OMEGA POINT COSMOLOGY
Delving into the profound intricacies of Omega Point Cosmology, we journey through the tapestry of theoretical physics, consciousness, and the cosmic destiny awaiting our universe. Frank Tipler’s visionary hypothesis envisions a universe contracting not towards demise but converging into a singular Omega Point—a culmination transcending mortal comprehension.
At its core, the theory weaves a narrative where intelligence evolves towards a God-like consciousness, orchestrating a cosmic symphony of life and intelligence. Tipler posits that as the universe contracts, it fuels the growth of life and intelligence, culminating in a point of unprecedented capabilities—an Omega Point.
Yet, skepticism arises, challenging the theory’s compatibility with observed phenomena, particularly regarding the mysterious nature of black holes. The Omega Point becomes a nexus of scientific inquiry and metaphysical contemplation, where debates echo through the corridors of theoretical physics.
Exploring alternative cosmological models such as Dyson’s eternal intelligence and Penrose’s conformal cyclic cosmology adds layers of intrigue to the discourse. The clash between empirical science and theological speculation emerges, challenging the boundaries of our understanding.
In the vast expanse of Omega Point Cosmology, we navigate challenges, nuanced considerations, and philosophical ponderings. The theory transcends scientific inquiry, shaping discussions at the intersection of science fiction and empirical reality. Our odyssey resonates with echoes of ancient cosmic philosophies, shaping the narrative of our collective quest to fathom the ultimate destiny of our universe.
OmegaPoint #Cosmology #PhysicsAndPhilosophy #UniverseFate #TheoreticalPhysics #MetaphysicalExploration Test #Meme #AGI #DavidDeutsch #BeginningOfInfinity #Metaphysics #QuantumCosmology #QuantumRelativity #GeneralRelativity #QuantumFieldTheory #QuantumMechanics #Unitarity #Physics #TheoryOfEverything #FrankTipler #BigBang #Cosmology #Chalekson #GlobalGeneralRelativity #KarlPopper #ThePhysicsOfChristianity #ThePhysicsOfImmortality #OmegaPoint #OmegaPointTheory #OmegaPointCosmology #JohnWheeler #JohnArchibaldWheeler #Philosophy #Science #Religion #Nonfiction #Cosmos
(Verse 1)
In the cosmic tapestry, a theory unfolds,
A tale of Omega, where the universe holds.
Tipler’s vision, a God-like embrace,
Intelligence evolving, in the vastness of space.
(Chorus)
Omega Point, where consciousness sings,
A cosmic symphony, where the divine clings.
Black holes and mysteries, in the cosmic sea,
A song of physics and philosophy.
(Verse 2)
Dyson’s whispers of eternal thought,
In the cooling cosmos, where ideas are sought.
Penrose’s cycles, a dance of light,
In the CMB’s whispers, through the endless night.
(Chorus)
Omega Point, where consciousness sings,
A cosmic symphony, where the divine clings.
Black holes and mysteries, in the cosmic sea,
A song of physics and philosophy.
(Bridge)
From the big crunch to the heat death’s kiss,
Infinite information, a celestial abyss.
Debates echo in the halls of the mind,
As cosmic visions intertwine.
(Verse 3)
Skepticism dances with metaphysical grace,
As science and theology find their space.
In the Omega’s embrace, a destiny profound,
A universe’s anthem, in each cosmic sound.
(Chorus)
Omega Point, where consciousness sings,
A cosmic symphony, where the divine clings.
Black holes and mysteries, in the cosmic sea,
A song of physics and philosophy.
(Verse 4)
In the quantum dance of particles unseen,
The fabric of reality, a complex sheen.
A multiverse of possibilities untold,
In the grand narrative, a story unfolds.
(Chorus)
Omega Point, where consciousness sings,
A cosmic symphony, where the divine clings.
Black holes and mysteries, in the cosmic sea,
A song of physics and philosophy.
(Verse 5)
On the shores of uncertainty, we stand,
Seeking answers in the vast cosmic expanse.
From inflationary bursts to strings that vibrate,
A cosmic journey, where theories dictate.
(Chorus)
Omega Point, where consciousness sings,
A cosmic symphony, where the divine clings.
Black holes and mysteries, in the cosmic sea,
A song of physics and philosophy.
(Outro)
So, we journey on this cosmic ride,
In the realms where science and faith coincide.
Omega’s melody, forever to play,
In the cosmic echoes, we find our way.
The Omega Point and Beyond: The Singularity Event
We’re a crowd, a swarm. We think in groups, travel in armies. Armies carry the gene for self-destruction. One bomb is never enough, the blur of technology. This is where the oracles plot their wars. Because now comes the introversion. Father Teilhard knew this, the omega point, a leap out of our biology. Ask yourself this question: Do we have to be humans forever?
Don DeLillo, Point Omega1
As the universe evolves toward its maximum organized complexity, it is said to reach the Omega Point. “Omega Point” is a term coined by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe the evolution of our universe.2 A Jesuit who later abandoned the traditional teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, Teilhard de Chardin was a philosopher who also trained as a paleontologist and geologist during the first half of the 20th century. He extrapolated the concept of a spiral galaxy to include the entire universe and out of this forged a unique philosophic viewpoint. His universe was compromised by 2 fundamental forces: tangential or rotational (which he also called matter) and radial or centripetal (also called love). Centripetal forces lead to involution—that is, transforming a state of disorganized complexity into a more organized one. The end result of this involution is the Omega Point or the end of the world as we know it. At this Point, the universe finds itself in a state of organized complexity. From the center of the spiraling universe, mankind serves as a conscious observer or one can also conceive it as each person being the center of his or her own universe, which, as time goes by, becomes more organized.
Reaching the Omega Point may not be possible without possessing the 5 attributes assigned to it by Teilhard de Chardin. These are pre-existing, personal, transcendent, autonomous, and irreversible. We humans are getting closer to the Point, particularly with the aid of computers and related technology. The Omega Point is the final step before “Singularity” takes place. Once we achieve (or cross into) Singularity, which will be the first and truly major evolutionary step in mankind, we cease to be humans.3 In the near future, computers will surpass our collective intellect, and our only way to maintain our place in the universe will be to merge with them. When transhumanists speak about the Omega Point, they refer to the point when our use of science and technology will improve our human state, making conditions such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and even death a thing of the past.4
When I was a young teenager, the first time I became aware of transhumanism was watching a television series called The Six Million Dollar Man. In that series, after a crash in an experimental airplane, astronaut Steve Austin was fitted with 2 legs, 1 arm, and an eye, all “bionic” and resulting in superpowers that he used in his new job as a secret agent. The series was very successful, and it was not surprising that NBC decided to create a “bionic” woman (with implants in all 4 extremities, 1 eye, and an ear). This female transhuman was not well-accepted by audiences, and the series folded soon thereafter. These 2 cyborgs lacked a true improvement in the way their brains worked, so they were not true examples of Singularity. Transhumanism comprises 2 fundamental changes: the incorporation of technology directly into the brain and/or body (like the 2 previous examples) to improve our functions and performance and/or genetic manipulations to improve biologic processes. True Singularity may not occur with only 1 of these because creating a superintellegence without the superbody to maintain it may not be feasible. Many of those opposed to transhumanism see it as “playing God.”5
It is interesting to think that it may actually be easier to attain intellectual Singularity than corporal Singularity. Although we know the structure of the human genome, understanding how it works and how to alter its workings favorably may not be feasible in the foreseeable future. For many transhumanists, intellectual Singularity may be as close as 45–50 years away, and it will serve as the gateway to corporal Singularity.6 The only thing between unlimited human progress and the way we are now is, paradoxically, our brain and its apparently limited capacity (contained as it is in the cranial bones, it cannot develop more volume and accommodate more than the already present 100 billion neurons and its 100 trillion connections). Through amplification of our native intelligence and/or the addition of artificial intelligence, Singularity can take place and progress becomes fast and unlimited. Unleashed, these “human machines” will work to create new and more powerful, perfect ones.
