Evolving Laws Seminar

Chapter 1 - Introduction by Lee Smolin

Lee Smolin explains the motivation behind the seminar, introduces the discussants and lays out the format of the meeting.

• Constancy has been thought to exist in situations where in fact it did not;
• The concept of computation.

• Meta-theory proposition for the evolution of fundamental laws;
• Contingency of fundamental laws;
• Why should initial and boundary conditions be thought of as separable from law?

• How should one think of time when approaching the issue of evolving laws?;
• Laws may emerge without the notion of temporality;
• In the presence of emergent laws ontology becomes vague.

• Is there real novelty in the world?;
• Social theory already presents a scenario of evolving laws;
• Can social theory provide insights to the natural sciences?;
• Implications of evolving natural laws to the notions of time and causality;
• The nature of consciousness.

Chapter 6 - Lucien Hardy's opening statement

• The external versus the internal points of view in a physical theory;
• The question of evolving laws has implications to both views.

• How should one create a dialogue between the natural and social sciences?;
• Social theory already presents a scenario of evolving laws;
• Meta-laws in social theory;
• The law of democratic peace.

Chapter 9 - Fotini Markopoulou, Roberto Unger and Simon Saunders

• Question on time and invariant laws.

Chapter 10 - Summary by Lee Smolin

• Lee Smolin sums up the opening statements and makes an outline of topics to be discussed;
• Suggestions, clarifications and debates among the discussants.

• Landscape of theories;
• Time and evolving geometry in classical general relativity;
• Quantum gravity and cosmology;
• Questions by Maya Paczuski, Lucien Hardy, Stuart Kauffman, Kalypso Nicolaidis and Roberto Unger.

• Comment by Simon Saunders and discussion with Robert Brandenberger and Roberto Unger.
• Matrix theory;
• Further comments.

• Statement by Maya Paczuski: Physical systems have been found in which one cannot decide wether they are predictable or unpredictable.
• Comment by Kalypso Nicolaidis.

• Biology cannot be reduced to physics;
• Space of configurations and pre-adaptation;
• The problem of predictability;
• Biology exists with emergent properties.
• Question by Roberto Unger and complementary comments by Lee Smolin;
• Debates: Simon Saunders, Roberto Unger, Olaf Dreyer, Robert Brandenberger, Maya Paczuski, Kalypso Nicolaidis.

• The computer metaphor;
• Emergent phenomena in computer science;
• Time and computation;
• Information theory.

• Information in biology;
• Computer models;
• Software;
• Self-evolving systems.

• Equilibrium in software models;
• Equilibrium in biology;
• How may systems come out of equilibrium;
• The question of a system's environment;
• Can a physical theory be based on the existence of advanced human society?
• What kind of environments are more likely to create the conditions under which emergency may happen in the social world?

• Expected things that have not happened in physics, computer science, social science, biology and limits on what is expected;
• The existence of rules at very small physical scales;
• Similarity and time;

• Fotini Markopoulou, Stuart Kauffman and Lee Smolin make individual statements and briefly discuss the matter.

• Roberto Unger outlines his understanding of the nature of time in a set of five theses.

• Debate among all discussants. Individual statements and questions about Roberto Unger's theses;
• Time in cosmology and the notion of time in mathematics stand out as main topics;

• Concluding remarks by Jaron Lanier and Lee Smolin.

• Language and logic;
• Quantification;
• Identity;
• Predicates;

• Causality in biology;
• Emergence of physical laws;
• Holes in configuration space and ontology;
• Self-reproducing entities.

• Symmetry breaking and symmetry of physical laws;
• Quantum mechanics and emergence;
• Emergence, laws and unexplained features of nature;
• Relational quantities.

Chapter 26 - Data correlation in physical theories by Lucien Hardy - Pieces of data on pieces of paper...

• Internal/operational point of view vs. external point of view;
• Microscopic ontology;
• Notions and meaning of evolving laws.

• Statement by Roberto Unger;
• Social science;
• The crisis in all disciplines;
• Time in mathematics and logic;
• Website.