Category Archives: READING MATTER

Books I read & recommend

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Is Our Universe A Computer Simulation?

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COMPUVERSEfrom Huffington Post UK  |  By Michael Rundle —

“Physicists say they may have evidence that the universe is a computer simulation.  How? They made a computer simulation of the universe. And it looks sort of like us.

A  long-proposed thought experiment, put forward by both philosophers and popular culture, points out that any civilization of sufficient size and intelligence would eventually create a simulation universe if such a thing were possible.

And since there would therefore be many more simulations (within simulations, within simulations) than real universes, it is therefore more likely than not that our world is artificial.

Now a team of researchers at the University of Bonn in Germany led by Silas Beane say they have evidence this may be true.

In a paper named ‘Constraints on the Universe as a Numerical Simulation’, they point out that current simulations of the universe – which do exist, but which are extremely weak and small – naturally put limits on physical laws.

Technology Review explains that “the problem with all simulations is that the laws of physics, which appear continuous, have to be superimposed onto a discrete three dimensional lattice which advances in steps of time.”compuplanet

What that basically means is that by just being a simulation, the computer would put limits on, for instance, the energy that particles can have within the program.

These limits would be experienced by those living within the sim – and as it turns out, something which looks just like these limits do in fact exist.

For instance, something known as the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin, or GZK cut off, is an apparent boundary of the energy that cosmic ray particles can have. This is caused by interaction with cosmic background radiation. But Beane and co’s paper argues that the pattern of this rule mirrors what you might expect from a computer simulation.

COMPUPRISONNaturally, at this point the science becomes pretty tricky to wade through – and we would advise you read the paper itself to try and get the full detail of the idea.

But the basic impression is an intriguing one. Like a prisoner in a pitch-black cell, we may never be able to see the ‘walls’ of our prison — but through physics we may be able to reach out and touch them.”

For details of how a universal computer simulation could be a reality read the book ALIEN INTERVIEW

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A REAL HERO

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HONEST COWARDS

“An early description of the way contemporary culture is now full of re-creations and themed environments was provided by Umberto Eco.  In a brilliant essay, Eco saw that we create these realistic fabrications in an effort to come up with something that is better than real — a description that is true of virtually all fiction and culture, which gives us things that are more exciting, more beautiful, more inspiring, more terrifying, and generally more interesting than what we encounter in everyday life. In his description of Disney, Eco also saw that behind the facades lurks a sales pitch. Put these ideas together and you have a succinct characterization of the age, which is forever offering us something that seems better than real in order to sell us something.”  — Umberto Eco (born 5 January 1932 — ) is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist.

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30 LESSONS LEARNED BY GANDHI

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Mahatma Gandhi needs no introduction. In India, his name is pronounced with the same sincere respect as the names of the saints. The whole world knows the man who led his country to independence from Britain back in 1947.

  1. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
  2. If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.
  3. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
  4. The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.
  5. The future depends on what you do today.
  6. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
  7. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
  8. Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.
  9. Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
  10. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the ’still small voice’ within me.
  11. The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
  12. It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.
  13. A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
  14. ’Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
  15. Find purpose, the means will follow.
  16. Live simply so that others may simply live.
  17. Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.
  18. It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
  19. The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.
  20. An ounce of patience is worth more than a tonne of preaching.
  21. In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
  22. Nobody can hurt me without my permission.
  23. Where love is, there God is also.
  24. What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
  25. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
  26. A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
  27. A ’No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ’Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.
  28. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
  29. ’True beauty lies in purity of the heart.
  30. You must be the change you wish to see in the world.