Over the past 60 years, the branch of science known as cosmology (studies the history of the universe) has become infested with scientists who engage in metaphysical speculations masquerading as real science. There’s been everything from Fred Hoyle’s Steady State universe, to the modern multiverse theory. But few theories have been as speculative and bizarre as Max Tegmark’s. According to Tegmark, the universe is just math. In fact, every mathematical “structure” is its own separate universe. Math is all that really exists. In his words, “I have this sort of crazy-sounding idea that the reason why mathematics is so effective at describing reality is that it is reality. That is the mathematical universe hypothesis: Mathematical things actually exist, and they are actually physical reality.” No Max, it doesn’t just sound crazy-it is crazy! Read the whole piece.
What I find disheartening is that many in the public, because they think scientists only believe that which has been empirically proven, might mistake this bologna for real scientific knowledge. Sorry folks, not only are scientists biased, but their conclusions often reflect certain philosophical presuppositions and speculations as well.
Thinking to Believe 
December 5, 2008 at 6:13 am
hi, your blog made me wonder a bit.. i was compelled to respond with my own thought..math is of thinking, thinking is of time and space which can never be true because time and space are an illusion simply because they change, truth does not change so thats what makes it true. science or math cannot reach truth, although it tries, because truth is a feeling, a recognition, which doesnt have words or numbers, its just consciousness,or light. it has to do with eternity, not time/space. so whenever we go into our brain and think ,we lose touch with our reality . this is frustrating to scientists and mathematicians. they get so close. there is only one way to get to truth and that is by being. by recognizing u are everything and nothing..this leaves no space and time.. no theory, no numbers… no thought.
this is just a thought..im just playing…
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December 7, 2008 at 7:03 pm
When you say you’re just playing, does that mean you weren’t being serious about anything you wrote? If not, here’s my reply:
I’m not a platonist, so I don’t believe in the actual existence of mathematical objects. But even if I were, as abstract objects, numbers would exist outside of time and space.
As for time and space, they are no illusion. I don’t see what change has to do with it. You and I change, but our existence is not illusory.
Truth is not light or consciousness. Truth is the corresponding relation between reality, and our beliefs about reality. If our belief corresponds to reality, then truth obtains. It takes conscious minds to recognize truth, but truth is not consciousness.
Given what I said above, thinking with our brains is the only way we can get into contact with reality. It is not the barrier, but the bridge.
Jason
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January 22, 2009 at 6:44 am
hi again! our changing perspectives are illusions..first you see this then that, then you make up your past in the present moment by how you feel..sometimes u look back and it seems this way other times that way..some see things completely different than others..so that is what i mean by illusion. what remains constant and forever is knowledge, knowledge is not perception, they are 2 different things.. when we are perceiving we r not in knowledge. knowledge is a knowing that goes beyond words or time/space. knowledge is a recognition. when u experience knowledge u r one…. when there is only one..how can there be space..or time?? think about it.. there has to be a line drawn from one thing to another to have space and time ..there has to be 2. or more but when there is only one… there is no measure. no contrast. just ism. just being. anything else is just a play on opposites..a riddle. our brain is the only way to get back to ourSelves IF we leave ourSelves but the idea that we ever left ourSelf is an illusion as well.
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June 10, 2009 at 8:13 pm
My reply is directed at gruno: You have a young understanding of what the universe is. No one actually can indefinately proclaim to know and understand the universe. Thats the beauty of it. From scientists to children laying on the ground looking up at stars, not one opinion closer to the truth than the other. And at the same time not one opinion is absolutely wrong. If anyone knew without a doubt what the universe is and what we really are, then our journey would be over, and nothing left would their be left for us to explore. The universe is the engine for life. It is the unknown that every curious mind loses him/her self wondering. The feeling of excitement you feel when you learn something new, that overwhelming sensation when you discover, or experience is beyond ecstacy. The universe is a representation of what we really are. It is expanding as I speak. The only other thing that expands indefinately as the universe is human awareness. It is without limit or definition. Every second we spend learning and expanding and becoming aware of ourselves. Like children, we seak to understand ourselves, even at a subconscience level. We dont realize that everyday we go about our lives we attempt to understand ourselves, by experiencing every moment to its fullest. From our happpiest moment, to moments we wish we never had to live through. Your mind is on the right path to amazing wonders. All you need to maintain is an open mind, and allow urself to grow with every experience. Truth is man made. The universe is not defined by by any word man can concuct. Truth is only real to our perception because we attempt to rationalize a world we cant begin to grasp. The fear of what really is out there frightens many, even if we are not aware of it ourselves. Dont fear the unknown, rather, know that it is there to expand your imagination. Think of the universe as a sea of dreams. There will always be more out there for, as long as you dream to imagine. Scientist will always find amazing and unexplainable things in the universe because their curiousity will always create something to fill that void. If we simply stopped imagining, the we would literally fall of the face of the earth. Just like old theories in our earth’s history, when men innocently believed they would fall of the earth when their eyes could not see past the outer oceans. We are like children, attempting to go where we are not ready to go. And thats the beauty of it, we go where our curiousity will take us without restrictions. I have high hopes my young children, im sure they will learn, and understand someday.
