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Am I unique?

George S

George S

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2007
Messages
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Location
Venice, FL
Basic Beliefs
antitheist anarchist
There is a theory called String Theory. It is speculative mathematics. Some of the versions of ST call for a finite number (about 10500) of possible configurations of "universes."

If that is correct and reality whole (the number of existing "universes") is infinite a strange conclusion arises. You have a duplicate. You have an infinite number of duplicates. Every possible future for those duplicates exists somewhere. If it is possible at all it must happen to you somewhere for every "it." An infinity will be among the lucky ones to live as long as possible given the current starting point.

I cheer for those lucky ones of me who won the lottery last week. Very few of me did.
 
I don't understand. In the beginning you say a finite number of possible configurations of universes exist, and then later you say they're infinite.

Needless to say, I don't know if I am able to buy the premise that I have a duplicate somewhere based on an abstract physics theory.
 
rousseau said:
I don't understand. In the beginning you say a finite number of possible configurations of universes exist, and then later you say they're infinite.

Needless to say, I don't know if I am able to buy the premise that I have a duplicate somewhere based on an abstract physics theory.
Click to expand...

If there are, say, N configurations then the N+1st must duplicate some prior one. The N+2nd must either match that one or another. If universes are one of N configurations randomly from among N, eventually a configuration identical to ours must be found. An infinite universe is large enough.
 
George S said:
If there are, say, N configurations then the N+1st must duplicate some prior one. The N+2nd must either match that one or another. If universes are one of N configurations randomly from among N, eventually a configuration identical to ours must be found. An infinite universe is large enough.
Click to expand...

Ok, I understand now. Configurations are finite, number of universes are infinite.

I need to take some physics courses because it all sounds like woo to me right now.
 
George S said:
You have a duplicate. You have an infinite number of duplicates. Every possible future for those duplicates exists somewhere. If it is possible at all it must happen to you somewhere for every "it."
Click to expand...
There's a scifi story where someone dives into the multiverses to find the reality where he's sleeping with a Playmate, where he's a millionaire, where he's a billionaire, and where he's possessed of superpowers.

Of course, to GET to those that must exist, he has to slog through a lot of far more likely alternates.
The one where everything's the same except for his 11.5% mortgage is 11.4%.
The one where everything's the same except that that one poem he wrote in 4th grade was published by that magazine. Woo.
The one where everything's the same except that time he fell down the stairs and bit through his lip, it did NOT leave a scar...
...an infinite number of miniscule differences sorted through, to find himself JUST about to actually touch the Playmate's boob....when he's bumped back to his reality by another of infinite him finally finding the Playmate reality.
His suicide note, 'Fuck all me!' caused a lot of confusion in his immediate family. But the rest of us understood it...
 
rousseau said:
Needless to say, I don't know if I am able to buy the premise that I have a duplicate somewhere based on an abstract physics theory.
Click to expand...

Take heart - most of your duplicates have the same problem. :D
 
George S said:
There is a theory called String Theory. It is speculative mathematics. Some of the versions of ST call for a finite number (about 10500) of possible configurations of "universes."

If that is correct and reality whole (the number of existing "universes") is infinite a strange conclusion arises. You have a duplicate. You have an infinite number of duplicates. Every possible future for those duplicates exists somewhere. If it is possible at all it must happen to you somewhere for every "it." An infinity will be among the lucky ones to live as long as possible given the current starting point.

I cheer for those lucky ones of me who won the lottery last week. Very few of me did.
Click to expand...

In order for me to have a duplicate, the other "me" in the other universe would have to have all of the same ancestors going all the way back to the first protohumans to arise in east Africa. The odds of this happening are astronomically small in an astronomically large number of universes, many of which have completely different rules governing matter, energy, spacetime, etc. Many of those universes wouldn't even have matter in them except maybe for a fraction of a second.

So first we would need to calculate the odds that all of the same individual humans would chose the same mates under the same conditions, then calculate the number of universes capable of producing and sustaining humans, what fraction of those universes actually would produce humans (there are a lot of random events governing evolution as we know it [namely certain mass extinction events]) at all, and use that to compare to the astronomically slim odds of you having all the same ancestors.
 
Underseer said:
In order for me to have a duplicate, the other "me" in the other universe would have to have all of the same ancestors going all the way back to the first protohumans to arise in east Africa. The odds of this happening are astronomically small in an astronomically large number of universes, many of which have completely different rules governing matter, energy, spacetime, etc. Many of those universes wouldn't even have matter in them except maybe for a fraction of a second.

So first we would need to calculate the odds that all of the same individual humans would chose the same mates under the same conditions, then calculate the number of universes capable of producing and sustaining humans, what fraction of those universes actually would produce humans (there are a lot of random events governing evolution as we know it [namely certain mass extinction events]) at all, and use that to compare to the astronomically slim odds of you having all the same ancestors.
Click to expand...
Odds don't matter when you have an infinite time and space for the event to occur.
 
I have four guys exactly like me as neighbours, so I'm not even unique on my block.

I blame the cloning company at the end of the street for that.
 
Suppose you could hire 5 wombs to bring your clones to term (at that company down the street). Would you?
 
George S said:
Suppose you could hire 5 wombs to bring your clones to term (at that company down the street). Would you?
Click to expand...

Quintuplets are a lot of work, but assuming that I had the resources, I wouldn't mind that many kids.
 
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Some reference to any of (the more imporant of) these ST:s that "calls for a finite number of configurations"?
 
Juma said:
Some reference to any of (the more imporant of) these ST:s that "calls for a finite number of configurations"?
Click to expand...

From Wiki: "String theory landscape" :

In string theory the number of false vacua is commonly quoted as 10^500.[1] The large number of possibilities arises from different choices of Calabi–Yau manifolds and different values of generalized magnetic fluxes over different homology cycles.
Click to expand...

See also Wiki: "Calibi-Yau manifold."
 
George S said:
From Wiki: "String theory landscape" :

See also Wiki: "Calibi-Yau manifold."
Click to expand...
But I find no support for the thought that universas with the same configuration must be identical. I interpret "same configuration" as same physical laws.
 
Nope, you are just one of us billions of humans that are just minor variations on a theme.

We all eat,shit, and fart.
 
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