Octblog 2025
Hagiography
My thanks to Marcus Hedare for this thorough and highly comprehensive introduction to my magical ideas: -
https://vocal.media/bookclub/peter-j-carroll-architect-of-chaos-magic
Infinities in Cosmos and Quanta?
Our species currently seems either to have encountered two limits to what it can in principle know, or it has manufactured them by its choices of epistemology.
One limit concerns Black Holes where the equations of General Relativity break down and tell us nothing about what occurs inside of them except perhaps to expect the formation of spacetime singularities of infinite density without any space or time at all and about which we can know nothing. This limit exactly reflects the limit to knowledge that the Big Bang theory imposes. A naïve extrapolation of General Relativity coupled with the questionable assumption of the hypothesis of an expanding universe leads back to a zero sized initial singularity point for the universe about which we can know nothing. We cannot, even in principle, know how it came into existence and even if anything came before it.
Another apparently unsurmountable limit to what we can know arises down at the other end of the scale with the Quanta. Both the Schrödinger Wave Equation and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle assume that fundamental quanta exist as point particles of zero size. The Schrödinger equation describes where such point particles may appear as they move, but only in in terms of probabilities,. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle describes such point particles as having either indefinite position or indefinite momentum, and either indefinite energy or indefinite duration. The probabilistic and partially indeterminate descriptions of point particles rule out, in principle, any possibility of knowing anything more fundamental about them.
The calculations we can perform using the epistemological assumptions of spacetime singularities or point particles always yields meaningless infinities, as division by zero always does.
In conventional cosmology we simply have to ignore the question of what might go on inside black holes and in conventional quantum field theory we simply have to ‘renormalise’ the theoretical infinities away and substitute actual measured values.
Unsurprisingly, the attempt to meld these epistemologies together to create a theory of Quantum Gravity that resolves the flaws in both, has not yielded useful results.
Hypersphere Cosmology at least eliminates spacetime singularities and a big bang from a description of the cosmos at the small price of positing a curvature dimension to the universe, and it currently remains unfalsified by observations. It sets a limit to how small anything can become.
Perhaps our quantum epistemology requires an analogous limit of non-infinite smallness, and some form of extension if only in dimensions not currently acknowledged. Work continues……..
Shub-Nigurathian Apocalypse Immanent?
Imagination has already created the infrastructure for an Azathothian Apocalypse. We currently have currently stockpiled about 10,000 nuclear warheads replete with delivery systems, to err, keep the peace.
Many warn about a possible Cthulhu Apocalypse if we let Artificial Intelligence enhance our collective stupidity.
Apart from a few sci-fi writers, few have considered the apocalyptic potential of what will soon become possible with our biology. We just passed what we may come to recognise as a milestone by achieving Mitomeiosis – you may wish to google that. Something whispered in my psyche a long while ago that Physical Immortality lays only a few steps beyond that, and all hell will break loose when we achieve it.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin apparently discussed immortality the last time they met in person. Hopefully neither will live until it becomes a reality.
Dean Radin’s New Book
Herewith my requested comment for it: -
Dean Radin’s book certainly provides a wealth of material and inspiration for practical experimentation and the advance of magical and scientific theory. I recommend this ideas-rich and entertainingly written Science of Magic to every open-minded scientist and to every serious magician on the planet. - Peter J Carroll, physicist and sorcerer, Past Grandmaster Illuminates of Thanateros.
Multimind
Lastly a brief article from a scientist and polymath who makes a preliminary stab at identifying the brain structures underlying some of the functions of our inner pantheon in our manifestly non-singular minds. Nice fun graphics.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/396267955_NUGAE_-A_PANDEMONIUM_MODEL_OF_MORAL_CHOICES