For years, Langan has been developing a theory he calls the CTMU ('Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe'). It took me less than three hours to find the mistakes in his theory, a mistake which basically dooms it. Here are the comments that I made on the blog 'Three Quarks Daily'. Note the times at which I made my comments. The first one came at 3:18:00 PM and the follow up came at 5:37:00 PM.
CTMU is basically wrong. It takes some thinking, but the flaw in the logic is very much there.
The CTMU thesis claims that there is a contradiction just because a powerset has been defined. Think about the following question : can we assume that given a mathematical entity, and given something 'real' that it has been mapped to something, any function defined on the set also corresponds to something real? No. It does not follow.
In this case, a mathematical entity has been defined - a set corresponding to 'reality'. Why should the power set of that set correspond to anything 'real'? It can be just something that has been mathematically defined, but lacks any 'reality' as such.
One thing I found compelling in Chris Lagan's story is his continued faith in God and his basic decency despite the tough circumstances he has gone through.
Update (Nov 11) : I am not trying to promote any agenda here. I am just trying to be 'big', as I try to be in online discussions, and find something positive in the theory or the person. The theory cannot be easily remedied and so it should be okay for me to at least talk about the person in positive terms.
Update (Nov 11) : I am not trying to promote any agenda here. I am just trying to be 'big', as I try to be in online discussions, and find something positive in the theory or the person. The theory cannot be easily remedied and so it should be okay for me to at least talk about the person in positive terms.
