I want you to imagine a line ranging from the values 0 to 10. It’s a line with no numbers attached or indexed to it, all you know is that it ranges from 0 to 10.
Reality Is Like A Line With Infinite Points: A thought experiment about reality
1. SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
Reality Is Like A Line With In nite
Points
A thought experiment about reality
Lorenz Duremdes, Polymath
Nov 24 · 3 min read
2. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
The line with infinite dots thought experiment
want you to imagine a line ranging from the values 0 to 10. It’s a line
with no numbers attached or indexed to it, all you know is that it ranges
from 0 to 10.
I want you to pick number 5. Now, all we know is that it’s probably
somewhere in the middle of the line, but we don’t know exactly where to
point ourselves.
So you just decide to point as close as possible to the middle of the line.
Now, let’s ask ourselves the question: “What is the probability that we have
I
3. picked out the number 5?”
The thing with the line is that it has an infinite amount of numbers e.g.
1.124534, 5.23082, you get the idea.
So the probability that we have picked the number 5 is close to zero. In fact,
any number that we have picked has around the same probability: close to
zero.
The thing is, because we approximately know where the middle of the line
(i.e. the number 5), the probability for us to pick number 5 is actually still
higher than the chance for us to pick any other number. It still is, however,
close to zero.
How does this thought experiment equate to
reality?
Well, imagine this: reality, too, has “infinite points and numbers”. Now, you
might argue about things like the Planck length, but let’s hold ourselves
accountable to the highest dimension possible.
Ten Dimensions ExplainedTen Dimensions Explained
4. Ten Dimensions Explained
The thing is, whatever state you are currently in, together with how the
universe currently is, you could imagine that the probability of such an
occurrence is also close to zero, just like the infinite dots on a line thought
experiment.
In fact, any action you will perform next has a probability close to zero in
the large-scale. Just hold on to that thought for a second and let it flow. The
thought that we all believe we are in control and are performing actions
deliberately, yet all their probabilities are infinitesimal.
5. Now, just like we can approximate the number 5 despite the fact that the
line has infinite points, so it is with reality. We are able to approximate our
next actions and increase the probability of such an action occurring. It
probably won’t exactly be that action, but it will be good enough
nonetheless.
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See this to see why I write:
https://lorenzduremdes.wordpress.com/2019/10/08/introd…
mailchi.mp
. . .
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