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June 11, 2009 at 1:06 am
Tyrant King,
While you say “no one actually can indefinately proclaim to know and understand the universe,” and that no one knows “without a doubt what the universe is,” you go on to describe it as it really is, apparently with little doubt that you are describing it accurately. You say, “The universe is the engine for life. It is the unknown that every curious mind loses him/her self wondering. … The universe is a representation of what we really are. It is expanding as I speak. … It is without limit or definition.” How do you know these things if no one can know such things?
You even said, “Truth is man made. The universe is not defined by by any word man can concuct.” Then what you are saying is not the truth either. It is just a man-made thought. You say the universe is like this and like that—defining it in the process—all the while saying it is not defined by the words we concoct. What you have said is self-contradictory.
Jason
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June 13, 2009 at 8:19 pm
EXACTLY! You nailed it. Thats it! Thats the point I was trying to make. You read between the words and understand so vividly. The whole universe is a contradiction. Nothing we say or do can be rationalized. Thats why “Truth” is irelevant and is of no significance to the bigger picture. The Universe is a contradiction to anything that is possible. That is why “Life” is possible, because the universe is a contradiction in itself, “The Engine Of Life” is the Universe. Logic would destroy life, that is why science can never grasp the true beauty of life. Men will forever always reach for the stars, hoping that science will reveal hidden truths, they only obscure them further from the truth. And yes, you are right, I say truth, and yet I contradict myself with what I said prior. Nothing I say is “fact” only an observant opinion of someone who rather than define the universe, seeks only to understand it. That is true knowledge, and not simply attempting to rationalize something beyond reason. Indeed, I do not know what the universe is, because I cannot define something that is beyond reason, and self-contradicting. I only know that which I seek to understand. I dont even have to look to the stars to understand the universe. I see it everyday, in people, who are without a doubt as close as a representation of the uniiverse as it will get. No one can know what the universe is, or how it functions, but you can understand why it is and what it is for. The universe is there for us, and yet is there not for us. To help us grow, and imagine, and reach for things we are too young to understand. It’s ironic how the ancient Mayans were able to understand so much with little use of science. They didnt need telescopes, or space ships, and yet they accomplished much more in their time, than few men now can even begin to understand. The contradiction is broken into two factors, The “Physical” which I also relate to science, and the “Spiritual” which I coincide with nature. The two live in harmony, yet they contradict themselves. When yet the world was young, men favored the spiritual aspect of the world and gained so much forbidden truths from it. Nowadays, anything that has to do with Spiritual is related directly to Religion, which even so clouds its true origin. Men have lost touch with a major part of themselves and of the Universe. Science is practical, because men nowadays will only believe what they can rationalize and define. Science is like a cancer, the more it grows, the less chance there is for survival. Why do men always try to rationalize anything? why is it that nothing can simply be understood for what it is, rather of what it is composed of? Wizards, Dragons, Witchcraft, Deamons, Angels, and even Jesus, who healed many with “devine” powers, are practically fairy tales if not left to speculations. An obvious example that as time has passed, men have lost their ways. We regard anything we cannot prove or define as fantasy. Oh, what a long way my young children have come, and yet they quickly forget how they learned to crawl, and now they run, like an infant, wrecklessly and without a clear path ahead of them. jasonDull, you are very knowledgeable, and observant. I enjoy a good debate. It helps grow the mind, regardless of what is right or wrong.
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January 29, 2010 at 11:32 am
basically what i was saying is..truth is an experience..it cannot exist in logic,in thought..only in the intuitive mind…one only needs to experience this once before u know it is true..numbers and logic are not a part of this experience.. we only need logic and numbers to take us there but once there u can let go of all of that stuff..it has no more meaning..the universe doesnt really exist, nor do we.
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November 29, 2011 at 12:22 pm
The universe is made of information in the form of mathematical Platonic forms.
Informational monism can be demonstrated in many ways and is a logical necessity.
Adopting a form of dualism is out of the question because of inherent problems and contradictions in dualism.
[Mathematical] Platonic forms can also be demonstrated in many ways to exist and are also a logical necessity.
Information is fundamental, more so even then space-time. The nature of Quantum Gravity necessitates this.
Those links are to videos by a friend of mine. I have other arguments that I’ve collected from prominent philosophers and physicists who agree with these positions, as well as some additional support I’ve formulated. If you’d like to hear them let me know and I’ll post them here.
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