Conformal cyclic cosmology

[Prophet]

Dr Roger Penrose has long argued against the inflationary theory of our universe and may now possess some data to support his claim.

CCC, as it is also known, theorizes that our current universe, is only one epoch in a series of epochs, and that the 'Big Bang' was not the beginning of time and space, but merely a reset.

His evidence is a myriad of concentric circles in the cosmic microwave background, which hint that when out current epoch began, there was something already there that disrupted the shockwave and left some residual hints for us to find.

While CCC is still just a theory, no one else has yet to propose an alternate cause for the observed disruptions in the CMB, and we are a tiny step closer to understanding what came before the beginning.

[alterecco]

What was there before was the debris of centauri ships, blasted by Transcendent players!

[Periculi]

Is that the same Penrose who also argued against AI in his book 'The Emperor's New Mind'. A pretty good read, that one.

I had a strange connection develop with some of Dr. Penrose's work, through his aperiodic tiling and the copyrights for "Penrose Tiling" patterns which I sort of invented a system of installation for if the tiles were made from ceramic or similar. It was an interesting lesson in how to work out copyright agreements to use other people's intellectual property. The good Dr. Penrose was happy to give me the entire world to use his patterns in for my ceramic tile, provided I pay him royalties on the patterns.. lol

Interesting to see Penrose is still in the theoretical physics game, as he was already rather old when I was dealing with him back in the 90's and I thought he had retired. But perhaps you never retire from things like theoretical physics.

[Aury]

argued against AI)

Arguing against it specifically how (and why?)

[Periculi]

It's like a 400 page book on the subject, Wolfy. Probably not easy to summarize in a paragraph or two.

[Aury]

I mean, like, what did you mean by 'arguing against AI'?

[Atarlost]

I think what Wolfy means is that there are two kinds of arguments against AI.

1) The argument from complexity: Humans cannot comprehend systems beyond a certain complexity. Evidence points to this being below the minimum complexity for AI.

2) The argument from fear: We don't know what AI will look like, but we can be pretty sure it won't have human instincts or emotions. With no pack instincts or emotions AI will look a lot like a sociopath and sociopaths are dangerous. Sociopaths with the responsibilities that AIs would probably have to be handed to justify their development costs could potentially destroy humanity.

[Periculi]

Essentially, Penrose takes the position that we cannot build a machine or write a computer program that is self-aware and fits all the other definitions of being a sentient life form. His opinion is that there is much more going on, perhaps on a quantum level, perhaps even further into unknowable or undiscovered levels, in our own minds which is integral to our consciousness than we can ever simulate with a machine or computer network, no matter how sophisticated.

In Dr. Penrose's theory on the mind and consciousness, he concludes that any supposed AI we develop will only ever be truly 'artificial', more like sophisticated expert systems that do not possess consciousness as we experience it, and although these systems may easily pass a turing test and appear to act self-aware and even be brilliant conversationalists, there will never be an artificially developed intelligence such as is commonly represented in science fiction.

[Jeoshua]

Now, I haven't read the book, but as I understand the situation a Cyclic view of the big bang is not the only alternative explanation available here. Specifically, I believe that an Aperiodic set of "Bangs" could be possible, and even account for the background radiation's irregularities... not to mention explain the bubble-wall structure of the known universe.

Two bangs happen at different times and places in this universe. The wavefronts of each bang intersect at the midpoint of space-time between the epicenter of each event. The line of intersection between the two wavefronts would then form the bubble-walls, and the turbulence of the interaction between them would cause eddies, sworls, and all manner of spiraling, clumping matter... which is exactly what we do see in the universe.

Now, the question of why these "Bang Events" happen is, possibly, a subject for a different time.