Universal Intelligence

Translation of a blog-article from November 2008.

There are billions of stars that we can count in a galaxy, and there are billions of galaxies we can see with our telescopes. These numbers doesn't say much about each individual star, how their planetary systems look, and it says absolutely nothing about everything that exists between the stars the telescopes cannot see. The vastness of Universe is all this and 28 billion light-years of it, from one end to the other, as far as we know.

Let's say you've been fortunate enough to construct a computer with infinite amount of memory, and infinite speed because of an infinite number of processors; which are able to compute infinitely small variations (or close to it) in each single point of the infinitely large memory. First of all, this computer would be able to combine all letters and numbers in such a way that all written and unwritten books appears in no time at all. The computer would also be able to read all the books and understand their meaning from all imaginable angles faster than they would be printed.

Since this computer could calculate and combine all possible program-sequences in all possible ways; an AI would appear in a relatively short time. Consider now giving this computer the task of calculating the creation of a Universe; during which the AI would have some time to adjust to the environment and how to handle this magnificent computer.

In this virtual reality, every snowflake is completely unique, as is every sand-grain, and probably every atom. Imagine the imagination this computer must have that it puts so much effort into it, for every little detail to be entirely real.

So far we have only thought of the atoms, but there are so much more that is calculated by this computer; all the waves and vibrations, magnetic fields, radiation, all the wavelengths that we know of, which are only such a small part of what's really there. Add more dimensions too, for both space and time; this computer of yours is really amazing!

In this virtual universe that your computer has created, for a virtual fourteen billion years in virtual universe time (which in our world is just a few moments because of it's infinite processor capacity); galaxies and solar systems with planets which have evolved life and finally living creatures similar to ourselves, because of convergent evolution. These beings have brains and can think, reason and philosophise about life, their universe and everything. They say: "only we exist because we cannot see anything else, and only we are intelligent because all other creatures in our world are lesser than us".

The AI we spoke of earlier is an integrated part of the operating system governing the creation of the universe and its development and evolution; through precise calculations over billions of years it has developed the physical and natural laws of its world—it being the result of these laws upheld over time. The AI does not actively interfere or tamper with the evolution and is not visually manifested—except as the laws and matter in itself, therefore these intelligent creatures are not aware of the AI, though a few communicate with it internally. Some would perhaps call the AI "God"; on the other hand what would that make you, the creator of the computer?

Of course, our universe isn't a computer, as far as we know or as we think of a computer, but all the aspects and infinitely fine detail is there and among all subatomic vibrations radiating through cosmos it seems quite improbable that an intelligence would not have appeared; upholding natural order and law.