MULTIVERSE-FINE TUNING

Anthropic Principle
Posted by: "Antony Van der Mude" vandermude@acm.org tonyvandermude
Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:33 am (PST)
> The multiverse may well be the only viable non­religious explanation
> for what is often called the "fine-tuning problem" (or the anthropic
> principle)-- the baffling observation that the laws of the universe
> seem custom-tailored to favor the emergence of life.

I do not agree with this statement at all.

A fundamental result in twentieth century formal logic is the Recursion
Theorem which states that every enumeration of the partial recursive
functions contains a fixed point (a function that outputs its input).

That is a bunch of mathematical gobbledygook. Where it gets interesting
is a corollary whose upshot is that fixed point functions are
essentially machines that reproduce themselves. Computer viruses
implement the recursion theorem. Real viruses too. The proteins to copy
DNA, along with the DNA is a fixed point function. Evolution though
mutation is just a perturbation of this fixed point: instead of f(x)=x,
we get f(x)=x'.

The essence of life is the ability to reproduce. Therefore the
conclusion we can draw from the Recursion Theorem is that any universe
where it is possible to compute elementary arithmetic (functions that do
addition and subtraction) life is possible. Not having a range of
universes around to determine how likely arithmetic is, I can only
guess, but I would feel comfortable to claim that most possible
universes can implement arithmetic functions.

Therefore, the "fine tuning problem" is a red herring. It is very likely
that almost any universe having a basic complexity is capable of life,
although how that life is manifested can be wildly different from one
universe to another. The only fine tuning is in the result that life in
the universe is life in this planet and not a collection of quarks (or
other basic particles) in some kind interplanetary soup or at the heart
of that universe's equivalent of a sun.

A


////////////////////////////I'm getting beyond my level of neuroscience understanding here, but
I'll hazard some guesses. First of all, I'm not sure that there are
any clear operational definitions of losing the sense of self,
feeling that one is part of some larger community restricted to
humans or inclusive of other living beings, feeling at one with the
universe, and enlightenment. All 4 of these may be different ways of
describing the same experience, perhaps with some variation in degree
of intensity, or they may be distinctly different experiences.

Functional MRIs done on meditating Buddhist monks find an increase in
activity in certain limited areas of the prefrontal cortex, and what
is probably a reflex inhibition of the orientation- association area
in the left parietal lobe. I don't know how the monks involved
described their experience, and possibly a different cultural group
with substantially similar functional MRI scans would describe the
experience differently. Jill Taylor lost the function of her left
parietal orientation- association cortex when a malformed blood vessel
burst in her brain. She talked about feeling at one with the
universe, presumably in a way that she had not previously, and
experiencing herself very differently, but not about losing her sense
of self. Perhaps the 4 perceptual states categorized above each have
a distinctive functional MRI pattern, or maybe the patterns are the
same and different people just describe their experiences
differently. Or maybe functional MRI is not the tool with which the
differences in brain activity with these different experiences can be
visually detected.

The brain, in particular the pituitary gland, secretes not only
locally acting neurotransmitters but also blood borne hormones. One
in particular, oxytocin, is found in very high levels during labor
and breastfeeding, but is present in lower levels most of the time in
both men and women. People with autism have little or no oxytocin,
and they generally do not connect well with other people. One can
speculate that a low oxytocin level is the cause of their diminished
social perception, but this remains unproven. Meanwhile, some women
report an astounding sense of connectedness, sometimes to distant
generations of their blood line, both past and future, and sometimes
to other living beings or the universe as a whole as it presently
exists. I'm not aware that such experiences have been reported by
women who receive exogenous oxytocin to enhance uterine contractions,
but perhaps some have them. In my experience, those women find their
contractions much less bearable, and perhaps the pain distracts them
from a more pleasant experience.

Anyway, I would speculate that folks who easily experience a sense of
connectedness with at least some aspects of the world around them
might have higher levels of endogenous oxytocin, or that receptors on
their brain cells bind oxytocin more tightly, or that some other
mechanism that modulates oxytocin effects is at play. Perhaps the
act of meditation not only stimulates certain areas of the prefrontal
cortex, but also induces the pituitary gland to secrete more
oxytocin. Or perhaps the oxytocin-induced sense of connectedness and
the meditation-induced sense of connectedness are qualitatively
different.

