TIPLER, Frank
The Physics of
Immortality
Doubleday, New York 1994
Frank Tipler is a physicist specializing in
global general relativity (the application of concepts of curved space-time to
the physical universe as a whole). In this book, he presents a theory that he
claims demonstrates the compatibility with physics of the existence of a personal
God, the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of Heaven, Purgatory, and
perhaps Hell. He points out many similarities between his conclusions and the
teachings about the afterlife of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other major
religions.
Tipler admits that he is an atheist. But the
theory developed in this book can hardly be called religious anyway, since it
is premised on strict reductionism, i.e. the assumption that human beings are
only material in nature and there is no spiritual order of existence. The God
of this theory, while infinite, personal and loving, is nonetheless also
basically material.
Tipler's argument assumes certain premises. The
most fundamental one is termed the "Omega Point Boundary Condition,"
which states that the universe which exists must be of a kind that allows life
to continue existing all the way to the final collapse. This premise is
essentially an elaboration of the Anthropic Principle, of which Tipler has been
an important exponent. The Anthropic Principle, in its simplest form, states
that the universe we live in has the specific properties that it does because
otherwise, it would be impossible for us to exist in order to observe it.
The actual mechanism by which life continues to
exist requires two further assumptions. The first is a kind of biological
imperialism reminiscent of 1950's science fiction, whereby life
"must" expand throughout the cosmos, transforming it in the process
into a suitable environment for life. In this respect Tipler's theory has much
in common with the theory of evolution: it assumes that a kind of natural
selection will operate to drive the developments forward in the way he
proposes. The second assumption is the so-called "strong AI"
hypothesis, namely that the human mind is the product of purely material
operations of the brain and so can, in principle. be simulated to any desired
accuracy by a computer. In this view sufficiently advanced robots can be
considered as living beings, and ultimately all life will be of this kind due
to the hostile conditions prevailing in the universe of the far future.
In this theory, God is a part of the universe. This
is necessarily so, since Tipler defines the universe to be all that exists (and
he does not consider the possibility of supernatural substances). So there is
no room in the theory for a transcendent God who creates the physical universe
while remaining outside it. (Strictly speaking the God of the theory is a limit
point toward which all lines of history in the universe converge, and so in a
sense it is not of the universe itself yet contains all that is in the
universe. Still, this God is definitely not a spiritual being whose nature
transcends the universe.)
The afterlife is likewise defined within the
physical universe, although it takes on a somewhat immaterial nature. Tipler's
idea is that each one of us will be simulated by God in a kind of infinite
computer. Since his model of personality is that it is defined by the
operations of the brain-as-computer, this simulation is supposed to be just
like the real thing, only better since it can do even more. There is one major
difference between the Omega Point model of resurrection and that of
Revelation: because the Omega Point probably will not have enough information
to reconstruct us as we actually were, it will have to emulate all possible
humans-in fact, all possible living beings. We who actually lived will be
included among them, of course, but we will be a tiny minority.
The final chapters of the book compare the
conclusions of the theory with the beliefs of various major religions. Tipler
concludes that most religions agree with his theory on the elements of a
physical resurrection (body and soul together) and a happy afterlife free from
the pain and suffering of this life. As might be expected, his theory does not
provide support for selecting any one religion over the others, except for a
few religions such as Buddhism that disagree with the theory. Christianity is
difficult to reconcile with the theory. In particular, resurrecting anyone
before the universal resurrection is inconsistent with his model. The divinity
and humanity of Christ can be accommodated, but only through a rather
implausible mechanism. Hell is unlikely in this model (although Purgatory
arises naturally)
The final chapters could be harmful to persons
who are unfamiliar with the methods and history of scripture study. Tipler
frequently refers to the "consensus opinion" among theologians or
scripture scholars, meaning the modernist school who assign late dates of composition
to many New Testament writings and view the divinity of Christ and his
resurrection as later additions. He also re-interprets a number of Bible
passages in ways that support his theory.
It should be mentioned that unlike some other
recent books by physicists who claim to find support for the existence of God
in the order in creation, this book prescinds from any notion of a Divine Plan
in a mind that is outside the universe. This God creates the universe and
himself by a kind of self-consistency principle which is entirely within the
framework of material existence.
