been laughed at. Hold on, it gets better. So, recently another group of our best thinkers got a hold of Boltzmann's works and added a little philosophy to it. "Assumption is crucial in everything that we do, if we cannot assume that our observations are that of the common observer, than we could never conclude anything." So... as space expands, and the potential of a Boltzmann Brain appearing becomes greater (the likely hood of one having appeared in man's existence this far is next to none,) the greater the chances of them outnumbering us are, and the more likely it is that our observations are no longer the common observation. Now we have a handful of the smartest people on the planet all worked up over this, and trying to figure out how to ever prevent a Boltzmann brain from ever appearing. is it just me, or are some of our smartest scientist coming across as being a little dumb?this theory ties into the theory that time and space only exists for the observer. (Ie you or anyone else is not looking at your hookah then it can be anywhere in time and space till you turn to look at it again. you leave your room and your room vanishes till you go back inside it.) now for the brain it is theorized that a sentient entity can poof into existence through random fluctuations of a chaos state. (ie time and space only existing for an observer.) however this theory actualy disproves itself with the help of religion (I am an athiest and this theory still disproves itself.) given enough time the chaotic state would spawn an onipatant entity ( what you would call a god) but this would destroy the chaos state that created it becuase the entity would be an observer of all time and space there by canceling its own creation.and an interesting interpitation of this theory is that there is only one sentiant being in all of exsitance a single mind and that the rest of us are simply beings without substance that exsist soly in that mind our thoughts and bodys nothing but a delusion of that single mind. (of course this means the brain has to be one sick mofo to create all the crime and suffering in our world)In other words my friends this theory is bullshit.your answer to this theory is "god would exist"? where does the idea that given enough time an omnipresent god like figure would appear even develop from? I get the brain could appear, but appearing doesn't necessarily mean to me that it sees and knows all; plus who is to say that there will only be 1 brain.i'm not attacking you, i just want to further understand this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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