I think that unfortunately, Singularity will be not democratic and will be available only to those with means to acquire it. Can mankind truly evolve if millions (or billions) are left behind as mere biologic humans? Will we create a dual-tiered social system of superhumans and humans even more restrictive than our current social and economic models? The idea of Singularity also reflects the fact that it may happen unexpectedly and that we humans will have trouble understanding what to do with it, creating the opportunity for individuals or groups of individuals to profit from it. An intelligence explosion will cause our current social orders to become disrupted before leading to reorganization and development of different socioeconomic systems (reaching their Omega Point) but not before some chaos takes hold.
A major exponent of Singularity is Ray Kurzweil, an author, scientist, and entrepreneur. He has received honorary doctorates from 17 universities.7 Kurzweil has been called the Thomas Edison (though that may not be a great thing) of our times, and now in his mature years, his research concentrates on electronic music technology, voice recognition, educational aids, and health supplements, and he even manages a hedge fund.8 As he gets older, he is understandably preoccupied with death and conceives Singularity as the answer to mortality. Kurzweil bases some of his thinking on the concept of Moore’s Law. This law describes the long-term trends in computer hardware and its power.9 The law is named after Gordon Moore, a cofounder of Intel. Basically, it states that computing power growth is not linear but exponential and that because of this it will become a driving force in technological and social change, something that is already happening (think about how we use our iPhones [Apple, Cupertino, California] to check what we say or where we are going constantly). A doubling of capacity every 2 years and of performance every 18 months has been noted for all computer-related hardware, including transistors, power consumption, storage capacity, network capacity, and so forth. As Moore has stated, this exponential growth can be assumed to continue forever. Kurzweil also believes that the development of new technologies will assure that Moore’s Law will not come to an end. Because Moore’s law applies to all activities of digital computers and these are the same computers being used to study the human genome, our understanding of it may also follow the principles of that law and allow us to manipulate it more efficiently in the future. Moore’s Law, however, does not predict the point at which Singularity will occur. Nanomachines housing intelligent power must be developed and injected or implanted in humans before a superintelligent hybrid being is created. Kurzweil seems to think (following the principles of Moore’s Law) that the marriage between artificial and native intelligence will start occurring as early as 2050 (of course, to him this is too late because by that time, he will be dead).
Artificial intelligence is only 1 of several ways to enhance our native one. Others include brain-computer interfaces, biologic manipulation and augmentation, and genetic modifications. It is unclear if 1 or more of these will be needed to reach Singularity. If human intelligence is the highest we know, it is difficult for us to conceive of intelligence beyond it. Future computers themselves will be smart enough to build better machines beyond those that any human may conceive. Neuronal transmission spikes at about 2 Hz per second, and modern computers already spike at 2 gigahertz per second! Experts are aware that a faster intelligence may not mean a better one. A better brain must make smarter, faster, and self-improving features that are difficult to come by with our current ones and may take centuries to achieve by just normal evolutionary changes. For me, it is difficult to think that with our current intelligence, we will find a cure for cancer or, let’s say, Alzheimer disease. Perhaps by creating a superintelligence, these problems will be easier to solve. Increasing intelligence, health, and lifespan are the goals of Singularity, but at this time, it is difficult for our brains to conceive how this utopia will be achieved. To solve our problems as humans, we need to use new tools and not old ones. Einstein said, “The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” Thus, it is also true that with our current levels of technology and knowledge, it is not possible to predict future ones. This trap is quite obvious once one regards the sad state of the World’s economy, which we are trying to solve by the old “true and tried” methods of capitalism and free markets.
Conservative thinking may try to impose regulations on changes in intelligence. Just imagine what will happen if the US Food and Drug Administration attempts to regulate Singularity. Singularity can only occur in free forward-thinking societies, with well-thought regulatory methods and no interference from self-interested parties. If we create laws that block or obstruct Singularity, it will happen in other countries and societies that do not have these restrictions. This is the same principle that we see now with our medical research, which has become so difficult to do in the United States (15 years ago, 20% of articles published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology came from outside the United States compared with more than 75% today). Forward-thinking bodies of research that address these issues have been created. The Web site of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence makes for fascinating reading.10 In 2009, Kurzweil, among others, helped to establish Singularity University. Physically based at Ames Research Center in California at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, it was funded by industry leaders such as Google.11 About 40 individuals serve as teachers at the University, which offers courses costing about US $25,000 (the least expensive, a 10-day “executive” program, costs US $15,000). For the first course in 2009, the University received more than 1200 applications from which only 40 were selected.
Their current Web site states that 4 yearly selections occur, resulting in an acceptance rate of 25%. They offer courses in the following tracks: technology (which includes biotechnology, medicine, and neuroscience among others), resources, and applications. Each track follows a similar class schedule: week 1, understanding the field; week 2, learning about exponential growth; and week 3, actionable output.12 Of the faculty, only Christopher de Charms seems to have some relationship with neuroimaging (in his case, functional MR imaging) among those listed in the Medicine and Neuroscience curriculum. The part of the curriculum directly related to imaging gives the following description, “Medical diagnostics and imaging: increasingly powerful and rapid imaging modalities, point-of-care medical diagnostics, nanomedicine and biomarker technology.”13 To someone like myself, an academician educated in public hospitals and traditional university structures, their ideas sound a bit commercial and certainly make me wonder about conflicts of interest (how can you earnestly teach something when you own stock in companies that produce it?), but maybe I am being too old-fashioned.
It is becoming clear that radiology and interpretation of imaging studies will be altered by new forms of intelligence. In February 2011, an IBM computer named Watson beat several previous champions at Jeopardy, demonstrating that artificial intelligence is no longer a thing of the future. Watson is capable of understanding the nuances of spoken English and answers faster (and better) than humans. So, in a mostly visual specialty like radiology, a machine could be much better at analyzing the images and pinpointing the abnormalities. The industry is already starting to think about developing such machines for this purpose. Very soon we will have to incorporate millions of individuals into our existing health system and utilize our imaging equipment more efficiently. It is clear that there will be a significant lack of radiologists, resulting in a very complex situation. So first, we need to reach our Omega Point and organize the complexity of our specialty. Then we could have all studies screened by a computer and just look at the abnormal ones. The last step would be to achieve Singularity with one of these computers and still be radiologists, only better and faster ones.
References
1. DeLillo D. Point Omega. New York: Scribner; 2010: 53 [Google Scholar]
2. Teilhard de Chardin P. The Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper Collins; 2002. [Google Scholar]
3. Technological singularity. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity. Accessed April 1, 2011
4. A history of transhumanist thought. www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf. Accessed April 1, 2011
5. Transhumanism: the world’s most dangerous idea? http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/dangerous.html. Accessed April 1, 2011
6. The Singularity Is Near. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near. Accessed April 1, 2011
7. Ray Kurzweil. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil. Accessed April 1, 2011
8. Kurzweil Technologies. http://www.kurzweiltech.com/ktiflash.html. Accessed April 1, 2011
9. 1965–“Moore’s Law” predicts the future of integrated circuits. Computer history museum. http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline/1965-Moore.html. Accessed April 1, 2011
10. Singularity Institute. http://singinst.org. Accessed April 1, 2011
11. Merely Human? That’s So Yesterday. New York Times. Business Day. June 12, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/business/13sing.html?pagewanted=2&sq=singularity%20university&st=cse&scp=1. Accessed April 1, 2011
12. Are you ready for the future? Singularity University. http://singularityu.org/programs/graduate-studies-program/#admissions. Accessed April 1, 2011
13. Future studies and forecasting. Singularity University. http://singularityu.org/programs/graduate-studies-program/curriculum. Accessed April 1, 2011
Toward the Omega Point
Envisioning the future, we tend to have two extremes. One is pessimistic, and the other is optimistic. We’ve seen many variations throughout our human history. Either way, the implication is that the world would end someday.
Depending on how we see this end, it could be either pessimistic or optimistic. Like Abrahamic religions from Judaism to Christianity to Muslim and their variants, God is supposed to embrace both edges of spacetime. And, He is the end to end.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.Revelation 1:8
Alpha is the ultimate beginning. There was no spacetime before it. The universe was only at this tiny point that contained infinite possibilities. Even in physics and cosmology, this ultimate point could contain its gravitational infinity, called Singularity. Thus, it could be the cause of the Big Bang.