Another possible neurochemical in play here is dopamine, which is a
localized neurotransmitter. Genereally people find high levels of
dopamine quite pleasant, and if I remember correctly, dopamine levels
are higher with and following orgasm. Much of drug, and presumably
also sex addiction seems to involve the seeking of higher dopamine
levels. My theory is that folks with this sort of problem have
defective dopamine receptors and need higher dopamine levels in order
to feel the way other people do. But unfortunately the drugs do more
than raise dopamine levels.

Of interest here is that dopamine receptors are also stimulated by
hihg levels of nor-epinephrine, which is probably the reason some
people like amphetamines as they induce nor-epinephrine secretion.
Folks with a manic episode, like folks on amphetamines, have a lot of
energy, overestimate what they can and have achieve(d), and don't
feel a need for much food or sleep, which leads me to believe that
nor-epinephrine levels are high during mania. So my guess would be
that a mania-induced sense of euphoria or peace is qualitatively
different from what occurs as the result of meditation or increased
oxytocin levels, if for no other reason than one does not see
amphetamine- like effects in those who are meditating. But perhaps
meditation increases dopamine, and produces a mania-like euphoria
directly, without the accompanying substantial nor-epinephrine
effects.

J


///////////////////////////////////To survive, a child has to learn to move about and manipulate
objects. I'm not sure readiness to experience or re-experience
oneness with the universe has got anything to do with developing
an "autonomous self" beyond the sense of being an organism with
physiologic needs that can move and manipulate objects in the
environment in order to satisfy those needs. Once the child has
learned how to satisfy its physiologic needs, presumably it could
also learn how to suppress activity in the orientation- association
area if taught the techniques for doing so."
>

The need to be an autonomous self from an evolutionary point of view
is obvious. We have to have the sense that we are in
a real way separate from our surroundings so that we will respond to
threats to our survival. So necessarily we carry around with us
almost all the time this sense of "me" that keeps us from the
experience of "oneness with the universe".
>
I just finished reading Sam Harris' "The End of Faith" wherein he has
a discussion about losing the sense of self and experiencing oneness
with the universe. I'm not sure why he included it in his book-
perhaps it is his opinion that this desire for experiencing oneness
with the universe was the original impetus for the development of
religions. In a sense such an experience is a pathology- as Judy
points out we must have a sense of self to function in the
environment. But in another sense it is, perhaps, enlightenment? I'm
not really familiar with this type of religious experience. Are there
any on list who have experienced this or who are chasing it?
>
When I had my big manic attack, there was a period of time when I was
apparently functioning but I don't remember any part of it. My wife
told me that during it I said, "I'm at perfect peace" while trying to
suppress laughter. It would be a shame if I experienced enlightenment
but don't remember it! One thing that did help precipitate this
attack was some writing I was doing, the theme of which was that the
fall of humankind was not knowledge of good and evil but knowledge of
self. It is this belief that we are a "self" that keeps us separate
from oneness with the universe. According to Sam Harris, it is
possible for humans to be conscious of the universe without also
being awareness of selfhood. Is this experience worth pursuing? The
older I get, the less I seem to want to pursue new things.
>
F


///////////////////////////////////Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

ROBERT FROST


////////////////////////NAZRUL-AMI BIDROHI RONOKLANTO,AMI SHEIDIN HOBO SHANTO....
Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel,
Shall rest in quiet only when I find
The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed.
Only when the battle fields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres
Shall I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet,
I the great rebel.[8]


/////////////////////////////All You who Sleep Tonight

All you who sleep tonight
Far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right
And emptiness above -

Know that you aren't alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.

Vikram Seth



////////////////////////////////EVOLUTION OF GIT

GASTROLITHS TO DIGEST FOOD-DINO,BIRDS-AS CRUSHER OF FOOD


///////////////////////////FOLK SCIENCE SO DIFFERENT FROM ACCURATE SCIENCE BCOS WE LIVE AND OBSERVE IN MIDDLE WORLD,NOT QUANTUM LEVEL OR ASTRONOMICAL LEVEL


///////////////////////