ChazzyPants

Hi Dr. Tegmark, I was reading "Our Mathematical Universe" last night and you said that the Mathematical Universe Hypothesis cannot include arbitrary initial conditions because it would constitute an incomplete description. If a computer program can be reduced to a mathematical object, can't you then incorporate initial conditions? What makes a mathematical description of the universe different than a computer program?

BTW, I'm really enjoying your book and thanks for doing this AMA

I understand the problem with a program requiring user input for initialization, but if a program with arbitrarily defined initial conditions can exist as a standalone mathematical structure couldn't our universe just be one of many structures that would allow us to exist the way we experience it?

Do you think consciousness associates with the collection of particles that provide the substrate for it to exist? By that I mean, if you were do clone yourself particle by particle, would you be twice the same person or two different people. Also, if you could deconstruct your atomic structure for a period of time, then reassembled all the particles exactly the same way, would you be the same consciousness?