EKUMA1981 wrote:All I meant really was what are people's future plans? Where do you think your research will take you and do you think the programmed reality model will be proven in our life times?
And all the other phenomena we've discussed in the past (precognition, Akashic Records, UFOs, etc). Do you believe that we'll shed further light on these mysteries, or might we have to wait for Strong AI to emerge?
Hopefully this gives you more clarity. :)
Ah, thanks for the clarification, EKUMA1981. I'll give you my thoughts and I hope others chime in...
I tend to think that we will be on a learning journey for all of our lives. That there will be no quick and definitive answers. As the old Zen quote goes, "the obstacle is the path." Part of the reason for this is that we each have our own journey; our own learnings. If it were the same for everyone, there might be a clear and simple answer. However, there do seem to be some experiences (answers) that are consistent across time and cultures, which therefore are worthy of our attention. I explore some of these in my book, but learn more about them as time goes on.
My book was about evidence of a discrete world, perhaps one that is programmed. Some other books that I have read come at the mystery of reality from different angles, yet none explain where it all comes from, with the exception of Tom Campbell's "My Big TOE." I haven't finished it yet and so I don't know whether or not it is theory, or based more on experience, or both. But, so far, it is compelling.
So, I continue to synthesize different sources of information. "My Big TOE" is providing a framework for the emergence of consciousness, and an explanation for our place in the uberverse. "A new science" (I haven't read) appears to describe how rules and data can generate reality, an idea which I have explored and written about on my own recently. Tipler's "Physics of Immortality" is a thought-provoking read about our potential conquest of space and evolution into silicon. A lot of these overlap and form decent foundations for my overall point of view, which is still emerging. I hope to finish MBT by the end of the year, and figure out how and if it fits into that point of view - I suspect it will. Meanwhile, I am getting more interested in more fully understanding many of the other ideas around digital reality - from people like Ed Fredkin, Seth Lloyd, Stephen Wolfram, David Deutsch, and others. I want to understand how these theories fit or don't fit into what I would consider my overall TOE - what are their limitations, how might they strengthen my TOE, etc.
I think that all of the mysteries that you describe will become easier to understand through the research that I am talking about. Yet, I don't expect them to be controllable or manageable. Just more explainable.
One area where I will be spending considerable thought-energy is consciousness. I have always held that AI will never move beyond being deterministic and hence, consciousness or sentience will not emerge. Campbell thinks that that is human-ego-centric thinking and that there is nothing more special about our consciousness than that of an AI. I'm still mulling over that one.
Hope that helps. Anyone else?
