The Autodidactic Universe

The Autodidactic Universe

Stephon Alexander, William J. Cunningham, Jaron Lanier, Lee Smolin, Stefan Stanojevic, Michael W. Toomey, Dave Wecker

We present an approach to cosmology in which the Universe learns its own physical laws. It does so by exploring a landscape of possible laws, which we express as a certain class of matrix models. We discover maps that put each of these matrix models in correspondence with both a gauge/gravity theory and a mathematical model of a learning machine, such as a deep recurrent, cyclic neural network. This establishes a correspondence between each solution of the physical theory and a run of a neural network. This correspondence is not an equivalence, partly because gauge theories emerge from N→∞ limits of the matrix models, whereas the same limits of the neural networks used here are not well-defined. We discuss in detail what it means to say that learning takes place in autodidactic systems, where there is no supervision. We propose that if the neural network model can be said to learn without supervision, the same can be said for the corresponding physical theory. We consider other protocols for autodidactic physical systems, such as optimization of graph variety, subset-replication using self-attention and look-ahead, geometrogenesis guided by reinforcement learning, structural learning using renormalization group techniques, and extensions. These protocols together provide a number of directions in which to explore the origin of physical laws based on putting machine learning architectures in correspondence with physical theories.

Really hard paper...I think I get the basics...maybe...

The Autodidactic Universe

Stephon Alexander, William J. Cunningham, Jaron Lanier, Lee Smolin, Stefan Stanojevic, Michael W. Toomey, Dave Wecker


Really hard paper...I think I get the basics...maybe...

"....the Universe learns its own physical laws" Another atheist materialist attempt to banish any notions of the necessity of some hyperintelligent creator being behind the Universe and the Big Bang, and responsible for the incredibly exact fine tuning? Something maybe cleverer than just saying there was no beginning no explanation required, or a multiverse with no beginning. Just trust me, since I'm a brilliant physicist or whatever. Anyway, that's what this looks like.

But it seems to me it fails in that attempt (if that is what is was), since the intricate system required for self-learning by the Universe itself constitutes an immense bulk of complex specified information that must have some creative intelligent origin, unless it is claimed this just came into being by itself, in other words by magic.

"....the Universe learns its own physical laws" Another atheist materialist attempt to banish any notions of the necessity of some hyperintelligent creator being behind the Universe and the Big Bang, and responsible for the incredibly exact fine tuning? Something maybe cleverer than just saying there was no beginning no explanation required, or a multiverse with no beginning. Just trust me, since I'm a brilliant physicist or whatever. Anyway, that's what this looks like.

But it seems to me it fails in that attempt (if that is what is was), since the intricate system required for self-learning by the Universe itself constitutes an immense bulk of complex specified information that must have some creative intelligent origin, unless it is claimed this just came into being by itself, in other words by magic.

They use learning in a very broad sense, arguably too broad.

Smolin & Lanier aren't materialists so I don't think it's meant to be solely materialist.

Really hard paper

Just being honest, but this was enough for me to pass on this one.

If Sci considers it hard, I can't muster enough hubris to think I could fathom it.

Just being honest, but this was enough for me to pass on this one.

If Sci considers it hard, I can't muster enough hubris to think I could fathom it.

Honestly I think you are exaggerating my talents. :-)

There some physics with which I am just not that familiar, and while I know something about machine learning definitely not at any expert level.