Argument
Mathematical universe hypothesis
Overview
In physics, cosmology, and metaphysics, the mathematical universe hypothesis (MUH), also known as the ultimate ensemble theory, is a speculative "theory of everything" (TOE) proposed by cosmologist Max Tegmark. According to the hypothesis, the universe is a mathematical object in and of itself. Tegmark extends this idea to hypothesize that all mathematical objects exist, which he describes as a form of Platonism or modal realism.
The hypothesis has proven controversial. Jürgen Schmidhuber argues that it is not possible to assign an equal weight or probability to all mathematical objects a priori due to there being infinitely many of them. Physicists Piet Hut and Mark Alford have suggested that the idea is incompatible with Gödel's first incompleteness theorem.
Tegmark replies that not only is the universe mathematical, but it is also computable.
In 2014, Tegmark published a popular science book about the topic, titled Our Mathematical Universe.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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Any such select set is called the set of postulates, or premises, from which the reasoning proceeds. The reasoning is nothing else than the exhibition of the whole pattern of general conditions involved in the pattern derived from the selected postulates.
Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the modern world
States what Mathematical universe hypothesis is.
Meanwhile every mathematical proposition remains always a universal truth, which is valid for innumerable particular cases; and a graduated process from the simple to the complicated propositions which are to be deduced from them, is also essential to mathematics; therefore, in every respect mathematics is a science. The completeness of a science as such, that is, in respect of form, consists in there being as much…
Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Idea
States what Mathematical universe hypothesis is.
The theory of mathematical continuity is an abstract logical theory, not dependent for its validity upon any properties of actual space and time. What is claimed for it is that, when it is understood, certain characteristics of space and time, previously very hard to analyse, are found not to present any logical difficulty. What we know empirically about space and time is insufficient to enable us to decide between…
Bertrand Russell, Our Knowledge of the External World as a Field for Scientific Method in Philosophy
States what Mathematical universe hypothesis is.
Related ideas
- Modal realism
- Max Tegmark
- Massimo Pigliucci
- Cosmology
- Mathematics
- Metaphysics
- Mathematical object
- Constructivism (philosophy of mathematics)
- Platonism
- Physics
- Physical constant
- Peano axioms
- Pythagoreanism
- Turing machine
- Occam's razor
- New Scientist
- Formal system
- Gödel's incompleteness theorems
- Heuristic
- A priori and a posteriori
- Possible world
- Decidability (logic)
- Mathematicism
- Theory of everything (philosophy)
Place in the tradition
Part of Anti-realism.
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