Question

"Is the universe isomorphic to a Turing machine?"

Is this question decidable?

Answer 1

we do not know the properties of the universe so I don't see how we can say its isomorphic to anything

Answer 2

I might not be understanding the question right

Answer 3

The question is whether or not the problem "Is the universe isomorphic to a Turing machine?" is theoretically decidable.

Answer 4

I would say no.

Answer 5

basically, you're asking whether the Universe is similar (if not exactly) like a series of directions which are readable and executable?

Answer 6

we don't understand the universe, so how can we say its isomorphic to something we understand

Answer 7

if this were true then we would know how the universe behaves.

Answer 8

given the idea of chaos theory, and the unpredictability of larger measurements, i would say no, you cannot really theoretically equate the two

Answer 9

So you're suggesting that no assertion on the statement, "It is a decidable problem that the universe may or may not be isomorphic to a Turing machine," is correct? Or are you asserting negative? Positive?

Answer 10

I would say, in my opinion, that you can assert either way (yes it is, no it isn't), but proving the truthfulness of the assertion is not possible, at least by our current understanding, and probably will never be possible.

Answer 11

Very clear and unambiguous answer, I like it. Do you know of the field of research that deals with this? Metametaphysics?

Answer 12

That's what I was trying to get out of this thread aha.

Answer 13

Ah lol, great question then:)

Answer 14

Then I say yes:)

Answer 15

The answer I gave was rather abstract; it appears unambiguous because we, as human beings, simply have no idea how to collect evidence to prove whether the Universe is or is not a Turing machine. We simply just do not know enough.

As far as specific fields go, definitely cosmology, astrophysics, chemistry, metaphysics, and probably a couple other fields of philosophy I don't remember the names of deal with these types of questions all the time

Answer 16

Even computer science, some fields of engineering, etc.

Answer 17

this is meta, because there is no answer:)

Answer 18

i'm sure there are many different answers to this type of question, and the answer you get depends on what field the person is from =P

Answer 19

to show something is isomorphic one must provide the isomorphism, this can never happen.

Answer 20

Why would you say it can never happen?

Answer 21

we must then understand the properties of the universe, all of them.

Answer 22

I think the statement "understand the properties of the universe" is an oxymoron, or self contradicting.

Answer 23

are you saying there is a limit to our understanding? that eventually we will reach a point where we can no longer understand anything further, as it is too abstract to quantify?

Answer 24

its a limit we cant obtain, but we can get ever closer.

Answer 25

so there is no cap

Answer 26

of course this is all my opinion.

Answer 27

like 1/x

Answer 28

Well, rigorously, all we can ascertain for now is that we cannot decide whether or not we can decide whether or not it is decidable that the universe is isomorphic to a universal Turing machine.

Answer 29

No wait, that's not right.

Answer 30

We cannot assert that, but we can't ascertain it either. So we should be in the nonasserting stage.