As a Computer Scientist and a nerd, I believe that the Universe is like a gigantic programming construct unfolding in all it's glory. All large programs are hard to reverse engineer, specially at the assembly level! It becomes specially hard when even after centuries of scientific progress, we have only unraveled a small portion of the universal assembly instruction code.
The Universe manifests itself by doing something analogous to invoking a function or subroutine. The same functional block of code is used to do repetitive activities. We, as observers, cannot see the code behind the actions. As we continue debugging the universe, we find increasing amounts of detail, boundary conditions, variables and constants, structures, overloaded functions and even recursive code! However, since we don't have access to higher level routines, we can only postulate their design and structure by extrapolating that of the lower level subroutines.
If the universe is Open-Source, we will have the opportunity to read it and understand it, and thus gain insight into the design and implementation of the Universe. We will then be able to design extensions or plugins that allow us to exploit the power of the universal code base to our own advantage. Time Travel, Tapping into the energy of a black hole, warp drive, Anti-Gravity etc could all be plugins! Evolving into a Type 3 Civilization could be achieved in a time many orders of magnitude shorter, with access to this source code.
Universal routines for climate, combustion, natural disasters, chemical composition etc could be tweaked. Energy generation, transmission and efficiency could be tuned to global maxima. The very fabric of space-time might be programmable. We might be able to device search engines for particular code patterns, code analyzers and a cross-reference for the universal code. Instant messaging could now take place across galaxies. Science fiction concepts like warp drive, ram-drives, Ringworld, teletransportation, etc. will be science, but no longer fiction! Space-Time Utilizing Programmable Intelligent Devices (STUPID) shaped like long thin rods that can alter space time dynamically, could be a reality. Harry Potter and Dumbeldore will no longer be special as Muggles will carry STUPID wands!
We need a more powerful programming construct to express large systems like the Universe. I postulate, that the construct will exist in higher dimensions, allowing a larger and a more complex structure to be expressed concisely. This might require a more powerful form of grammar along with a new complexity theory and mathematical constructs.
Computationally, we might be able to use the universal processing power to speed up computation by many orders of magnitudes. Parallel Universal Multidimensional Processing (PUMP) will become the buzzword of the future. NP (non-polynomial) problems will become P (polynomial), and suddenly, a new realm of problems that was previously forbidden, will open up for us to solve. Scientists will be able to pump data into the universal processor to solve very complex problems.
Nerds from intelligent civilizations in the Universe will be able to submit patches to the Open-Source-Universe project and repair faulty routines or improve the code quality. Bugs like disease, exploding volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, radiation, meteorite showers, etc could be repaired by a patch.
Genetic Biologists have been partially successful in digging into the quaternary level code of the body, whose assembler instructions are in the form of gene sequences forming the DNA. Each combination of 3 base pairs of nucleotides forms a codon, which is the unit operational code (opcode) of the body's assembly code. However, we are still in the dark as the routines and modules coded in some higher level language which then get compiled to the DNA code!
If we could understand the higher level subroutines in the universe, life would be so much easier! Imagine that we discover a subroutine called do_age(int increment), we could reprogram it either with an increment of zero, or call a different subroutine in its place. Similarly, we could substitute functions like execute_cancer(type_t cancer_type, location_t location, double intensity), cause_hairline_to_recede(double length), gain_weight(double weight), by more pleasing substitutes. AIDS, Ebola, diabetes, and other viral fevers could simply be eradicated by reconfiguring the body's firewall. Conceptually, we could reprogram the main loop do_live(void) to include the function be_healthy(void).
However, what if human (or alien) hackers now start writing viruses and worms for the Universe instead of just computer systems? That would be orders of magnitude more scary! Today the worse a hacker can do is shut off the Internet for a day or two, or delete all my data. But imagine if someone writes a worm for the Universe that, when installed, causes random explosions in the Universe, causes planets to go off orbit and spiral into the Sun, or creates intelligent, virulent new diseases in the galaxy. Bio-security and Anti-Virus companies will spring up everywhere providing patches to the human genome to repair some security flaw that got exploited. Companies like Googlalaxy, Intergalactic BioSecurity Machines (IBM), NanoSoft, Neutron-Sun etc. will control galactic computing resources.
The negative side of understanding the universal code is inevitable given that humans are often evil and selfish. The only consolation is that if the Universe is open source, understanding of the flaws and security hazards will be tremendously easy.
