In a recent 10-minute video, physicist Sabine Hossenfelder argues that we cannot rule out the possibility that the universe actually thinks, incredible as it may seem. In brief, the reasons why we cannot rule out this scenario are that (a) quantum physics is non-local, (b) even Einstein’s theory of general relativity is perfectly compatible with the existence of wormholes, which don’t respect locality and which could connect the universe with itself, and (c) additionally, Einstein’s theory of relativity does not rule out the existence of faster-than-light signals; all it rules out is the possibility of going from speeds below that of light to speeds above. Moreover, faster-than-light travel would not create causality paradoxes, as commonly believed. What all this adds up to is that the universe could be self-connected on a micro-scale, and that it could transmit signals much faster than we imagine, making it possibly able to think.

Here are some excerpts from Dr. Hossenfelder’s fascinating talk:

“What this means is that if you take into account that we need a quantum description of space and time, that would inevitably screw up our neat and orderly notion of reality. Space would have a lot of teeny tiny wormholes, and those would not respect any notion of locality. There could be a minuscule wormhole right in front of you connecting to Andromeda. You’d never know because you’re too big to go through. They’d be too small even for elementary particles to go through, so we wouldn’t have noticed. But, they would be connecting the universe with itself. I’m not saying that this is so. I’m just saying that the question of self-connectivity of the universe at a short distance scale falls into a regime where we have neither a theory nor data. There is no way to rule it out.” (4:55)

“The universe could naturally have evolved subsystems that are considerably more intelligent than us, subsystems that would not be localized anywhere in particular, but that are each spread all over the cosmos.” (6:45)

“I can’t prevent that I’m getting older. But I can make a conscious effort to stay open-minded. And so, I am trying to remind myself that we don’t actually know that space respects locality at distances shorter than what we have tested. And that could indeed mean that the universe can think.” (7:39)

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the universe really does think. I’m not that crazy, yet. I’m merely saying that we don’t know that it doesn’t think. And sometimes I wonder. If the universe thinks, what is it thinking? Does it know of us? Does it answer prayers? Is dark energy just the universe’s way of trolling us?” (7:52)

One thing that strikes me after listening to Dr. Hossenfelder’s video is that pantheism is not as crazy as it sounds. That doesn’t make it true, of course, but it does make it more plausible as a worldview, which means that believers in a transcendental God need to start taking it a lot more seriously.

Thoughts, anyone?