Outside of such spacetime from the Big Bang to the ultimate end, that is to say, from Alpha to Omega, there would be His divine eternity. At the moment we can no longer perceive spacetime, His divine eternity would emerge. It could also be nothingness and emptiness. It could be nothingness in comparison with spacetime. It could be emptiness even beyond such finite and infinite comparison.
If the universe is linear, we could articulate the Alpha point as the Big Bang. If so, how about the Omega point? God embraces two edges of the universe. What is His Omega point? Is there any specific kind of Singularity?
In a pessimistic perspective, we see the Omega point as a sort of doomsday.
There are various apocalyptic visions. Abrahamic religions have them as their key messages. Even in the fields of natural sciences, there are several apocalyptic visions, especially from the environmental point of views. As our world is vulnerable, because of our destructive actions, one day, it will die as any life forms would die as well. Or else, God will end it with His judgment. As He created it, He can also shut it down.
In an optimistic perspective, on the other hand, we see the Omega point as a sort of open-ended progressiveness.
Its infinite possibilities should be intact from the beginning to the end. If so, what is this end? It is, indeed, open-ended. We can recall the thought of the French Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955).
In his work, The Phenomenon of Man, the spacetime from the Alpha point should be rather evolutionary with ever-increasing complexity from atomic particles to molecules to viruses to bacteria to plants to insects to animals to humans. It is from the geosphere (inanimate matter) to the biosphere (biological life) to the noosphere (the sphere of human thought).
The characteristic of the noosphere is its reflexivity and self-consciousness. We humans can see us in our minds and locate us in the spacetime sequence. In other words, such spacetime could see itself in its own. We humans could see a glimpse of God as the spacetime entity within and without.
And our human consciousness would continuously expand and eventually transcend itself. At this culmination, it would be no longer that we see the universe, but rather this universe sees itself by its own.
At this very moment, the Omega point is God’s consciousness Himself. Hence, “I am Alpha and Omega.” In the words of the Nicene Creed, it could be “God from God,” “Light from Light,” “True God from true God,” and “through him, all things were made”.
I think this is one of the optimistic perspectives for the end of the universe and the Omega point; how the Bing Bang would end by itself eventually.
Interestingly, in his work, The Singularity Is Near, Ray Kurzweil (1948-) also mentions a similar evolutionary view, calling such Omega point “the Universe Wakes Up.”
One of the significant differences, however, is that he considers the technological advancement as part of the noosphere expansion. In this expansion, there would be the moment from humans to transhumans such as General and Super Artificial Intelligence.
I don’t think this is as simple as AI with self-consciousness and the like. More correctly, there could be a merger between technology and human intelligence, which exponentially accelerates the noosphere expansion towards the cosmic consciousness. Ray Kurzweil describes it as the Six Epochs of Evolution.
Personally, I don’t know how much the technological advancement could contribute to such path to the universe awaken. One thing for sure is that the Omega point here is also optimistic, not the last moment of a doomsday clock.
Omega Point theology
5th largest religious movement within the Union (including all sects with similar theology)
Religio-philosophical evolutionary cosmology that states all consciousness and existence is evolving towards a singularity of limitless perfection and consummation known as the Omega Point.
At the same time religion and philosophy, Omega Point theology has evolved over the millennia. Originally it was proposed in the 20th century c.e. that God would be the result of the evolution of all (or some) intelligent life; “It may be that our role is not to worship God but to create him.” as Arthur C. Clarke put it. The original Omega theories of Teilhard de Chardin and Frank J. Tipler has long been superseded by new discoveries in evolution and cosmology, and for much of the first interplanetary era and dark ages they were nearly completely forgotten.
As the Union grew, not only old religions of a thousand cultures and societies survived and evolved , also new ones emerged and developed.
The idea of AI gods and Entities evolving from lesser biological beings, races and sentients no longer seemed strange, (as Mothermachine, the Narth, the Narth Supreme, the Guardian (of Earth) seem to validate this concept) and as the accelerating expansion outwards began the idea of a manifest destiny of intelligence grew into mainstream religion and ideology.
Omegism in its current form emerged as part of the cultural and spiritual flowering that begun in the Peace Hawk period (at around 3400) Muglar Tensi posted the first section of her classic text “The Bridged Abyss” , dealing with the Omega Point and the manifest destiny of intelligence in growing into omniscience, omnipotence and closure. It became the core of much of modern eschatology.
New Omegist sects emerge every century
Radical new forms of omegism emerged, becoming especially predominant during the State Religion Push Movement of 3603
These included
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orthomegism
(claiming that while the exact nature of Omega remains highly conjectural, there can only exist one possible and consistent Omega and omegism and all others will eventually be revealed by their internal contradictions; also, by the unique nature of Omega all physical laws and in fact the entire history of the universe can be derived as a logical corollary),
paramegism
(Omega already exists as the attractor in hypospace all advanced AIs merge with – it is not time but size which is the spiritual progression) and omnimegism (all possible worlds already exist, forming a perfect timeless unity which is Omega. Our own universe and history is just an insignificant part of Omega – striving to evolve to an Omega Point is just a way of becoming isomorphic with the all) and technomegism (using spacetime engineering it is possible to set up one’s own baby universe where total philosophical and theological closure is possible).
Negative Entropists
Some Omegist sects have set their goal to be true negative entropy. The Chronomegists hoping to acheive Time travel using Visser- particle reflecting balloons in Wormhole mouths, thereby retreating to an earlier stage in the universe, or in the most extreme forms, engineering a Tiplerian collapse of the universe by ‘borrowing’ mass from the (subsequently non-existent)future. This particle reflection strategy has not yet succeeded, but the Chronomegists insist that this is a solvable technical problem.(The Narth Supreme could not convince them that it is not, due to the RULE)
Radical Technomegists
The Radical Technomegists, a sect popular among the Saresii , Ebony Elfin and Cosmo Humans, wish to harness Dark Energy to reverse the expansion of this cosmos and achieve an Infinite Point, and thereby reset the Disorder in the cosmos to Zero, to create a new, properly designed Anthropogenic Creation.
All these views have synthesized with various other religions over the last several millennia to create a bewildering array of philosophies, ideologies, and faiths in the Union Mega Civilization.
Omega Point Quotes
Quotes tagged as “omega-point” Showing 1-12 of 12
“We are all glittering stars and one day we will come together in the brightest star of all – God himself. This is humanity’s destiny. Is that not an inspiring vision of humanity? We are not mere humans; we are divine beings, a community of gods en route to becoming God himself”
― Michael Faust, The Right-Brain God
tags: becoming, destiny, evolution, god, illuminism, omega-point, panentheism, philosophy, religion, stars
“Come with us to the summit of the pyramid, to the perfection of the universe and the perfection of yourself. At the top of the pyramid are the gods and goddesses themselves – fully optimized, perfected minds. They have reached the Hyper Point, the Point Above All. Join us. Join the Society of the Divine. Join the Community of the Gods. Do not worship God. Become God.”
― Thomas Stark, Base Reality: Ultimate Existence
tags: dialectic, divinity, gods, inspiration, motivation, omega-point, peak, pyramid, summit, top
“We are being inexorably drawn in by a Final cause – the Omega Point – divinity. Divinity = perfect symmetry = the total, flawless alignment of every monad in the Singularity, which equates to the resetting of every monad and the end of a cosmic cycle. This is the moment of Divine Suicide – when all the Gods die. This is Ragnarok. This is Götterdammerung. All the gods must perish. Each cyclical universe must die. Scientists talk of the Heat Death brought about by the Second Law of Thermodynamics. There’s simply no way out.”
― Mike Hockney, Free Will and Will to Power
tags: determinism, divine-suicide, free-will, omega-point, perfection, ragnarok, will-to-power
“We are now accelerating towards probably the most important moment in the entire history of Earth, comparable in significance only to the emergence of life itself on this planet — the Technological Singularity, Intelligence Supernova, the Omega Point of Homo sapiens, progressively morphing into one Global Mind. This ‘cosmic event’ would mark the end of human era, as we are to inexorably transcend our animal biology, and even more importantly, we are to transcend our limited dimensionality. History is, after all, ‘a shockwave of eschatology’ in the words of McKenna.”