The only question in my mind is, that even if by some miracle, we hit upon the developer's repository of the Universal Source Code, which big corporation will try to patent it first?!
The Universe manifests itself by doing something analogous to invoking a function or subroutine. The same functional block of code is used to do repetitive activities. We, as observers, cannot see the code behind the actions. As we continue debugging the universe, we find increasing amounts of detail, boundary conditions, variables and constants, structures, overloaded functions and even recursive code! However, since we don't have access to higher level routines, we can only postulate their design and structure by extrapolating that of the lower level subroutines.
If the universe is Open-Source, we will have the opportunity to read it and understand it, and thus gain insight into the design and implementation of the Universe. We will then be able to design extensions or plugins that allow us to exploit the power of the universal code base to our own advantage. Time Travel, Tapping into the energy of a black hole, warp drive, Anti-Gravity etc could all be plugins! Evolving into a Type 3 Civilization could be achieved in a time many orders of magnitude shorter, with access to this source code.
Universal routines for climate, combustion, natural disasters, chemical composition etc could be tweaked. Energy generation, transmission and efficiency could be tuned to global maxima. The very fabric of space-time might be programmable. We might be able to device search engines for particular code patterns, code analyzers and a cross-reference for the universal code. Instant messaging could now take place across galaxies. Science fiction concepts like warp drive, ram-drives, Ringworld, teletransportation, etc. will be science, but no longer fiction! Space-Time Utilizing Programmable Intelligent Devices (STUPID) shaped like long thin rods that can alter space time dynamically, could be a reality. Harry Potter and Dumbeldore will no longer be special as Muggles will carry STUPID wands!
We need a more powerful programming construct to express large systems like the Universe. I postulate, that the construct will exist in higher dimensions, allowing a larger and a more complex structure to be expressed concisely. This might require a more powerful form of grammar along with a new complexity theory and mathematical constructs.
Computationally, we might be able to use the universal processing power to speed up computation by many orders of magnitudes. Parallel Universal Multidimensional Processing (PUMP) will become the buzzword of the future. NP (non-polynomial) problems will become P (polynomial), and suddenly, a new realm of problems that was previously forbidden, will open up for us to solve. Scientists will be able to pump data into the universal processor to solve very complex problems.
Nerds from intelligent civilizations in the Universe will be able to submit patches to the Open-Source-Universe project and repair faulty routines or improve the code quality. Bugs like disease, exploding volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, radiation, meteorite showers, etc could be repaired by a patch.
Genetic Biologists have been partially successful in digging into the quaternary level code of the body, whose assembler instructions are in the form of gene sequences forming the DNA. Each combination of 3 base pairs of nucleotides forms a codon, which is the unit operational code (opcode) of the body's assembly code. However, we are still in the dark as the routines and modules coded in some higher level language which then get compiled to the DNA code!
If we could understand the higher level subroutines in the universe, life would be so much easier! Imagine that we discover a subroutine called do_age(int increment), we could reprogram it either with an increment of zero, or call a different subroutine in its place. Similarly, we could substitute functions like execute_cancer(type_t cancer_type, location_t location, double intensity), cause_hairline_to_recede(double length), gain_weight(double weight), by more pleasing substitutes. AIDS, Ebola, diabetes, and other viral fevers could simply be eradicated by reconfiguring the body's firewall. Conceptually, we could reprogram the main loop do_live(void) to include the function be_healthy(void).
However, what if human (or alien) hackers now start writing viruses and worms for the Universe instead of just computer systems? That would be orders of magnitude more scary! Today the worse a hacker can do is shut off the Internet for a day or two, or delete all my data. But imagine if someone writes a worm for the Universe that, when installed, causes random explosions in the Universe, causes planets to go off orbit and spiral into the Sun, or creates intelligent, virulent new diseases in the galaxy. Bio-security and Anti-Virus companies will spring up everywhere providing patches to the human genome to repair some security flaw that got exploited. Companies like Googlalaxy, Intergalactic BioSecurity Machines (IBM), NanoSoft, Neutron-Sun etc. will control galactic computing resources.
The negative side of understanding the universal code is inevitable given that humans are often evil and selfish. The only consolation is that if the Universe is open source, understanding of the flaws and security hazards will be tremendously easy.
The only question in my mind is, that even if by some miracle, we hit upon the developer's repository of the Universal Source Code, which big corporation will try to patent it first?!
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