I shall provide a physical foundation for eschatology—the study of the ultimate future—by making the physical assumption that the universe must be ca… - Frank J. Tipler

" "

I shall provide a physical foundation for eschatology—the study of the ultimate future—by making the physical assumption that the universe must be capable of sustaining life indefinitely... for infinite time... [W]e have to have some theory for the future of the physical universe—since it unquestionably exists— and this is the most beautiful postulate: that total death is not inevitable. All other theories of the future necessarily postulate the ultimate extinction of everything... there is nothing uglier than extermination. We physicists know that a beautiful postulate is more likely to be correct than an ugly one. Why not adopt the Postulate of Eternal Life, at least as a working hypothesis?

English
Collect this quote

About Frank J. Tipler

(born February 1, 1947) is an American mathematical physicist and cosmologist, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Mathematics and Physics at Tulane University. Tipler has written books and papers on the based on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's religious ideas, which he claims is a mechanism for the resurrection of the dead. He is also known for his theories on the (Tipler time machine) and for the , an argument that no intelligent life exists outside of the Solar System. His work has attracted criticism, notably from systems theorist George F. R. Ellis who has argued that his theories are largely pseudoscience.

Also Known As

Native Name: Frank Jennings Tipler III
Alternative Names: Frank Jennings Tipler
Works in ChatGPT, Claude, or Any AI

Add semantic quote search to your AI assistant via MCP. One command setup.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Additional quotes by Frank J. Tipler

The problem with the Drake equation is that only <math>f_p</math>—and to a lesser degree <math>n_e</math>— is subject to experimental determination... [O]ne must have a fairly large sample; for <math>f_l</math>, <math>f_i</math>, and <math>f_c</math> we have only... the Earth. However, if... any intelligent species... will begin... galactic exploration within 100 years after developing... interstellar communication... the sample size is enlarged... Since <math>f_p</math>—and <math>n_e</math> can... be determined by direct astrophysical measurement, the fact that extraterrestrial intelligent beings are not present in our solar system permits us to obtain a direct astrophysical measurement of an upper bound to... <math>f_lf_if_c</math>, which depends only on biological and sociological factors.

[T]he eternal life assumption... implies... there must exist in this future (but in two precise mathematical senses, also in the present and the past) a Person Who is simultaneously transcendent to yet immanent in the physical universe of space, time, and matter. In the Person's immanent temporal aspect... changing (forever growing in knowledge and power), but in the... transcendent eternal aspect, forever complete and unchanging. How this comes about as a matter of physics will be described...

Once the exploration and/or colonization of the Galaxy has begun, it can be modeled... by the mathematical theory of island colonization... developed... by MacArthur & Wilson... since... islands... are closely analogous to stars in the heaven, and von Neumann machines are even more closely analogous to biological species.

Loading...