If I read this right, it's saying we live in a universe with either a short program, or a fast program (program here means theory). From an algorithmic information theory standpoint, this seems to suggest whatever fundamental theory of physics we find, it'll be short. I'm wondering if this points more to a cellular automata style theory being at the root of reality. Maybe Wolfram was right?
Why are we not living in a universe with all possible theories (short and long), and there is only one of these theories which we actually see? Of course, enumerating all possible theories might be actually a simple program ...
I assume it's a simple "cellular automata style theory", a coroutine like recursive function that once we discover, we will notice is obvious at every scale we look at. Wolfram is definitely heading in the right direction. I remember a movie called Digital Physics having a similar plot.
No program, just the set of a strings (or equivalently all integer). Consciousness interpreters these in the order it chooses, creating time and all the rest.
No, I'm speaking in terms of algorithm information theory and logical depth. A DNA program can be short, with simple rules at the base layer, but the complexity is high at the level of the output of that DNA.
Yeah, the aliens who are simulating us could be using a 64 bit prng at the quantum level and we would still never know the difference, because our measurement technology isn't there. The universe would be deterministic but it's unlikely that we'd ever be able to prove it, unless they left breadcrumbs intentionally.
ELI5 is: If the universe is computable, might we be in the simplest computable universe or the fastest computable universe? Can computer science and math help us figure out the reasons for the physics that run our world?
Here is what comes out: "The history of our universe is a sequence of random events. Each event is the result of a very small probability, and the events are independent of each other. The probability that any particular event will happen is very small. So the probability that any particular event will happen twice is even smaller. So the probability that any particular event will happen twice in a row is even smaller. So the probability that any particular event will happen three times in a row is even smaller. And so on."
"The probability that any particular event will happen is very small. So the probability that any particular event will happen twice is even smaller. So the probability that any particular event will happen twice in a row is even smaller. So the probability that any particular event will happen three times in a row is even smaller."
“Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one.
But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.”
Another attempt to gpt-3 filtering the intro section of the paper: This book is about how we can guess what will happen in the future. The first chapter is about how we can guess the next number in a sequence. The second chapter is about how we can guess the next word in a sentence. The third chapter is about how we can guess the next word in a book. The fourth chapter is about how we can guess the next word in all the books ever written. The fifth chapter is about how we can guess the next word in all the books ever written
This is also gpt-3 output based on the abstract as if explaining to an eight grader:
The theory of everything (TOE) is a mathematical formula that can predict everything that will happen in the future. It is a theory of everything, so it can predict what will happen to the universe, and to us. We assume that the TOE is simple enough for us to understand, but we don't know for sure.