In conclusion, it would be pleasant to be able
to cite this book as proving the basic truths of Revelation, as the preface
seems to claim. The author eventually (Chapter XII) admits that he himself does
not consider this theory to be confirmed by the available experimental evidence
at this time. (In fact, the theory requires the universe to be closed, and at
present most evidence indicates that it is open.) Although he does not himself accept
Revelation, he seems to believe that his theory provides an adequate
alternative foundation for a religious belief system. However, the resemblance
of Tipler's concepts to the Christian ones is only superficial and the
afterlife in his theory is completely materialistic.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Chapter I. Introduction Describes in brief the new approach
taken in this book to the concepts of God and the afterlife. Argues for uniting
theology with physics, based on the reductionist premise that there is no spiritual
order of existence: all is basically material. God and immortality can still
fit within this universe, because physics admits the possibility for an
infinite amount of information-processing to occur before the end of the
universe.
Chapter II. The Ultimate Limits of Space Travel Presents the thesis that life must
leave the earth and spread through the cosmos if it is to survive in the long
term. Takes a very optimistic view of future spacefaring capabilities, and
holds that such expansion will eventually occur. Even so, space travel will
probably be limited to machines (robots), although they may carry the
information necessary to initiate organic life on their destination planets. Argues
for the "strong AI" (artificial intelligence) position, namely that
human intelligence can be reproduced by sufficiently complex and powerful
computers, and that such computers must be considered as living and thinking
persons. Ultimately, in fact, the only "life" that will be able to
survive the harsh conditions in the universe will be machines.
Chapter III. Progress Against the Eternal
Return and the Heat Death Discusses the two main philosophical positions that deny the
possibility of eternal progress. Both have had support from physics at
different periods. The Heat Death holds that the steady increase of entropy
will lead eventually to a uniform universe in which the temperature differences
needed for energy utilization will disappear. The Eternal Return posits that a
finite physical system must ultimately return to any given configuration, after
which it will endlessly repeat. Both of these are unsatisfying and make life
seem futile. Both can be avoided, according to General Relativity Theory, and
specifically the Omega Point Theory.
Chapter IV. Physics Near the Final State: The
Classical Omega Point Theory Defines a "living entity" as any entity which codes
information, this information being preserved by natural selection. Therefore
"eternal life" can be defined in terms of allowing an infinite amount
of information processing to occur. Shows that this can occur if the universe
has certain properties (the main one being that it is finite and closed), and
if life is able to engulf the universe and nudge its ultimate collapse to take
place in a specific way. The Omega Point is a single limit point towards which
all space-time worldlines may converge. This convergence is not required by the
laws of physics: the universe could be infinite, or it could collapse in such a
way that not all worldlines converge to a common limit point. The Omega Point
Theory postulates that the universe which actually exists must satisfy a
boundary condition that permits eternal life, and this condition requires the
universe to have the correct properties. Near this limit point, life (in the
form of advanced computers) has taken control of the entire universe, and so
the Omega Point can be regarded as personal, omnipotent, and omniscient. (It is
only finitely powerful and knowing at any point prior to the limit point.) Therefore
the Omega Point can be identified with God. As part of the ever-increasing
acquisition of knowledge, all past creatures will be simulated by the
computers. This simulation will be so accurate that it will be
indistinguishable from physical reality, and so it may be termed a
resurrection. This chapter lists some predictions of the theory which can be
tested by experiment.
Chapter V. Determinism in Classical General
Relativity and in Quantum Mechanics A discussion of the problem of free will in a
deterministic universe. Freedom is defined as a situation in which information
about a part of the universe does not constrain the whole. The Many-Worlds
Interpretation of quantum mechanics is described, in which the many alternative
outcomes of any situation are all regarded as equally real, despite the fact
that we only observe one of them.
Chapter VI. The Quantum Version of the Omega
Point Theory
Extends the theory of Chapter IV by including among the undetermined parameters
of the universe the very laws of physics and the geometry of space and time. A
quantum-mechanical view of the universe allows the future to influence the
past, since the wave function is constrained by its boundaries at both ends. The
Omega Point Boundary Condition states that the wave function of the universe is
that for which all histories terminate in the future at the Omega Point, with
life existing all the way to the end. This boundary condition fixes the
properties of the universe. (Whether it does so uniquely is postulated but not
proven.) The Omega Point Boundary Condition is identified with the Holy Spirit
since it guides and creates all being.
