We are all familiar with Einstein’s formula E=mc2. This formula tells us that there is a relationship between matter and energy. As matter travels faster, approaching the speed of light things happen, time slows down relative to that matter and it’s relationship to the rest of the universe and the object appears more massive. Einstein also described the relationship between gravity and time. Gravity and space-time impact each other as well. This will be important later.
We should all remember from science class that there are settled laws of thermodynamics:
The First Law describes that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can only be converted from one form to another.
The Second Law describes entropy, that in a closed system, things tend to move from an ordered state to a state of disorder.
The universe is thought to be made up mostly of what we refer to as Dark Matter. It is so named because we cannot see it, though we see its effect on the universe. Some estimate that at least 85 % of the mass of the universe is made up of Dark Matter. It does not appear to interact with the rest of the visible universe except through gravity, indicating that it must have mass.
Dark Matter was proposed as a solution to the problem of galaxies cohesion. The problem is that there is not enough observable (visible) mass in a galaxy to cause it to stick together given the forces at work in the spin of most galaxies. For example, a spiral galaxy such as ours is spinning such that the visible matter should spin off into space from the observable forces. In short, Dark Matter is the gravitational glue that holds our galaxies together or Dark Matter provides an invisible framework that holds it all together.
Now let’s change direction. Could the missing mass of the universe be made up of information?
Dr. Melvin Vopson of Portsmouth University has proposed that information could be a fundamental building block of the universe that has mass and could provide an explanation for some or all of the missing mass that holds it all together.
Does information have mass? We are talking about what we know as digitally stored information, not books and papers. Sure, the hardware that houses the information has mass, but does the information itself have mass? If it were proven to have mass as is predicted, this could change EVERYTHING. It would provide a solution for the problem of Dark Matter, the nature of reality, the question of consciousness and so many others.
It has been estimated, but not measured, that the mass of all the information produced in the last hundred or so years in digital format may equal a few hundred kilograms, but that number is increasing exponentially every day.
It has been suggested that in a few hundred years, the mass of the information that humanity has created and stored could equal the mass of the moon. What happens then to the Earth when our civilization’s work product has such mass? It would be catastrophic. It would cause great calamities on Earth and would destroy us.
Is this what happens when a sentient species eventually creates a technological civilization. Destroyed by the mass of its ingenuity…In how many times and places has this already happened?
Is this why information appears to be stored everywhere and nowhere, in the void of space among the stars? Have previous conscious civilizations throughout the universe found a way to store it in space OR is it the information that holds it all together? Is this the God that we have been seeking to know and understand?
Further implications are that if the universe is made mostly of information, then the simulation theory gains new fuel for its argument. Is reality just a simulation, such as is depicted in the Matrix films?
Big questions. Spooky Answers. This has profound implications for ontology, teleology, theology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science…basically everything.
We know matter has having four states: namely: solid, liquid, gas, plasma and we may be adding a fifth…information.
Leave a Reply