"Is our universe extremely unnatural, a weird permutation among countless other possibilities, observed for no other reason than that its special conditions allowed life to arise, or, are the properties of the universe are inevitable, predictable, that is, 'natural,' locking together into a sensible pattern?" This is the question, the great unknown, that preoccupies theoretical physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, N.J.
Our universe certainly seems special, but is it unique? One view, from concepts in String Theory, describes how inflation started and stopped, where the matter and energy came from in the first place, and how everything will continue with a different kind of bounce.
Surely you didn't think all of the matter and energy we see now was stuffed in a single Big Bang! As you may know, quantum mechanics proposes a roiling quantum foam energy field everywhere in the universe, and the right kind of energy spikes creates string/anti-string pairs. These pairs immediately annihilate each other, but I suggest a process similar to Hawking radiation that form permanent strings that are the basis of all the matter and energy we have. This is a Big Bang/Big Crunch cycle, over and over. Interestingly, this same process can be used to form the galaxies we see. Gravity is far too weak to cause anything to combine rather than flying apart from the enormous force of the Big Bang. Specifics for the physical creation of the universe and the galaxies are shown in my YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaxfuKXdhkg
Let's bring the question about consciousness in a little and just ask about personality. Any idea where your personality comes from? It's controlled in the prefrontal cortex of your brain, but no one has found where in the body it is. Personality is different from consciousness, because virtually any living thing can be considered conscious (go to food, avoid danger, etc.) but only some have personalities. Maybe String Theory has another view that also suggests a kind of eternal life for those living things, including you! Here's a YouTube about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMpCUqZxzrI
Our universe certainly seems special, but is it unique? One view, from concepts in String Theory, describes how inflation started and stopped, where the matter and energy came from in the first place, and how everything will continue with a different kind of bounce.
Surely you didn't think all of the matter and energy we see now was stuffed in a single Big Bang! As you may know, quantum mechanics proposes a roiling quantum foam energy field everywhere in the universe, and the right kind of energy spikes creates string/anti-string pairs. These pairs immediately annihilate each other, but I suggest a process similar to Hawking radiation that form permanent strings that are the basis of all the matter and energy we have. This is a Big Bang/Big Crunch cycle, over and over. Interestingly, this same process can be used to form the galaxies we see. Gravity is far too weak to cause anything to combine rather than flying apart from the enormous force of the Big Bang. Specifics for the physical creation of the universe and the galaxies are shown in my YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaxfuKXdhkg
Let's bring the question about consciousness in a little and just ask about personality. Any idea where your personality comes from? It's controlled in the prefrontal cortex of your brain, but no one has found where in the body it is. Personality is different from consciousness, because virtually any living thing can be considered conscious (go to food, avoid danger, etc.) but only some have personalities. Maybe String Theory has another view that also suggests a kind of eternal life for those living things, including you! Here's a YouTube about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMpCUqZxzrI