20170816

NATURE OF TIME

Concept of “now” being relative implies unchanging 4D “Block Universe” (so future is predictable) and it comes from Relativity.
But QM says the opposite (future is unpredictable (only there is a certain probability for any future event)).

As we look at the Universe/reality starting at microscale (particle size) and go to macroscale, future events become more and more certain.
For example, think of how certain things you plan to do tomorrow: Can’t we say they are not perfectly certain but close?
But also think of how certain motion of Earth in its orbit tomorrow. Isn’t it much more certain (but still not perfectly certain)?

Future being unpredictable in microscale and later becoming more and more predictable at higher and higher scales also happens in Cellular Automata (which used for fluid simulation).

I think one clear implication of future becoming more and more predictable at higher and higher scales is that, time must be an emergent property.
Which in turn implies spacetime must be an emergent property.
Which in turn implies Relativity must be an emergent property.

I think I had read somewhere that equations of GR is similar to equations of some kind of (non-viscous?) fluid.
If so it would make sense considering Cellular Automata used for fluid simulation shows similar behavior to GR.

I just came across a part of an article from Scientific American September 2015 that says something very similar to what I had said about nature of time:

“Whenever people talk about a dichotomy, though, they usually aim to expose it as false. Indeed, many philosophers think it is meaningless to say whether the universe is deterministic or indeterministic. It can be either, depending on how big or complex your object of study is: particles, atoms, molecules, cells, organisms, minds, communities. “The distinction between determinism and indeterminism is a level-specific distinction,” says Christian List, a philosopher at the London School of Economics and Political Science. “If you have determinism at one particular level, it is fully compatible with indeterminism, both at higher levels and at lower levels.” The atoms in our brain can behave in a completely deterministic way while still giving us freedom of action because atoms and agency operate on different levels. Likewise, Einstein sought a deterministic subquantum level without denying that the quantum level was probabilistic.”

(All my comments above also published here:
http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2017/08/13/comments-of-the-week-172-from-sodium-and-water-to-the-most-dangerous-comet-of-all/)

If the future (time) becomes more and more certain as we go from microscale to macroscale, here is a thought experiment for determining how exactly that happens:
Imagine in a vacuum chamber we dropped a single neutral Carbon atom from a certain height so many times and measured/determined how close it will hit the center of the target (circular) area with how much probability. And later we repeated the experiment with C60 molecules. And later we repeated the experiment with solid balls of 60 C60 molecules. And later we repeated the experiment with solid balls of 3600 C60 molecules. ...
I think what would happen is bigger and bigger solid balls would hit closer and closer to the center with higher and higher probabilities. And general graph (an exponential curve?) of the results would tell us how exactly future (time) becomes more and more certain.

A more advanced version of the thought experiment could be this:
Imagine we started the experiment with micro balls and with a very small drop height. And as the radius of the solid balls gets bigger and bigger, we increased the drop distance with the same size increase ratio as radius.

20170807

FUTURE OF PHYSICS

If we look at history of physics, is there a clear trend to allow us to guess its future?

What are the major milestones in physics history?
I think it could be said:
1) Ancient Greece (level) Physics
2) Galileo (level) Physics
3) Newton (level) Physics
4) Einstein (level) Physics
5) TOE (level) Physics(?)

I think there is indeed a clear trend if you think about it.
Each new revolution in physics brings something like an order of magnitude increase in complexity of math (calculations), not just a new theory.
So I would guess doing calculations to solve physics problems using TOE will be practically impossible using pen and paper only.
I think it will require a (quantum) computer.
(Realize that all physics problems (where answer is possible) can be solved today using non-quantum (super) computers/calculators/pen&paper.)

I think if Universe (or Reality) turns out to be a Cellular Automata design running on an ND matrix qubit (register) quantum computer (with Planck scale cells)
then it would fit into above guess about future of physics (TOE) perfectly.