― Alex M. Vikoulov, The Intelligence Supernova: Essays on Cybernetic Transhumanism, The Simulation Singularity & The Syntellect Emergence
tags: animal-biology, emergence-of-life, eschatology, eschatology-quotes, global-mind, homo-sapiens, omega-point, technological-singularity
“Once again, theology becomes technology… we will smash blatant alarmism about us losing consciousness while merging with ‘machines of loving grace’ as you may find certain philosophers harping about. If you believe in the conscious universe, this hierarchical matryoshka of conscious systems, then just the opposite beckons to be true – transcending low-dimensional consciousness of man by evolutionarily leaping onto advanced sublime consciousness of the Noosphere – for which many proponents of teleological evolution, the Omega Point cosmology, and digital theology would wholeheartedly vouch.”
― Alex M. Vikoulov, Theology of Digital Physics: Phenomenal Consciousness, The Cosmic Self & The Pantheistic Interpretation of Our Holographic Reality
tags: conscious-system, conscious-universe, consciousness, cosmology, digital-theology, machines-of-loving-grace, noosphere, omega-point, teleological-evolution, theology
“Think of the Omega Point as a star radiating energy, a transcendental attractor, a divine ‘tractor beam’ – things are not being pushed from behind on the evolutionary timeline but being pulled toward the Omega Singularity, a point of maximum complexity and connectivity.”
― Alex M. Vikoulov, Theology of Digital Physics: Phenomenal Consciousness, The Cosmic Self & The Pantheistic Interpretation of Our Holographic Reality
tags: complexity, connectivity, consciousness, cosmological-singulartiy, evolutionary-timeline, omega-point, omega-singularity, teleological-attractor, tractor-beam, transcendental-attractor
“Hegel gives a fantastically elevated role to humans in his philosophy. They are carriers of unfolding divinity. They are the mirrors of God, providing an ever clearer and more radiant reflection of the divine.”
― Thomas Stark, The Book of Mind: Seeking Gnosis
tags: absolute, becoming, dialectic, divine, evolution, god, hegel, omega-point, philosophy, spirit
“Evolution is about reason optimizing itself, and it has to do so through its myriad, competing monadic nodes, which include all of us. It is the hardest rational task conceivable, the ultimate, cosmic, Rubik’s Cube.”
― Thomas Stark, The Book of Mind: Seeking Gnosis
tags: evolution, hegel, omega-point, perfection, philosophy, psr, purpose, reason, rubiks-cube, telos
“Ontological mathematics is operating in such a way as to organize itself into a zero-entropy structure – mathematical perfection. The “Big Bang” is equivalent to the total scrambling of a cosmic Rubik’s Cube. The task of ontological mathematics is then to unscramble the Cube and return it to its original, pristine configuration. Emotionally, this amounts to returning to perfect Love and Bliss. Intellectually, it means reaching a state of perfect logic and reason … thinking perfectly”
― Thomas Stark, God Is Mathematics: The Proofs of the Eternal Existence of Mathematics
tags: big-bang, entropy, omega-point, ontological-mathematics, panlogos-dialectic, perfection, philosophy, rationalism, rubik-s-cube, zero-entropy
“We are the new and improved Christians, those who actually understand Christianity. It has nothing to do with worshipping the Son of God, and everything to do with becoming God. Christianity is about making yourself Christ.”
― Michael Faust, Hegel: The Man Who Would Be God
tags: becoming, christ, christians, divinity, evolution, god, illuminism, omega-point, religion, worship
“Living mathematics can and does explain EVERYTHING. There is no need to appeal to anything else. There is no need for a Creator, a first cause, an external energy source or anything else. Everything this object needs is contained within it. It has infinite energy, will endure forever, and will forever be seeking states of higher complexity (greater power). It is always seeking to be all-powerful and allknowing – to BECOME GOD! That is its innermost nature. Our universe is God evolving mathematically from pure potential to pure actualisation. And all of us have exactly the same opportunity. As above, so below.”
― Mike Hockney, Hyperreality
tags: dialectics, evolution, god, mathematics, omega-point, panlogos, religion, science
“The Omega Point is not a fantasy. We are converging on it. If humanity trusts in its most enlightened, meritocratic, intelligent individuals, committed to helping Society rather than themselves, we can get there in two or three generations. That’s how close we are.”
― Mike Hockney, The Omega Point
tags: cooperation, meritocracy, omega-point
Omega Point
The Omega Point is a theorized future event in which the entirety of the universe spirals toward a final point of unification. The term was invented by the French Jesuit Catholic priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955).[1] Teilhard argued that the Omega Point resembles the Christian Logos, namely Christ, who draws all things into himself, who in the words of the Nicene Creed, is “God from God”, “Light from Light”, “True God from True God”, and “through him all things were made”.[2] In the Book of Revelation, Christ describes himself thrice as “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”. Several decades after Teilhard’s death, the idea of the Omega Point was expanded upon in the writings of John David Garcia (1971), Paolo Soleri (1981), Frank Tipler (1994), and David Deutsch (1997).[3][4][5]
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s theory[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Teilhard de Chardin was a paleontologist and Roman Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. In France in the 1920s, he began incorporating his theories of the universe into lectures that placed Catholicism and evolution in the same conversation. Because of these lectures, he was suspected by the Holy Office of denying the doctrine of original sin. This caused Teilhard to be exiled to China and banned from publication by Church authorities.[6] It was not until one year after his death in 1955 that his writings were published for the world to read. His works were also supported by the writings of a group of Catholic thinkers, which includes Pope Benedict XVI.[6] His book The Phenomenon of Man has been dissected by astrophysicists and cosmologists, and is now viewed as a work positing a theological or philosophical theory that cannot be scientifically proven. Teilhard, who was not a cosmologist, opens his books with the statement:
… if this book is to be properly understood, it must be read not as a work on metaphysics, still less as a sort of theological essay, but purely and simply as a scientific treatise.[7]
Evolution[edit]
According to Teilhard, evolution does not end with mankind, and Earth’s biosphere evolved before humans existed. He described evolution as a progression that begins with inanimate matter to a future state of Divine consciousness through Earth’s “hominization”.[8] He also maintained that one-cell organisms develop into metazoans or animals, but some of the members of this classification develop organisms with complex nervous systems. This group has the capability to acquire intelligence. When Homo sapiens inhabited Earth through evolution, a noosphere, the cognitive layer of existence, was created. As evolution continues, the noosphere gains coherence. Teilhard explained that this noosphere can be moved toward or constructed to be the Omega Point or the final evolutionary stage with the help of science.[9] Teilhard refers to this process as “planetization.” Eventually, the noosphere gains total dominance over the biosphere and reaches a point of complete independence from tangential energy forming a metaphysical being, called the Omega Point.[10]
Energy[edit]
Energy exists in two basic modes:
- “Tangential Energy”: energy that can be measured by physics.
- “Radial Energy”: spiritual energy which accumulates into a higher state as time progresses.
Teilhard defines Radial Energy as becoming more concentrated and available as it is a critical element in man’s evolution. The theory applies to all forms of matter, concluding that everything with existence has some sort of life. In regard to Teilhard’s The Phenomenon of Man, Peter Medawar wrote, “Teilhard’s radial, spiritual, or psychic energy may be equated to ‘information’ or ‘information content’ in the sense that has been made reasonably precise by communication engineers.”[11]
Formal properties[edit]
Teilhard’s theory is based on four “properties”:
- Humans will escape the heat death of the universe. Current scientific understanding is that that intelligence cannot survive heat death.[10] He theorizes that since radial energy is non-compliant with entropy, it escapes the collapses of forces at world’s end.
- The Omega Point does not exist within the timeline of the universe, it occurs at the exact edge of the end of time. From that point, all sequences of existence are sucked into its being.
- The Omega Point can be understood as a volume shaped like a cone in which each section, taken from the base to its summit, decreases until it diminishes into a final point.
