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j"19HxigV4QyBv3tHpQVcUEQyq1pzZVdoAutMê The Combos The striking thing about reality is how big it is. I’m not referring to the 200 billion trillion stars or the two trillion galaxies they make up (or the myriad molecular, atomic, subatomic, and sub-subatomic particles one discovers at ever smaller scales). I’m referring to the far larger set of possible configurations of all that raw material. Reality presents us with an extraordinary supply of LEGO blocks, but the point isn’t to marvel at the blocks themselves. The point is to build, and the set of things you can build with a LEGO set is stupefying large. Likewise, the objects of the cosmos may seem numerous, but they’re comically outnumbered by the many possible states of your phone. It’s not even close. For a closer comparison, the number of subatomic particles in the known universe (or this branch of the multiverse, anyway) is matched just by the number of possible short text messages you could receive. The universe is about as big as the textverse. Our language needs an update. 'Astronomical' is supposed to mean big, but astronomical numbers are dwarfed by combinatorial ones, like 2^8,000,000,000 (the number of possible states of a gigabyte of memory - 8 billion bits). Our perspective needs an update, too. Astronomical numbers make some people feel small, but the set of possible states of your mind is not merely astronomical, but combinatorial. It’s not even close. The Brain — is wider than the Sky — For — put them side by side — The one the other will contain With ease — and You — beside — - Emily Dickinson And the set of possible states of civilization is far larger still - and growing. Our reach is expanding across and beyond the Earth, and diving beneath the scale of atoms. As our control grows both broader and finer, we obtain more building blocks and combinatorially more possible opportunities. So, take a walk on some starry night, and see those distant, twinkling LEGO blocks for what they are: a pile of boring raw ingredients that could be arranged in many more interesting ways. Trillions and trillions of gibberish letters that could be arranged into a gripping, exciting book. By us. Indeed, the present state of the universe is like one book in a combinatorially large library, and it’s one of the most boring volumes. We’re only controlling half a page for now, but that’s changing. We’re gaining more control of the cosmos, and arranging it as we explore the combos - the universe of possible combinations of cosmic building blocks. text/plainutf-8file.txt
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