From: Damien R. Sullivan (phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu)
Date: Sat Feb 23 2002 - 13:00:46 MST
Beyond the 'algorithmically random parameters of physical law' aspect
the paper has some ideas which touch upon topics discussed here.
Scoville's cosmic UTM has an absolute arrow of time, not a statistical
one, due to cosmic evolutionary events being irreversible for
consistency reasons. I'd guess the outlooks for time travel and FTL
both look bleak; a limit on the propagation speed of information is
built into the system.
And for that most extropian of topics, the long term future of life in
the universe, Scoville kills both Dyson and Tipler. He doesn't mention
them, but his universe is discrete -- _has_ to be discrete, to be a
consistent computational system; a continuous universe wouldn't work.
And in a fixed discrete universe Dyson and Tipler's ideas won't work;
there's only so much you can do.
Except that Scoville's cosmos isn't fixed. Energy is conserved in
between symmetry breakings/random incorporation of new random
parameters, but not between them. There's always new tape for the UTM.
Of course, we might not survive the transition...
-xx- Damien X-)
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