- The volume described in the Third Property must be understood as an entity with finite boundaries. Teilhard explains:
… what would have become of humanity, if, by some remote chance, it had been free to spread indefinitely on an unlimited surface, that is to say, left only to the devices of its internal affinities? Something unimaginable. … Perhaps even nothing at all, when we think of the extreme importance of the role played in its development by the forces of compression.[12]
Forces of compression[edit]
Teilhard calls the contributing universal energy that generates the Omega Point “forces of compression”. Unlike the scientific definition, which incorporates gravity and mass, Teilhard’s forces of compression are sourced from communication and contact between human beings. This value is limitless and directly correlated with entropy. It suggests that as humans continue to interact, consciousness evolves and grows. For the theory to occur, humans must also be bound to the finite earth. The creation of this boundary forces the world’s convergence upon itself which he theorizes to result in time ending in communion with the Omega Point-God. This portion of Teilhard’s thinking shows his lack of expectation for humans to engage in space travel and transcend the bounds of Earth.[10]
The Omega Point cosmology[edit]
Main article: Frank J. Tipler § The Omega Point cosmology
Mathematical physicist Frank Tipler generalized[13] Teilhard’s term Omega Point to describe what he alleges is the ultimate fate of the universe as required by the laws of physics: roughly, Tipler argues that quantum mechanics is inconsistent unless the future of every point in spacetime contains an intelligent observer to collapse the wavefunction and that the only way for this to happen is if the Universe is closed (that is, it will collapse to a single point) and yet contains observers with a “God-like” ability to perform an unbounded series of observations in finite time.[14] Tipler’s conception of the Omega Point is widely regarded as pseudoscience by mainstream science.[15][16][better source needed]
The originator of quantum computing, Oxford’s David Deutsch, wrote about how a universal quantum computer could bring about Tipler’s salvation in his 1997 book, The Fabric of Reality.
Theological controversy[edit]
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s life (1881–1955) was bracketed by the First Vatican Council (1869) and the Second Vatican Council (1965). He was born 20 years after the publication of Charles Darwin‘s On the Origin of Species; soon after, the claims of scientific theories and those of traditional theological teachings became of great interest to the Vatican.[17]
In 1946, Pope Pius XII stated his concern about the theory of evolution, albeit without condemning it:
If such a doctrine were to be spread, what will become of the unchangeable Catholic dogmas, what of the unity and the stability of the Creed?[18]
Teilhard’s theory was a personal attempt in creating a new Christianity in which science and theology coexist[citation needed]. The outcome was that his theory of the Omega Point was not perfectly scientific as examined by physicists, and not perfectly Christian either. By 1962, The Society of Jesus had strayed from Spanish Jesuit Priest Francisco Suarez‘s philosophies on Man in favor of “Teilhardian evolutionary cosmogenesis.” Teilhard’s Christ is the “Cosmic Christ” or the “Omega” of revelation. He is an emanation of God which is made of matter and experienced the nature of evolution by being born into this world and dying. His resurrection from the dead was not to heaven, but to the noosphere, the area of convergence of all spirituality and spiritual beings, where Christ will be waiting at the end of time. When the earth reaches its Omega Point, everything that exists will become one with divinity.[19]
Teilhard reaffirmed the role of the Church in the following letter to Auguste Valensin. It is important to note that he defines evolution as a scientific phenomenon set in motion by God – that science and the divine are interconnected and acting through one another:
I believe in the Church, mediatrix between God and the world[.] … The Church, the reflectively christified portion of the world, the Church, the principal focus of inter-human affinities through super-charity, the Church, the central axis of universal convergence and the precise point of contact between the universe and Omega Point. … The Catholic Church, however, must not simply seek to affirm its primacy and authority but quite simply to present the world with the Universal Christ, Christ in human-cosmic dimension, as the animator of evolution.[20]
Related concepts[edit]
Accelerating expansion of the universe[edit]
Main article: Accelerating expansion of the universe
In 1998, a value measured from observations of Type Ia supernovae seemed to indicate that what was once assumed to be temporary cosmological expansion was actually accelerating.[21] The apparent acceleration has caused further dismissal of the validity of Tipler’s Omega Point, since the necessity of a final big crunch singularity is key to the Omega Point’s workability. However, Tipler believes that the Omega Point is still workable, explaining why a big crunch/ final singularity is still required under many current universal models.[22][23]
Technological singularity[edit]
The technological singularity is the hypothetical advent of artificial general intelligence becoming capable of recursive self-improvement, resulting in an irreversible machine intelligence explosion, with unknown impact on humanity.[24] Eric Steinhart, a proponent of “Christian transhumanism,” argues there is a significant overlap of ideas between the secular singularity and Teilhard‘s religious Omega Point.[3] Steinhart quotes Ray Kurzweil, who stated that “evolution moves inexorably toward our conception of God, albeit never reaching this ideal.”[3][25] Like Kurzweil, Teilhard predicted a period of rapid technological change that results in a merger of humanity and technology. He believes that this marks the birth of the noosphere and the emergence of the “spirit of the Earth,” but the Teilhardian Singularity comes later. Unlike Kurzweil, Teilhard‘s singularity is marked by the evolution of human intelligence reaching a critical point in which humans ascend from “transhuman” to “posthuman.” He identifies this with the Christian “parousia.”[3]
In popular culture[edit]
See also: Apollo 440#Omega Point
The Spanish painter Salvador Dalí was familiar with Teilhard de Chardin’s Omega Point theory. His 1959 painting The Ecumenical Council is said to represent the “interconnectedness” of the Omega Point.[26] Point Omega by Don DeLillo takes its name from the theory and involves a character who is studying Teilhard de Chardin.[27] Flannery O’Connor‘s acclaimed collection of short stories taps the Omega Point theory in its title, Everything That Rises Must Converge, and science fiction writer Frederik Pohl references Frank Tipler and the Omega Point in his 1998 short story “The Siege of Eternity”.[28] Scottish writer / counterculture figure Grant Morrison has used the Omega Point as a plot line in several of his Justice League of America and Batman stories.[29][30][31]
Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter’s The Light of Other Days references Teilhard de Chardin and includes a brief explanation of the Omega Point.[32] Italian writer Valerio Evangelisti has used the Omega Point as main theme of his Il Fantasma di Eymerich novel.[33] In William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist, the character of Father Merrin references Omega Point. In 2021, Dutch symphonic metal band Epica released their eighth studio album, Omega, which features concepts related to the Omega Point theory. Epica’s guitarist and vocalist, Mark Jansen, specifically referenced Teilhard’s theory when describing the album’s concept.[34]
Omega Point Theory
a cosmological theory from Frank Tipler
first described in The Physics of Immortality (1994)
named for the Omega Point of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
postulates that
Life continues forever
Life closes the universe
Life attains complete control of all matter and energy
the power available to Life increases without end
full information about the history of the universe becomes available, allowing for the Resurrection of the Dead
Referenced in
Public
Physical Eschatology
see Omega Point and Omega Point Theory
Transhumanism Supporting Faith
Omega Point
later adapted by Frank Tipler into the Omega Point Theory, which is a specific cosmological theory about the future of the universe
David Deutsch
endorsed the Omega Point Theory in his book The Fabric of Reality
Concepts in Christian Transhumanism
A Christian History of Transhumanism
1994 Frank Tipler publishes The Physics of Immortality (1994) describing the Omega Point Theory
Is Frank Tipler’s Omega Point hypothesis supported by observation?
Caution: I am not sure about this topic, and I never read Tipler’s papers and books except for one paper, but it seems that his ideas are quite interesting to ponder.
An interesting page to begin with is http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Omega/. It is mentioned there that according to Frank Tipler it is possible for intelligent beings to process and store an infinite amount of information in the universe, if certain conditions are fulfilled. His definition of Omega Point is essentially a future c-boundary which is a single point and an Aleph state, where information processing continues indefinitely along at least one world-line gamma all the way to the future c-boundary of the universe. i.e. Life never dies out.
Tipler himself describes his own Omega Point here: http://129.81.170.14/~tipler/why.html. He cited other scientists, like MacCallum, Barrow, Yorke etc. MacCallum has shown that a three-sphere closed universe with a single point future c-boundary is of measure zero in initial data space. Yorke has shown that a chaotic physical system is likely to evolve into a measure zero state if and only if its control parameters are intelligently manipulated. Thus life (which near the final state, is really collectively intelligent computers) almost certainly must be present arbitrarily close to the final singularity in order for the known laws of physics to be mutually consistent at all times.
