The Ultimate Expert System
What can we learn from it?
From the infinitesimal to the infinite
Powers of Ten (from 1977!) illustrates the universe as an arena of both continuity and change. It begins with a close-up shot of a man sleeping near the lakeside in Chicago, viewed from one meter away. The landscape steadily zooms out by scales of 10 until it reveals the edge of the known universe. Then the film takes us towards Earth again, zooming in eventually down to the level of a carbon atom.
Infinity = One
I remember being surprised as a student by the use of the first Hebrew letter ℵ (aleph) as a symbol for infinity in discrete mathematics. Only recently did I discover the root of it: [German Jewish mathematician George] “Cantor’s choice to denote infinite cardinals was ‘aleph’ (ℵ), the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and a letter of importance in Kabbalah as the opening of the words Ein Sof (unlimited, infinite) and Elohim (God)”. More about this in Amir Aczel’s book: The Mystery of the Aleph: Mathematics, the Kabbalah, and the Search for Infinity.
Genesis
The Last Question by Isaac Asimov is my favorite short science fiction story. If you don’t have the time to read it, let me spoil it for you. :-) The story tracks the development of a series of computers called Multivac¹ and their relationships with humanity through the courses of seven historic settings, beginning in 2061. In each scene the most advanced computer ever is presented with the same question: “How can the net amount of entropy of the universe be massively decreased?” Simply put, how can the end of the universe be averted? Each time the computer ponders the questions and answers “INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.”
Millions of years go by. Trillions of humans are born and die. The universe has ended. AC, the last and greatest of these computers, existing beyond time and space, ultimately realizes that it has not yet combined all of its available data in every possible way, and thus begins the arduous process of rearranging and combining every last bit of information it has gained throughout the eons and through its fusion with humanity. Eventually AC discovers the answer, but has nobody to report it to. It therefore decides to answer by demonstration, since that will also create someone to give the answer to. The story ends with the following memorable words:
And AC said: “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And there was light.
Nature is a global integral interconnected system
There is indeed such an all-knowing computer — Nature². It created light, the universe, life, and us. We exist in it, but we don’t feel it, we don’t truly understand its laws, we perceive only some external shell of this infinite system. Our perception and understanding is local, discrete and disconnected, while Nature is global, analog (continuous) and integral. We developed many disparate branches of science that aim to comprehend isolated parts of Nature on a particular scale (be it nano-meters or light years). However we cannot grasp the completeness of Nature’s design and management, the harmonious way in which all the different parts of the system, from particles to galaxies, from inanimate objects to plants and animals, live and interact, the whole of reality. Not surprisingly, we don’t know what is our role in this system, and just run around like little children in a toy store. The current crisis humanity is experiencing should teach us this: Nature’s Toys “R” Us closed shop. It is time for us to grow and learn.
We may ask: why is our inner software egoistic, the direct opposite to Nature’s altruistic quality? That oppositeness is part of the plan like everything else. It allows us to develop and become one with Nature out of our own free will. It is useless and emotionally painful to want to remain in kindergarten. Instead, let’s embrace the invitation to school. The best, most patient and loving teacher is awaiting us with open arms.
- A pun on UNIVAC, the first commercially produced digital computer
- Call Nature God if you want, it is just another name for it. “To avoid having to use both tongues from now on, 1) nature, 2) a supervisor (providence), between which, as I have shown, there is no difference regarding the following of the laws, it is best for us to agree and accept the words of the Kabbalists that HaTeva [Nature] has the same numerical value [in Hebrew] as Elohim [God] — eighty-six. Thus, I can call the laws of God ‘Nature’s commandments’ or vice-versa (call God’s commandments by the name ‘Nature’s laws’), for they are one and the same.“ Yehuda Ashlag.
