An Idea

[Profpat]

I believe you are correct in the importance of information. A 0/1 information bit system could and probably does account for it all. In fact the Tao can be viewed straight on as 1 and sideways as 0. I like codes and encoded information, whether it be the DNA molecule or the 3 quarks which make up the proton.

[austintorn@aol.com]

A 0/1 information bit system could and probably does account for it all.

Indeed (good insight), and since you overpaid, I will add more to my next post.

0/1 even gets back to the duality of the Yin/Yang, and, as such, the "information" thing kind of adds to the TAO in that it is kind of what happens just a bit afterward.

[austintorn@aol.com]

“It” From Bit

Information IS Reality

A quantum entity can remain
In an indefinite superposition
Of an everywhere and nowhere indefinitely,
Since, perhaps, the expenditure
Of gravitational energy is so negligible
That it doesn’t “matter”.

At macroscopic levels, such as with us,
Collapse to a definite place
Occurs in a zillionth of a second.

Somewhere in between the tiny and the large,
Say, something like a spec of dust,
Collapse may even take a second or so
For gravity to collapse it to one place.

That was introductory,
So, now, what is “it” from bit
Exactly, for a quantum entity?

A “bit” is what we have
When we gain information
About a quantum entity,
Such as its location or momentum
From an observation, a mark,
Or some recording.

This is called “registration”,
Whether done by a person,
A device, or a piece of mica;
In other words.
Anything that can preserve a record.

Only then does the quantum entity
Become an actual “it”;
So, “it” comes from “bit”,
Which is information.

Until then, the “quantum entity”
Was not yet an “it”,
As there was no objective reality gained.

The laws of quantum physics, then,
Only tell us what may happen;
While a measurement tells us
What is happening (or what did happen).

Perhaps, then, it is that
Information sits at the core of physics.

The total universe would be the big “It”
That arises from the myriad yes-no choices
Of measurement (the “bits”).

So, it would be that information underlies reality;
However, this information is not just
What we learn about the world;
It is what makes the world!

An “it” from bit reality example:
When a photon is absorbed,
And thereby “measured”,
An unsplittable bit of information
Is added to what we know about the world,
While, at the same time,
It creates the reality
Of the place and time
Of that photon’s interaction.

Before its absorption,
That photon had no true reality.

The universe would seem
To be made out of discrete quanta.

Another example:
Concentrating on their spins,
A two-electron system contains two bits.

For example, they might be
"The spins in the z direction are parallel,"
And "The spins in the x direction are antiparallel".

The two bits are thereby used up,
And the state is completely describe;
Yet, no statement is made
About the direction of spin
Of one electron or the other.

The entire description consists
Of relative statements, or correlations.

This means that as soon as one spin
Is measured along a certain direction,
The other one is fixed,
Even if it happens to be far away.

Thus, quantum entangled particles do not have
Pre-existing properties, such as polarization,
That are independent of any observation.

This is the fall of naive realism
[At that level].

The result is so random
That not even God could know the answer.

Thus, randomness is ultimately
A consequence of the finiteness of the information.

A quantum system can carry only
A limited amount of information,
Which is sufficient only for a single measurement.

Two particles collide ,
And in so doing
Enter a state of limitation.

In terms of information theory that means
That after the collision the entire information
Is smeared over both particles,
Rather than the individual particles
Carrying the information.

And that means the entire information we have
Pertains to the relationship
Between both particles.

For that reason, by measuring the first particle
We can anticipate the speed of the second.
But the speed of the first particle is entirely random.

Quantum information is such that a bit can be 0 or 1;
A measured particle ends up either here or there.

But if a particle carries only that one bit of information,
It will have none left over to specify its location
Before the measurement,
Because the information was not sufficient.

Randomness is reality’s bedrock.

What about further on up.

It would seem, then, that,
Somehow, “less is more”,
But also that “more is different”.

When elementary units are put together,
It is that we get something
That is more than the sum of the units.

For instance,
A substance consists of many molecules,
Gaining properties of temperature and pressure
That no one molecule has.

It, too, may be a solid or a liquid or a gas,
Yet, no one molecule is solid or liquid or gas.

When enough simple elements
Are stirred together,
There is hardly any limit
To what can result;

Thus, the complexity of the universe
As a whole does not preclude
An extremely simple element
Such as a bit of information
From being what the universe is made of.

Does “more is different”, then,
Have something to do with “it from bit”?

[austintorn@aol.com]

Team's quantum object is biggest by factor of billions

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8570836.stm

(Well, "big" by quantum standards)

[Max™]

Just to note, when a photon is absorbed, it doesn't create new information, as it sends advanced waves upstream in time to tell itself where it went.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Just to note, when a photon is absorbed, it doesn't create new information, as it sends advanced waves upstream in time to tell itself where it went.

People should do that, too, writing a note for themselves to read when they wake up drunk somewhere.

[austintorn@aol.com]

The Lightness of Being

Does anyone wonder why smallness
Is at the bottom of all that later gets writ larger?

Is it that there is some great power
Of flexibility in the really tiny elementals
That larger fundamentals could never possess?

Now, wait, isn’t size relative,
Such as many things are,
An atom possibly being an universe
Or or our universe really an atom,
As is repeatedly “discovered”
In late night dorm room discussions?

No, for the scale of size is absolute,
For the Planck size is near the limit
Of anything going inwardly small,
Of how tiny something can be;
Thus, tiny is indeed small,
Even miniscule, absolutely.

And, although, theoretically,
There is no limit to
How large a structure can be,
It may well before that collapse into itself.

Somehow, the elementals being very tiny
Seems to be a key to all that comes forth,
As we could see
That bigger, cloddier elemental things
Might have too much gravity, stability,
Or something else that would limit them
To do little more than accumulate [or not]
And make a black hole or whatever
Doesn’t really go anywhere
Into complex composites
Of recombination.

Now, before we run away with this thought,
It should also be, perhaps,
That it, it must be, as well,
That the emitting puffs of energy are small,
Thus, the sizes of the elemental particles are
Reflected in that which may have been a limit
Of what the vacuum energy could do.

[austintorn@aol.com]

The formation of the Self:

http://www.toequest.com/forum/theory...tml#post113417

[Profpat]

And, although, theoretically,
There is no limit to
How large a structure can be,
It may well before that collapse into itself.

There is a limit on the atomic structure before you get alpha decay, which is the opposite of collapsing, more like emitting.

[Profpat]

Just to note, when a photon is absorbed, it doesn't create new information, as it sends advanced waves upstream in time to tell itself where it went.

Hi Max;

Every time there is an action/reaction you have new information which needs to be recorded.

Best,

Pat