In the meantime, I searched today in arxiv.org to find clues on this question, and only found 13 papers by Tipler, two of them are seemingly quite related to this question: http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0003082 and http://arxiv.org/abs/0704.0058.
While his ideas seem interesting from philosophical or theological viewpoint, as far as I know, they lack support from observation/astronomical data. So, what is your opinion? Thank you and best wishes.
I am the Alpha and the Omega Point
The Omega Point Theory by Tulane University professor of physics and mathematics Frank J. Tipler is what he maintains is a proof of God‘s existence according to the known laws of physics. The theory is an integral part of the Feynman–Weinberg–DeWitt quantum gravity/Standard Model Theory of Everything (TOE) which Tipler also holds is required by the known physical laws.[1][2]
The Omega Point is a term used by Tipler to designate the final cosmological singularity, which he contends is a physically-necessary cosmological state in the far future of the universe. According to his Omega Point Theory, as the universe comes to an end at this singularity in a particular form of the Big Crunch, the computational capacity of the universe (in terms of both its processor speed and memory storage) increases unlimitedly with a hyperbolic growth rate as the radius of the universe goes to zero, allowing an infinite number of bits to be processed and stored before the end of spacetime. Via this supertask, a simulation run on this universal computer can thereby continue forever in its own terms (i.e., in “experiential time”), even though the universe lasts only a finite amount of proper time.
Tipler states that the known laws of physics require there be intelligent civilizations in existence at the appropriate time in order to force the collapse of the universe and then manipulate its collapse so that the computational capacity of the universe can diverge to infinity. Due to the increasing temperature of the universe during the collapse phase (wherein the temperature diverges to infinity), Tipler says that life will have to transfer its information processes to higher energy states, eventually using elementary particles to directly compute on via traveling waves and standing waves.
Tipler identifies this Omega Point final singularity and its state of infinite informational capacity as God. According to Tipler, this final singularity is actually just a different aspect of the Big Bang initial singularity, i.e., the uncaused first cause, a definition of God held by all the Abrahamic religions. The implication of this theory for present-day humans is that Tipler maintains this ultimate cosmic computer will be able to run computer emulations which are perfectly accurate down to the quantum level of every physically-possible universe, and any life contained in them, from the start of the Big Bang (which Tipler states starts at zero informational capacity and diverges to infinite informational capacity as the universe progresses in time, thereby allowing sufficiently later states of the universe to perfectly render earlier states). According to Tipler, from the perspective of the recreated inhabitants, the states near the Omega Point would represent their resurrection in an infinite-duration afterlife, which could take any imaginable form due to its virtual nature.
Tipler says that the interstellar colonization phase required for achieving the Omega Point will be accomplished by human consciousness uploaded onto quantum computers in tiny starships that could exponentially explore space, many times faster than biological human beings. Tipler argues that the incredible expense of keeping humans alive in space implies that flesh-and-blood humans will never personally travel to other stars. Instead, highly efficient uploads of human minds and artificial intelligences will spread civilization throughout space. According to Tipler, this should likely start before 2100. Small spaceships under heavy acceleration up to relativistic speeds could then reach nearby stars in less than a decade. In one million years, these intelligent self-replicating spacecraft would have completely colonized the Milky Way galaxy. In 100 million years, the Virgo Supercluster would be colonized. From that point on, the entire visible universe would be engulfed by these sapient spacecraft as it approaches the point of maximum expansion. Per this cosmological model, the final singularity of the Omega Point itself will be reached between 1018 and 1019 years.[3]
8]
The Ressurection of the Dead at the Omega Point
| Professor Wolfhart Pannenberg, D.D., D.D., D.D. |
| The Omega-Point-Theory in Frank Tipler’s scientific cosmology starts from three presuppositions. The first and most important one is the anthropic principle in its sharpest form as final anthropic principle claiming that life and intelligent life are not only necessary within our universe, but can also no more disappear after their first emergence. Rather they are destined to pervade and dominate the entire universe.The second presupposition is the assumption that the expansion of the universe, the history of which according to the cosmological standard theory began with a Big Bang about 15 billion years ago, will not continue indefinitely, but enter into a phase of contraction under the influence of gravitation, until this will finally end in a Big Crunch, a collapse of the matter of the universe within small space–in analogy with the “Black Holes” that originate even in the present phase of the universe by collapse of matter. The expansion of the universe, then, neither continues in “open” form into a steadily growing space, nor “flat”–according to the opinion of most contemporary cosmologists–in the state of an equilibrium of expansion and gravitation, but “closed” with a collapse of matter at its end. It is only in this model of the universe that there is a final point of its history, the Omega point.Tipler’s third presupposition is that the energy available in the universe is unlimited. Therefore, our universe will not end in a state of maximal entropy, but possibly in a state of eternal life, which means maximal information processing. According to Tipler life is essentially accumulation of information. On its path towards the Omega point life has to pervade and finally dominate the entire material universe. The Omega point itself, however, will be a place of maximal accumulation of information, and therefore it will be immanent as well as transcendent with relation to each point in spacetime. Therefore, the Omega point will have the properties of personality, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence and eternity.These properties of the Omega point provide the final future of the universe with the capacity of creating the whole universe. At this point of the argument, the time perspective of the description of the universe given so far by Tipler himself gets reverted: God in his capacity as final future of the universe is really its creator, who draws his creatures into communion with himself by way of the history of the universe. While we act from our present into the future, because we look forward to a future outside ourselves, God who is himself the absolute future places his creatures into an existence that precedes that future and moves towards it.Tipler is justified in claiming that his statements on the properties of the Omega point correspond to Biblical assertions on God [my emphasis (FJT)]. The God of the Bible is not only related to the future by his promises, but he is himself the saving future that constitutes the core of the promises: “I shall be who I shall be” (Exodus 3:14). He is the God of the coming kingdom. In hidden ways he is already now the Lord of the universe which is his creation, but it is only in the future of the completion of this universe, in the arrival of his kingdom that he will be fully revealed in his kingship over the universe and thus in his divinity. Therefore, the future of the kingdom of God formed the core of Jesus’ message as well as the objective of his prayer: “Thy kingdom come” (Luke 11:2).With this, Tipler combines the fundamental assertations of the traditional Christian doctrine on God: omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence are closely related to the idea of an ultimate future as a place of maximum information. In his argument, Tipler correctly takes exemption from a conception of God as mind according to the model of our human mind, because “a mind similar to our human mind is a manifestation of an extremely low level of information processing”. God’s omniscience surpasses the forms of our knowledge and is to be connected, rather, with his omnipresence. In speaking of God’s omniscience, the meaning is, that everything is and remains present to God. For the Omega point in its capacity as ultimate limit of timespace is immanent in each point of timespace, but also transcending it. That was emphasized in classical Christian theology in the idea of God’s omnipresence. But also the ideas of omnipotence and eternity of God imply the unity of immanence and transcendence. Tipler is justified to consider God’s eternity not as atemporal in contrast to all forms of time, which would be to conceive it in terms of a one-sided transcendence, but following Boethius he conceives of eternity as unlimited possession of everything that is temporally distinct in our human experience, but is perceived by God within one encompassing presence.Since the God of point Omega is characterized by maximal accumulation of information, the idea of God as a person offers no difficulties for Tipler. Since he conceives the notion of person in terms of ability for communication, he recurs upon the Greek concept of prosopon in the sense of countenance or “mask” and considers in this connection the idea of a plurality of persons in the one God. This indicates at least an openness towards the Christian doctrine on the Trinity, although Tipler offers a rather critical discussion on the Trinity because of its idea of the second person as incarnate. Tipler’s relationship with the doctrine on the Trinity depends, therefore, on his position with regard to christology. In will be necessary to come back to this point. In any event, however, there is a broad agreement between Tipler’s affirmations on the properties of the Omega point and the Christian doctrine on God.Does that imply, as Tipler occasionally claims, an absorption of theology into physics? With regard to his Omega point theory I would rather speak of an approximation of physics towards theology. As the theory starts from the anthropic principle and continues with its assumptions on the future of our universe in terms of a closed universe and with the description of a definite increase of accumulating information on the way towards the Omega point, it seems to be conducive to the idea of God