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From: jmccombi@BBN-UNIX@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: numbering alternate universes
Message-ID: <4486@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 23-Aug-83 17:49:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.4486
Posted: Tue Aug 23 17:49:46 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Aug-83 13:25:00 EDT
Lines: 24

From:  Jon McCombie <jmccombi@BBN-UNIX>

A  friend  of  mine, Mike Davis, proposes the following method of numbering
multiple universes.  I submit it for our collective consideration. 

"At virtually every point in time, some event is  occurring  which  can  be
represented  as a binary decision.  Every time such a decision is made, new
universes are made, one for each possible outcome of the decision. 

"For  example  (though  this  particular  one  need  not  necessarily  have
occurred), when God/Creator/Supreme Being was deciding to make humans, S/He
could  have  made  them  in  His/Her image, or the image of His/Her brother
Fred.  One universe (or set of universes,  perhaps)  has  humans  in  God's
image, the other in the image of Fred. 

"Each  universe,  then,  can  be  described  by the unique bit stream which
describes the yes/no decisions which went into making the universe."

Unfortunately, that  makes  for  universe  whose  descriptive  numbers  are
infinitely  long.   Then again, this is a necessity in this description, in
which there are an infinite number of alternate universes. 

Enjoy,
Jon