From: "Marshall Cline" <cline@parashift.com>
To: <brother.paul@juno.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 13:30:55
Subject: The Universe really is printed on recycled paper

Most Erudite Doctor Black,

I am writing in defense of the statement, "The Universe is printed on recycled paper." In particular, I respectfully but firmly disagree with the criticisms written on http://www.geocities.com/p.black/universe.html. I believe the statement, "The Universe is printed on recycled paper," is wholly consistent with modern physics, and may have foreshadowed some recent discoveries in that august field. In short, the inconsistencies described on the web site were a result of misunderstandings about space-time at the time the web page was written. The "recycled paper" statement led the way toward a more complete physics - as we gained a clearer understanding of the universe since that time, we are seeing with greater and greater clarity the incredible wisdom of the "recycled paper" description. I am fully confident that the "recycled paper" description will ultimately prove to be the central tenant in The Theory Of Everything.

Every word in this amazing statement is pregnant with insight. Hundreds of papers have been, and probably shall be, written to expound on it. I shall very briefly show its relevance, indeed its leadership, in scientific thinking:

"The universe": This phrase includes the sentence itself, therefore it is a recursive statement. The entire universe (including the statement about the universe which itself refers to the universe) is written on recycled paper. I believe this notion relates to Gödel's Incompleteness theorem and Church's Thesis, but that is a topic for future Journal quality papers.

"is": This captures the essence of the atemporal perspective of physics, in particular the reality that almost all physical laws are completely symmetric with respect to time. In other words, we don't say that the universe was written on recycled paper, or that it will be written, but that it is written on recycled paper. It is the eternal present tense - the recycled paper on which the universe is printed is outside of time.

This word also captures the essence of Einstein's general relativity. Under Newtonian understanding, time and space were distinct backgrounds, but we now know that space and time are integrated into a unified space-time, and we now use space-time diagrams to show both temporal and spatial relationships. We do not say that the universe occasionally gets backed up onto recycled paper, as is erroneously proposed in item #7, but instead that the universe is (completely and wholly, once and for all) printed on recycled paper. The complete space-time diagram of all events, both past and future, are written on recycled paper.

"printed on": This phrase answers criticisms #2, 3, and 4. We do not say that the universe is recycled paper, or that the universe is made of recycled paper, but that the universe is printed on recycled paper. The words "printed on" capture the essence of quantum mechanics. (The details of the connection with quantum mechanics are left as an exercise for the student.)

"recycled paper": This phrase pointed us to string theory. The sequence is amazing: The Statement first pointed us toward the two great discoveries of the 20^th century physics (relativity and quantum mechanics), and now it brings us directly into the 21^st century with string theory, M-theory, and the Theory of Everything.

It's so obvious now - how could we have missed it before? At the microscopic level, paper is a tangled web of tiny fibers or "strings." The words "string theory" almost leap out at you. If only The Statement had been more widely published, string theory might have enjoyed more support in its early years.

But it gets better. Using enormous wisdom and insight, The Statement doesn't merely say "paper," but it says recycled paper. The fibers in recycled paper are more random than in virgin paper (which is why recycled paper is easier to rip than virgin paper). This foreshadows the 11-dimensional universe. We think of paper as rather flat and two-dimensional, however paper (and especially recycled paper) is actually a very complex, tangled mess of fibers pointing in every direction. It is still too early to publish our results, but we now have strong reason to believe that these fibers are tangled into Calabi-Yau shapes (the mathematical form that "curls up" the extra spatial dimensions of the 11-dimensional space-time). The experimental confirmation of these results will probably result in a Nobel prize. Perhaps you will share in those winnings since you brought this amazing Statement to light.

In conclusion, the universe really is printed on recycled paper.

Marshall Cline, The High Mucky-Muck, Ph.D. and all that jazz

Updated Tue Feb 11 10:57:22 2003

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