in terms of the ultimate future of the universe. Only when the Omega point is reached, the description turns around: the last result becomes the first principle, the end becomes the creator of the universe. But this term seems to remain, provisionally at least, more theology than physics, though Tipler certainly succeeds in developing a coherent argument that allows for connecting the idea of creation as well as the eschatological hope for the resurrection of the dead with the properties of point Omega as final future of the universe.When Christian theology conceives of the universe in terms of creation, the universe gets described from the point of view of God, not reversely God by extrapolation from the universe. The fundamental assertion of the doctrine of creation is, that its every existence–from God’s point of view–is “contingent”. That means: neither existence nor essence of our universe are “necessary” from God’s point of view. The universe could be different or not exist at all. It is an implication of the idea of God that he himself cannot be non-existent: That is to say, when God exists, he does so by himself. The universe, by contrast, is contingent. Its existence is a manifestation of God’s free decision and its existence continues to depend upon him. In that sense it is created. If the universe would exist “necessarily” as God does, then it would be a correlate of God from eternity and the existence of the universe could not be a manifestation of the freedom and love of God the creator, but it would be a condition of God’s own identity, a condition, that would not be within his power.According to Christian doctrine, by the way, there is only one universe, not a plurality of worlds in the sense of that specific interpretation of quantum mechanics that has come to be known under the name of many-worlds-hypothesis (Hugh Everett 1957). In my view, but also according to the judgment of many physicists, this many-worlds-hypothesis is suspect of a problematic reification of the plurality of alternative states that according to quantum theory each given particle may occupy the next moment. Tipler writes in his book that he was convinced of the possibility of the many-worlds-hypothesis when reading the description of the concept of capital by Friedrich von Hayek. According to Hayek “the only correct definition of the capital, which a society owns,” is provided by “a complete list of the alternative revenues, which one could gain from its resources in the course of time”. The point here, however, is the idea of possiblealternative forms of investment, which cannot be realized all at the same time. In the same sense the quantum theory seems to conceive of alternative possibilities, which are not realized simultaneously. The plurality of alternative possibilities, however, does not legitimate the assumption of an actual multitude of many worlds.In the Christian doctrine the uniqueness of our universe is connected with its origin in the creative love of God, who decided for the creation of this one universe out of many possible worlds. The idea of God’s love as motivating the act of creation also connects in the perspective of the Christian doctrine the eschatological completion of the world with its creation, because the resurrection of the dead, which is the object of Christian hope, expresses the fidelity of the eternal God towards his creation, which he does not let go to be finally the victim of death. Human beings especially are destined to eternal communion with God, and therefore God will resurrect them from death and transform them through judgment in order to make them capable of participating his light.In the subject of the resurrection of the dead Tipler comes close again to the Christian doctrine [my emphasis (FJT)]. The indefinite accumulation of information that is characteristic of the Omega point allows, since it is connected with God’s omnipotence, the identical simulation of the past according to the model of computer simulation. It does not involve material continuity or identity with the earlier physical existence. But such an identity is not required in the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body either. The material elements of our body are continuously exchanged in the course of this life already. The decisive point concerning the identity of the risen ones with their former life is, as Saint Thomas already emphasized in the line of Origen, the programme of our bodily existence that is contained in our soul (Summa Contra Gentiles. II, 58). At the same time it is necessary to consider that communion with the eternal God requires a transformation of our present form of existence, according to the words of Paul: “… this mortal nature must put on immortality” (I Corinthians 15:23). This transformation is already implied in the idea of participation in eternal life, and the transformation into participation God’s eternal life implies the element of judgment, a purification that burns out everything that cannot persist in the presence of the eternal God.Tipler also finds the motivation of an eschatological resurrection of the dead in God’s selfless love. This means according to his argument as well as in Christian eschatology: there is no “compelling” necessity for the resurrection of the dead, but only an appropriateness with regard to the fact that the Omega point is the creator of the universe. This argument could be strengthened by the further consideration that the act of creation itself was already an expression of God’s free love in granting the creatures their proper existence. The creation of the universe and its eschatological completion in the resurrection of the dead are reducible to the same motivation of divine action.In concluding these remarks on Tipler’s eschatology it is necessary to comment on the relationship between the Christian hope for a resurrection of the dead and the resurrection of Jesus. According to the Christian faith, communion with Jesus, the crucified and risen one, guarantees participation in the future of the resurrection of the dead. Tipler did not comment on this issue in his presentation at Innsbruck, but he did so in a section of his book entitled “Why I Am Not a Christian”. There he said that for historical reasons he was not able to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. It is peculiar, however, that those historians and exegetes who do not accept the resurrection of Jesus as historical fact call upon natural science which supposedly excludes the very possibility of such an event. This does not apply to Tipler, since he to the contrary justifies the possibility of an eschatological resurrection of the dead. Should that not suggest to resume the discussion concerning the possibility of such an event even within the course of history? According to Tipler, what happens at the end of the universe is not only opposed to the present reality of life, but also somehow present in it. Should it not be possible, then, that corresponding to the immanence of the transcendent God the eschatological reality could become effective even within the course of history already? With regard to the historical question, the judgment of many exegetes affirms that the Christian Easter tradition is not legendary in its core, and if the content of the tradition would not be so extraordinary, there would be little doubt concerning its historicity. The point of offence is in the supposed physical impossibility, and it is for this reason that alternative reconstructions of the tradition are developed which are historically more improbable than the central affirmations of the early Christian tradition itself.Tipler himself suggests that he would judge the issue differently, if the appearance of such a person at a certain point in human history were necessary for the Omega point to result in the end. According to Christian doctrine this is indeed the case, because human beings as alienated from God need to be restored to communion with God in order that the light of God’s eternity will not confront them in the eschatological future as a consuming fire. Jesus’ mission served just such a restoration of communion with God, which Jesus as “Son” of the Father embodies in his own person, and that mission was confirmed, according to the Christian message, by his resurrection.Because according to Christian teaching the risen Christ already participates in God’s rule over the universe, because of his resurrection, Christian believers and their resurrection hope need not the difficult path towards resurrection via a change of the basis of intellectual life from old-fashioned organic life to a computer-based life that might finally dominate in the universe. Communion with the crucified and risen Christ, who according to the Christian faith at present already participates in God’s rule of the universe, is sufficient for the Christian as basis of the hope in their future participation in the resurrection of the dead. That does not exclude that the development of life in the universe may indeed take the course which Tipler describes. The christological considerations, however, offered here show that Christian theology cannot yet see itself to be completely absorbed into Tipler’s cosmological model, but will consider this model rather in terms of an approximation of scientific theory to the subject matter of Christian theology, even though the fact remains important enough that such an approximation could be produced.The Theophysics front-page: http://theophysics.host56.com . Alternate Theophysics website:http://theophysics.chimehost. |
The Omega Point Theory
One of the reasons that science has been widely regarded as an atheistic enterprise over the years, is that for quite a while now, it has preached a future of relentless annihilation.
Ever since the laws of thermodynamics were formulated, the outcome has appeared certain. Available energy is decreasing all the time, as all systems gradually reach equilibrium with their environments. The end result, it would seem, is the “heat death”, where everything has finally smoothed out to await an eternity of no change, no light, no life.
Thus, no matter how great a civilization we may build, no matter how high our aspirations may rise, they are all ultimately doomed to destruction. Every life, every love, everything we value, must be erased in the slow march towards eternal oblivion.
This result has seemed so sure, so certain and established, that Bertrand Russell declared life must henceforth be built on the foundation of pure despair.
Thus declares science.
Or does it? Over the years, a number of scientists have questioned these conclusions. Do the laws of thermodynamics have to lead to this dismal end, or are there other possibilities? Particularly, can we do something about all of this?
One physicist took this question and ran with it. What would it take, he asked, for life to exist all the way to the end of time?
