A Taxonomy and Census of Possible Worlds
Brian Holtz
2005-03-20 Last updated 2005-03-20
- How to specify a world
- regularities
- initial conditions
- exceptions
- A more-general way to specify a world
- A circumstance is a set of terms and their fixed properties and
relations that as a whole can be distinguished from other such sets and
identified with itself.
- A change is a relation between an ordered pair of
distinguishable circumstances and is defined by the two circumstances
that it relates.
- A law is a rule specifying that certain kinds of changes are
possible or mandatory.
- Does our universe contain infinite information?
- quantized space and time, Beckenstein Bound
- finite initial conditions, right?
- infinite information in quantum indeterminacy?
- Ways in which worlds can differ
- space and time
- infinite extent
- infinitely fine coordinates
- infinite number of dimensions?
- built-in minds (e.g. gods)
- how many bits to specify a mind?