The omniscience key
Information is often layered in a hierarchal system. Some facts are more valuable than others in making deductions ie. some information is more informative than other info. For example:
Take the statement “all Karens want to speak to the manager. Some people are Karens”. We can deduce then that some people want to speak to the manager. We can elicit new information through logic.
But if we reverse the information given and start with “some people want to speak to the manager.” And “some people are Karens”. We cannot elicit the same explanatory/ predictive power. We can’t conclude that all Karens want to speak to the manager. This shows that some information gives a bigger picture than other information. We see here there is a hierarchal architecture to information.
So I wonder, is there a statement that explains all information? One that can deduce all phenomena? It would have to be at the top of the information pyramid. Formulae are such examples of statements with highly informative value as they condense phenomena down to a strict set of parameters. The input can therefore be any value and it should accurately predict the resulting conclusion in line with what Is observed.
In physics this is the “theory of everything” - one concise mathematical formula that reduces all of physics to a singular statement.
But maybe there is a greater theory of everything: one that explains not only physics but any question proposed to it, something that could explain consciousness, possible diseases, the types of technology we could produce and everything the universe is capable of manifesting - a “singularity” that would revolutionise our understanding of all things.
Supposing that science is the process of condensing information into formulae and then condensing those formulae into even fewer more refined formulae... do you think we will ever reach an ultimatum? Is all information combinable? Or are there laws that prevent us from ever discovering something with that level of explanatory power?
Take the statement “all Karens want to speak to the manager. Some people are Karens”. We can deduce then that some people want to speak to the manager. We can elicit new information through logic.
But if we reverse the information given and start with “some people want to speak to the manager.” And “some people are Karens”. We cannot elicit the same explanatory/ predictive power. We can’t conclude that all Karens want to speak to the manager. This shows that some information gives a bigger picture than other information. We see here there is a hierarchal architecture to information.
So I wonder, is there a statement that explains all information? One that can deduce all phenomena? It would have to be at the top of the information pyramid. Formulae are such examples of statements with highly informative value as they condense phenomena down to a strict set of parameters. The input can therefore be any value and it should accurately predict the resulting conclusion in line with what Is observed.
In physics this is the “theory of everything” - one concise mathematical formula that reduces all of physics to a singular statement.
But maybe there is a greater theory of everything: one that explains not only physics but any question proposed to it, something that could explain consciousness, possible diseases, the types of technology we could produce and everything the universe is capable of manifesting - a “singularity” that would revolutionise our understanding of all things.
Supposing that science is the process of condensing information into formulae and then condensing those formulae into even fewer more refined formulae... do you think we will ever reach an ultimatum? Is all information combinable? Or are there laws that prevent us from ever discovering something with that level of explanatory power?
Comments (5)
This is a bit too cute, but that doesn't mean it isn't true - The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.
I have grappled with this concept before. The universe should be able to account for ignorance, non-definition, abstraction and uncertainty. The heisenbergs uncertainty principle for example dictates that it is impossible to accurately measure all parameters simultaneously - it seems something must always be unknown and therefore no single formula should be able to account for all permutations.
Everything is information, from every perspective. :cool:
As regards some kind of overarching principle à la theory of everything, if such exists then it has the intriguing corollary that what we deem exceptions to laws/rules are actually not exceptions. An example would clarify my point: birds/planes aren't actually going up, they're, surprise, surprise, falling down. See :point: the wagon-wheel effect