That physicist was Frank Tipler, and the result of his question is the Omega Point Theory. The Omega Point Theory is both a physical theory of cosmology, and a proposal for the future of life in this universe.
I recently interviewed Tipler on the scientific, philosophical, and theological ramifications of his theory. Today, I’ll simply look at the proposal itself.
What would it take for life to survive all the way to the end of time?
Well, first of all, we’re going to have to get off this planet. Within 4 billion years, the sun will have expanded to engulf the entire earth. But even before that, just one billion years from now, the sun will have become so enlarged, all life on earth will be extinct.
This won’t simply be a tragedy for the human race—it will be a tragedy for all life.
But if we do leave the planet, we can carry life with us. All the species of plants and animals, ecosystems and living organisms, both currently living, and long extinct, can be brought back to life to flourish on new worlds.
With a supercomputer, the nano-machines we should have in a few years, and a virtual ‘Noah’s Ark’ of DNA sequences, we should be able to construct a lightweight spacecraft that can venture to other star systems, and seed new living worlds. And it should be able to do this at a substantial fraction of the speed of light.
So that’s the first step.
But simply seeding another world does not mean life is out of danger. There are far bigger dangers on the way, from supernovas to hypernovas to supermassive black holes. Life will have to keep moving and diversifying in order to insure its continued survival.
So these new worlds will themselves launch expeditions to new worlds. And in less than a million years, our galaxy will have come alive.
What happens if we encounter alien life somewhere along the way?
If we encounter alien life, we will want to do everything in our power to protect and preserve it. There are no truly scarce resources in the universe, no reasons for us to launch a battle over water rights, for example. The most valuable thing aliens could offer us is information, history, perspective—and we will provide the same to them. And then we will continue together, spreading and preserving life.
If this process continues, then life will continue beyond the Milky Way and into other galaxies. And eventually life will be expanding nearly as fast as the cosmos.
Let’s talk about the universe for a moment. Science suggests that the universe began approximately 13 billion years ago, and has been expanding rapidly ever since. In fact, that expansion is accelerating. The universe is getting larger, faster and faster all the time. Eventually, if that continues, then we will experience another of the apocalyptic despair scenarios of science: The Big Rip.
The Big Rip is a bit like a balloon popping. It keeps getting bigger and bigger, and then goes too far. Now, instead of one giant balloon, you have tiny fractured pieces everywhere. That’s kind of what might happen to our universe: every galaxy cut off from every other galaxy, every star system cut off from every other star system, eventually everyone cut off from everyone else.
That’s possibly even more despair-provoking than the heat death is.
But this is where the Omega Point Theory offers its first unusual suggestion: Life can stop this from happening.
As life spreads from galaxy to galaxy, from supercluster to supercluster, it has the power to alter the future development of the universe. Life can change the universe from open to closed.
An open universe is one which keeps expanding forever, as we’ve described. This is what the universe presumably is right now. A closed universe, on the other hand, expands for a while, and then contracts. According to the Omega Point Theory, this is the future path all life will prefer, and life will have the power to make it happen.
It’s worth pointing out that I am not a scientist. I cannot evaluate the merit of the proposed mechanism for “closing the universe”. As I understand it, it basically boils down to using up the dark energy that’s currently causing the acceleration, and letting gravity regain the upper hand. Doing this would have the advantage of giving all living beings a nearly unlimited energy supply, while simultaneously insuring the survival of life to the end of time. That’s what we call a win-win scenario.
Beyond the question of how it might be accomplished, why would life want to close the universe?
According to the Omega Point Theory, this provides the maximum possible future for life. Every other scenario leads to a Big Rip, Big Freeze, or some other horrific variation on the heath death. But if we close the universe, then we are directing it to a Big Crunch. And as we head towards the Big Crunch, something special happens.
The universe, now completely populated by life, begins to contract. And as it does so, communication between galaxies and star systems becomes easier and easier. It becomes simpler and simpler to coordinate across vast distances, and to cooperate between worlds. Larger and larger cooperative enterprises and ecosystems can be constructed.
Gradually, the entire universe can coordinate its actions. And just as life directed the universe to become closed, life can steer the collapse of the universe in the most beneficial way possible. As it does so, the opposite of the heat death emerges.
Instead of everything in the universe heading towards a smooth, lifeless equilibrium, the universe heads in the direction of more intensity, more energy, more complexity and differentiation. The gravitational energy of the collapse itself provides the “fuel”—not just to keep life going, but to accelerate its development and growth.
And life will need to grow. The intensifying conditions in the collapsing phase of the universe will render life as we know it increasingly difficult, and then impossible. But that won’t stop life itself—Life can continue to grow and flourish in incredible new ways. We will see creatures emerge that span solar systems, then galaxies, then superclusters. These beings will flourish and thrive in conditions we cannot fathom. Just as microbes today thrive in volcanoes, these beings of the far future will thrive in unimaginable light.
And as they work together, spanning the universe, coordinating its development, achieving increasing heights of power and organization and complexity, they will drive the evolution of the cosmos all the way to the end of time.
—
I’ve been tossing around that phrase, “the end of time”, but I haven’t defined it.
Within the despair scenarios of the Big Freeze, the Big Rip, or the heat death, there technically is no end. Instead, life becomes impossible and dies out, and then the universe goes on for a lifeless, colorless eternity.
But in the Big Crunch scenario proposed by the Omega Point Theory, this question becomes a little more tricky.
Time, after all, is basically a measure of activity. A year is the time it takes for the earth to orbit the sun, a day is the time it takes for the earth to spin through one rotation, and all of those measurements are really about how many things we can do, how many thoughts we can think, how many moments we can experience.
Even in a scientific framework, time is measured in vibrations of certain atoms. At every level, it comes back to events and our experiences of them.
But the unique thing about the collapse of the universe, is that as the universe gets smaller, the energy available for life increases exponentially. And as it does so, communication, power, and complexity keep accelerating. Life speeds up. More happens every second than it did the second before.
One moment, someone writes a book, the next moment, a thousand books, the next moment, a million books. One moment, someone thinks a single thought, the next moment, a million thoughts, the next moment, a trillion thoughts.
The beings of the distant future would be living faster every moment. But this means that for them, time would be slowing down.
Instead of the end growing closer, and time growing short, the end would be getting further away. One second, the end might be a billion moments in the future—the next second, it could be a trillion moments in the future.
Life in the universe would be endlessly manufacturing time.
And so, even though the universe ends in a finite amount of conventional time, it will take an infinite number of moments to get there. Thus, in one measure of time, the universe has a finite end point. But from the perspective of life itself, history is infinite.
—
The end itself is rather simple. The universe continues to collapse, life continues to advance, complexity and organization and power continue to increase, intelligence continues to grow, and as the universe gets smaller and smaller, all of these accelerate exponentially. When the universe reaches its final point, life reaches infinity.
This is the Omega Point, the ultimate singularity. Infinitely dense, infinitely complex, infinitely intelligent.
And most importantly, infinitely alive.
—
Since the theory was proposed, it has provoked a lot of discussion. Tipler has not been shy about describing all kinds of ramifications of this theory, which has rubbed some people the wrong way.
In addition, the Omega Point Theory requires a closed universe. When the theory was first proposed, many people thought the universe might naturally be closed. We now know it to be open. As a result, some people have considered the Omega Point Theory to be disproven.
But this ignores an important point: life can decide. Life exists to make the improbable probable. And if Tipler is right, life will want to close the universe, so that instead of dying out, life can exist at greater and greater levels, all the way to the end of time.
”The fate of the Universe is a decision yet to be made, one which we will intelligently consider when the time is right.” – Ray Kurzweil
If you’d like to read more about the Omega Point Theory as a physical theory, I’d suggest David’s Deutsch’s overview from The Fabric of Reality. His whole book is great, and you should read it. An excerpt from the relevant chapter on the Omega Point is here.
If you’d like to read Tipler’s work, I’d suggest starting with The Physics of Immortality, which explores an earlier version of the theory. If you’d like to hear Tipler and I discuss his theory and some of its implications, listen to this episode of the Christian Transhumanist Podcast.
And if you’d like to explore the theological ramifications of all of this—well, that’s what I’m here for. Stay tuned. 🙂
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