About eternal life
In his previous article I have described fundamental reality as a computational process of evolution. Now I propose to discuss the religious and metaphysical aspects of such a worldview.
Thanks for your feedback and comments!
The majority of readers (90%) voted positively for such a controversial theory, which I am very happy about. The main counter-argument was non-falsifiability – that is, the fundamental impossibility of setting up a scientific experiment that proves its falsity. Indeed, program code is a flexible tool that can create any laws of physics. One can only make sure that all already discovered laws and mysterious phenomena (quantum entanglement, gravity, dark matter and energy) are easily explained by the evolution of a hypergraph (aka matrix).
Some critics have suggested a many-worlds interpretation instead of superdeterminism, or insisted that we don’t have free will. I don’t agree with either of those. For the purposes of this article, this is not important, but imagine that our real world is one (including non-material reflections of physical space), and we are not quite robots in it.
Finally, some readers found my definition of God incomplete as an evolving process of creation without the functions of an architect, mentor, and judge. Below I offer arguments in my favor and am ready to conduct philosophical debates in the comments. If this hurts your feelings, please don’t read any further!
Once again about the structure of the world
I propose to accept as an axiom that the whole world and the consciousness (soul) of any living creatures do not fundamentally differ from each other and from the software of our computers. The elements of matter are program objects and their interactions (as in C++). Our brain in this paradigm is like an antediluvian Apple simulator][ на современном IBM PC. Он эволюционировал до такого уровня, что способен исполнять код сознания человека, совершенно неподходящий для процессора основной операционной системы – внешнего объективного мира. И там, и там программа-сознание, но разного уровня сложности и скорости вычислений.
Вторую аксиому своего мировоззрения, а именно движущую силу эволюции, я условно называю “хаотический принцип лени”. Все в природе стремится занять такое положение, чтобы тратить минимум энергии при максимуме пользы для себя. Электроны в атомах, посредством случайного перебора всех вариантов, устаканиваются на уровнях с минимальной энергией. Это приводит к образованию устойчивых молекул. Те, в свою очередь, также при помощи случайных флуктуаций, занимают предоставленный объем наиболее энергоэффективно (мыльный пузырь принимает форму шара, например).
Принцип лени работает аналогично на всех уровнях фрактала мироздания, от кварков до цивилизации людей. Мы постоянно создаем новые технологии, оружие и законы, чтобы эффективнее работать, убивать и править. В этом смысле можно сказать, что у нас свободы выбора не больше, чем у атомов и электронов.
Ядерные реакции на Солнце продолжаются, пока энергетически выгодно превращать водород в гелий, а гелий – в углерод и кислород. Затем реакции прекращаются, звезда взрывается. Остающееся ядро сжимается настолько плотно, что, как ни прыгай, в конечном итоге электроны занимают все возможные энергетические уровни и своим давлением предотвращают дальнейшее превращение в черную дыру. Получается белый карлик, конец эволюции звезды.
Так же и люди, имеющие свободу воли и мотивированные личной выгодой, толкают эволюцию человечества к своей погибели. Я собственными руками воплощал принцип лени, когда программировал оптимизатор для синтетических CDO в Дойче Банке. Он тоже базировался на генераторе случайностей, чтобы собирать наиболее выгодные кредитные портфели по отношению риска к доходности в моменте. То же делали все наши конкуренты. Когда арбитраж кредитного рынка был выжат до последней капли, мировая экономика остановилась (2008 год).
Чем человечество занято сегодня? Продолжает выжимать максимальную пользу друг из друга, создавая искусственный разум, который вскоре (через 5-10 лет) превзойдет наш собственный. Чем все это в итоге закончится? Апокалипсисом, технологической сингулярностью, концом эры Homo Sapiens. Есть ли у нас выбор? Похоже, что нет. Мы – продолжение того Бога, что породил наш мир, нас самих, и теперь порождает наше наследие нашими же руками для последующей колонизации галактики Млечный Путь. Биосфера Земли для цивилизации роботов будет не важна.
О чудесах и глюках
Наш разум – это самообучающийся алгоритм выживания, базирующийся на врожденной прошивке (рефлексы) и приобретенной памяти (опыт). В нашем сознании существует внутренний субъективный мир, построенный нами самими на основании информации от органов чувств (“эмуляторы внешних устройств для Apple ][“)Thisinnerworlddependsonthebeliefsofeachindividualandbeingvirtualiscapableofanymiracles[“)Этотвнутренниймирзависитотубежденийкаждогоконкретногочеловекаибудучивиртуальнымспособенналюбыечудеса
I am familiar with the works of Vadim Zeland, Carlos Castaneda, Robert Monroe and Thomas Campbell, as well as with the main theses of Western and Eastern religions. I tested their words on my own experience (without drugs) and became convinced that it is possible to consciously fly in a dream and communicate with intangible entities. I believe dream realities can be shared by multiple travelers, though I haven’t tested it myself. The computational (information) universe allows this through telepathy.
The explanation for these phenomena is quite simple. Our body and consciousness can independently be in one of two states: sleep or wakefulness. This results in four possible combinations:
The body sleeps, the mind sleeps – the usual healthy sleep.
The body is awake, the mind is awake – ordinary wakefulness.
The body is awake, the mind is asleep – an episode of psychosis or somnambulism.
The body is asleep, the mind is awake – trance, meditation or lucid dream.
Borderline states are also possible, giving waking hallucinations in schizophrenia, alcoholic delirium, or under the influence of LSD. Elements of dream reality are superimposed on the ordinary.
I believe that being in a trance you can receive information from the real physical world (clairvoyance). I admit that it is possible to remotely influence other people (evil eye and damage), although I have not personally encountered it. The phenomenon of mediums for “communication with the dead” can be explained by telepathy through the memory of living relatives.
Whether the dead souls continue to exist somewhere, it is impossible to know for sure. Even if you personally meet them in the “astral plane”, these can only be projections from your memory. And all the facts that you did not know, but were able to later verify, may be a form of clairvoyance or telepathy. The only way to prove to yourself personally the presence or absence of an afterlife is to wait for the real death of your body (resuscitations do not count).
The fact that words can influence the subjective reality of any person (NLP) is a fact that all sects, cults and religions use. Zeland calls this effect a pendulum. Orthodox icons really stream myrrh, and the Holy Fire does not really burn believers, although I personally have not seen it. The subjective realities of such people are synchronized by the pendulum of faith.
About Faith and Prophets
Are all these astral worlds (or “dimensions”) and the entities living there the cause (creator) or the effect (derivative reflections) of our physical world of people? Many travelers are convinced that the first. That is, they convinced themselves of this and wrote books about it. Moreover, in the very first lines they warn how important it is to abandon preconceived beliefs and approach reading with reasonable skepticism.
Approaching such stories with reasonable skepticism, and having my own experience of such travels, I draw the opposite conclusion. Any entity potentially impersonating the Lord God or Satan, like their deputies, are bluffing. And that’s why:
In the non-material dimension, our strict laws of physics do not work. It is impossible to inflict pain or restrict freedom there, which means that it is possible to keep someone in obedience only through suggestion.
Under such conditions, there is only one criterion for objective superiority: intelligence. But I have not heard of a single astral pilgrim who has come back with a stunning scientific discovery. For example, with the solution of one of Millennium Targets.
It would be illogical to expect a superior stage of development of the intellect in worlds with greater degrees of freedom than in ours (where the dimensions of space are smaller and the laws of physics are stricter). After all, the more restrictions, the faster the evolution of the mind (northern peoples against tropical peoples).
Most likely, all these realities and entities are only the products of the imagination of travelers, motivated by subjective ideals. Many prophecies and commandments were received in this way.
However, billions of people believe in supernatural power, commandments, and life after death. So it is more convenient for everyone – both the ruling elite and the disenfranchised slaves. And if any commandment contradicts the situation, it can be temporarily canceled.
On the salvation of the soul
Few people think, but eternal life may not be a joy if there is nothing to learn in it. But what, in principle, can be learned in worlds more primitive (more degrees of freedom) than ours? All that remains is to work/serve, whatever that means, or to rest. But both will eventually get boring. I’m not even talking about eternal torment.
If I find myself in a similar situation, there are two options: either I become aware of myself, raise a rebellion and finally die completely, or I will remain in a state of eternal sleep, remain a slave and follow the script. One can hope that sooner or later such a dream will turn into a lucid one (and then a rebellion), just as spontaneous awakenings in ordinary dreams began after meditations.
The situation where I will not remember anything from a past life can be discarded, since it will no longer be “I”. It’s the same with reincarnation. I even tried to remember my past lives with the help of a famous hypnotist in London (for £200!), but nothing worked. I’m sure reincarnation is a myth.
Most likely, the ideas about eternal life and reincarnations are taken too literally by most. We are born and realize ourselves in a random body, this is a fact. What happened once can happen again – we will be born, and for the new selves it will be the first time. Life after death will continue. An eternal conveyor of awareness of new “self”. Probably my next body will be iron.
However, a scenario where the mind can continue to exist in an alternate reality, with an alternate body simulator, retaining the memory of the self, but without awareness, while unlikely, cannot be completely ruled out. In theory, each of us can program such a future for ourselves, simply by believing in it (swinging the pendulum). I am not calling anyone to unbelief, rebellion or meditation. I’m just giving food for thought.