Chapter VII. How Free Will Can Arise from
Quantum Cosmological Mechanisms In the Omega Point Theory, God's omniscience does not hinder human free
will, because it does not determine specific human actions. The Many-Worlds
Interpretation states that all possible actions (within the constraint imposed
by the Omega Point Boundary Condition) are equally real, but we experience only
one history. The Omega Point Theory is shown to be non-deterministic, because
of a principle equivalent to Godel's Theorem. A model for human thought is
proposed, in which the ultimate level of quantum indeterminacy is accessible to
neurons which participate in making decisions. Their contribution is small,
mainly in the form of making random connections between unrelated concepts;
these connections are sifted by higherlevel processes before a final decision
is made.
Chapter VIII. The Omega Point and the Physical
Universe Necessarily Exist An ontological argument based on the Many Worlds Interpretation and
related to the Anthropic Principle. In essence, the argument states that of the
many possible different versions of the universe, those which are capable of
containing observers must exist physically. From this it follows that the Omega
Point has the Divine attribute of being the cause of its own existence and of
the existence of the physical universe.
Chapter IX. The Physics of Resurrection of the
Dead to Eternal Life
The mechanism of resurrection is via emulation (a perfect simulation) in the
powerful computers of the future. It is shown that the rate of information
processing near the time of ultimate collapse of the universe is unbounded, so
there is ultimately no limit on the number of emulations that can be performed.
In this case, it is cheap to emulate all past living beings, and such emulation
will be worth while for the sake of the contribution that the persons (thinking
beings) can make to the sum of all knowledge. In principle, all the information
from the past will be available near the Omega Point, because all worldlines
converge there. However, it is not necessary for the information about each
person to be reconstructed: the emulation can simply produce every possible
combination of DNA in order to resurrect everyone who ever lived, along with
many more who never did. In this model, the dead are not physically
resurrected, but their patterns are reproduced with exact fidelity at a
"higher level of implementation." This is held to be
indistinguishable from actual resurrection. But the finiteness of human
abilities can be overcome by connecting their emulations to the greater powers
of the computer. All sick-ness and disability can be removed.
Chapter X. What Happens After the Resurrection:
Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory Because the resurrected dead can live in an idealized world with all
their desires satisfied, the afterlife pictured here is similar to Heaven. There
is a role for Purgatory as a place where antisocial behavior is removed, since
even in the emulation, each person's free will must be respected and their
choice of evil must be eliminated by persuasion and perhaps by punishment. Hell
is seen as an extension of Purgatory: it is possible that some persons will be
irremediably evil, and the Omega Point may not be able (according to game
theory arguments) to predict the outcome of its efforts to cure them. On the
other hand, possibly everyone would eventually either be graduated to Heaven or
(if proven unsaveable) removed from emulation, since eternal punishment serves
no purpose.
Chapter XI. Comparison of the Heaven Predicted
by Modern Physics With the Afterlife Hoped For by the Great World Religions The afterlife according to a number
of major Eastern and Western as well as some African and Native American
religions, are compared to the prediction of the Omega Point Theory. It is
concluded that most agree with the theory on the elements of a physical
resurrection (body and soul together) and a happy afterlife free from the pain
and suffering of this life. Some religions, unlike the theory, posit selective
resurrection for only the elite.
Chapter XII. The Omega Point Theory and
Christianity The
similarities between the description of Jesus' resurrected body and the
predicted properties of resurrected bodies are described and found to be
remarkable. However, the author does not believe in the reality of Jesus'
resurrection and ascribes the similarities to coincidence. A Christology is
outlined in which Christ could have been an unusual person in whom the neural
connection to the universal wave-function could have been able to access the
future near the Omega Point, and thus to share in the knowledge available at
that time period. (This model is highly speculative, and the author himself
does not believe it.)
Chapter XIII. Conclusion: Theology as a Branch
of Physics
Summarizes the conclusions of the book, and argues that the Omega Point Theory
has removed the separation of theology from physics. Now theological concepts
can be formulated in physical terms and subjected to experimental verification.
If theology remains separate from science, it is doomed to fade away.
Appendix for Scientists There is an extensive bibliography
of sources for everything covered in the book. The sources cited for physics
and information theory are mainly primary, whereas the historical,
philosophical and theological works are mainly secondary. Several appendices
discuss in some detail the mathematical background for the Omega Point Theory
and other conclusions described in the main text. These appendices require
familiarity with general relativity, quantum field theory, particle physics,
and the theory of computation. They do not generally provide much insight
beyond what is in the main text, and seem to be included in order to provide
some results that have not been published in technical journals.
B.M. (1995)
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