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The Rise of the Anti-Universe
FQXI ^ | 6/20/09 | Anil Ananthaswamy

Posted on 06/22/2009 1:46:42 AM PDT by LibWhacker

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1 posted on 06/22/2009 1:46:42 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

2 posted on 06/22/2009 1:57:30 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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To: LibWhacker
When he was a 13 year-old schoolboy in Orissa in eastern India.... the book remained unread for two years.... until he found himself struggling to prepare for a physics test on electrons and their antiparticle counterparts, positrons. At the age of 15??!!?
3 posted on 06/22/2009 2:04:13 AM PDT by ketelone
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To: ketelone

Yep, they start them early over there.


4 posted on 06/22/2009 2:24:39 AM PDT by LibWhacker (America awake!)
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To: ketelone

Yes. In India 15 year olds take such physics courses, at least in some parts of India. (I work with a bunch of programmers from India.)


5 posted on 06/22/2009 2:41:43 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: LibWhacker

I don’t have a problem with the anthropic principle with regard to the multiverse, or with regard to the solar system, for that matter.

We find ourselves on Earth, not on Mars or Venus, because Earth is suitable for life, Mars and Venus not. Does that cause us to suffer the pains of philosophical conundrums? No, because it’s obvious. Life is going to evolve in places where conditions are suitable and not evolve in places where conditions suck.

Same with the multiverse. We find ourselves in a universe that has the “right” combination of physical laws to make for stable stellar chemistries and the right bonding properties of atoms and we don’t find ourself in a universe in which stars are too cold to burn or in which they flame out in mere seconds. What’s so troubling about that? It seems to me no more or less obvious than life evolving on Earth and not on Venus or Mars.

I think some people are troubled by philosophical conundrums just because they’re put off by certain phrases, like “anthropic principle” (a phrase, by the way, that I think is unnecessary to discuss the possibility of a multiverse)... either that or they just want those $50,000 grants.


6 posted on 06/22/2009 2:51:00 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman

Sort of like a person who won the jackpot tracing back each and every step that lead him toward buying that winning ticket, and proclaiming each one of them, divinely designed.


7 posted on 06/22/2009 3:03:35 AM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins (I don't have a license to kill; I have a learner's permit.)
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To: JoeProBono

8 posted on 06/22/2009 3:05:37 AM PDT by visualops (portraits.artlife.us or visit my freeper page)
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To: LibWhacker

9 posted on 06/22/2009 3:15:42 AM PDT by SkyPilot
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To: samtheman
...a phrase, by the way, that I think is unnecessary to discuss the possibility of a multiverse

IMO, that goes to the heart of what troubles so many people. Not the anthropic principle, per se, which, I agree with you, has always seemed so obvious that it's hardly worth stating, but the suspicion that it is being used to advance a multiverse hypothesis that may be impossible to ever prove or disprove in the usual scientific sense.

10 posted on 06/22/2009 3:25:15 AM PDT by LibWhacker (America awake!)
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To: LibWhacker
For some, the multiverse is a godsend because it provides an explanation, of sorts, for why our universe has its peculiar properties.

Or, maybe the "godsend" is that we really are special.

11 posted on 06/22/2009 3:32:39 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: LibWhacker

Gee, the multi-verse theory started popping up almost 50 years ago in DC comics to explain the changes in some of their superheroes.


12 posted on 06/22/2009 3:40:39 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (we also have the duty to avoid prostituting our Catholic identity by appeals to phony dialogue)
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To: visualops

Where did you get that picture? It is great. I love it. Tell me more about it.


13 posted on 06/22/2009 3:44:58 AM PDT by Corinthian Warrior
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

What a great analogy! Is that yours or did you read it somewhere.

Either way, great!


14 posted on 06/22/2009 3:50:09 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: Dr. Sivana

Lol ...nice one. I also like your FR moniker ...Dr Sivana. Better watch out, or Captain Marvel will come whoop your ....


15 posted on 06/22/2009 3:50:50 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: samtheman

It’s mine... :^)


16 posted on 06/22/2009 3:57:36 AM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins (I don't have a license to kill; I have a learner's permit.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

Well, it’s an excellent analogy and you deserve some credit for it somewhere.

The MyTwoCopperCoins anti-Anthropism... or some such title.


17 posted on 06/22/2009 4:12:10 AM PDT by samtheman
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To: samtheman

Ha ha! Thanks!


18 posted on 06/22/2009 4:14:54 AM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins (I don't have a license to kill; I have a learner's permit.)
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To: JoeProBono

According to the chart, there are multiple ‘big bangs’.

That makes it a GANG BANG, no?

Thus ends my contribution to astrophysics.


19 posted on 06/22/2009 4:32:42 AM PDT by 2nd Bn, 11th Mar
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To: 2nd Bn, 11th Mar

20 posted on 06/22/2009 4:36:01 AM PDT by JoeProBono (A closed mouth gathers no feet)
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