Re: Permutation City

From: Geoff Smith (geoffs@interchange.ubc.ca)
Date: Wed Apr 19 2000 - 04:30:39 MDT


Paul Hughes wrote:
>
> I just got around to reading this book and loved it!
>
> For those who've read it what do you think of Egan' 'Dust
> Theory' espoused in the book?

I would love for someone to prove/disprove this theory. (at the moment,
I'm kind of hoping for a disproof)

I can do neither, but I can offer a very simple probablistic disproof:

If you take all possible "dust worlds", there will be very few that will
be logically consistent. Most will just be a random sequence of events,
with no physical laws, consistent cause-and-effect, or anything like
that. *Yet*, from my point of view everything appears very consistent.
The chance of my being in a consistent world is very low, and yet I am.
So, the "Dust Theory" is unlikely -- but still possible.

And that's the best I can come up with. Anyone else care to take a
stab?

Geoff.



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