Dopamine

God’s a pretty good idea. Let’s build one.

Doc-Danger

1 Month Later - Megacles - The Mega Lab

Doc-Danger's back! I saw him for an hour yesterday. We didn't talk much, but I expect him for a full lab day today!

He arrives on time and we shower immediately. Afterwards, I grab a few beer and head to the backyard. I leave the hypnoclone on, so we can snuggle on the hammock. I’ve gotten more outdoorsy since the blackout. If you consider napping in a hammock outdoorsy.

“What have you been doing?” I ask.

“Well, I burned a lot of daylight keeping things right. At night, I sat in the dark and thought about physics.”

He’s so hot. “Tell me.”

“The Blackout, annoying as it was, made me slow down and take stock. Some unavoidable self reflection ensued.

“My laser experiments were a bust. They increased the rate of quantum tunneling, but that’s all they did. I never learned why it was happening. I hoped if I hit the universe hard enough, some understanding would shake loose, but it never did. I was no better than a string theorist.

“So I went back to my initial problem. How do you make something appear from quantum fluctuations? What the fuck are quantum fluctuations anyway?

“The idea comes from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - that you can never know the precise location of any particle. Seems simple enough, but consider a vacuum. A space that - by definition - has no particles. If no particles are there, does that qualify as knowing their precise location?

“Surprisingly, yes. Which means you can’t have a real vacuum. Even the most empty region of space has the possibility that a particle just pops up out of nothing. Also true of non-vacuums. Everywhere you look has particles popping in and out of existence. This violates no physical laws - as long as each particle that appears eventually disappears - and actually produces effects that are verifiable. It’s not just a math thing, you can measure the Casimir Effect, which is caused by particles popping in and out of existence.

“That said, the Casimir Effect is pretty fucking weak. Like, a couple photons show up for a few femtoseconds kind of weak. But it doesn’t have to be - quantum energy fields are everywhere and contain tremendous amounts of energy. With enough time, over enough space, these random appearances will create larger, longer lasting structures. Like atoms, molecules, universe destroying explosions, or fully functioning human brains.

“So that’s the quantum fluctuations I’m trying to harness. But I don’t know how to do that, and neither does anyone else. Warping to black holes and lasering quantum tunnels were just time wasting distractions. Busy work for a guy with no real ideas. Busy work I’d still be distracting myself with if some fucker hadn’t shut off my power.

“I contemplated this mess for a while. Well, I drank in the dark about it. Eventually, I realized I was trying to build an engineering solution to a philosophy problem. You can’t make a machine to control cosmic uncertainty without understanding why it’s happening.

“So why was the quantum world uncertain? Our bigger everyday world doesn’t have things popping in and out of existence. At what point does that change? And why?

“Well, it changes at the collapse of the probability wave. Before this, a particle has uncertain wave-like properties that only exist as probabilities. But if you measure that particle, the probability wave collapses, and it gets definite properties.

“Like a photon could be spinning left or right, but it’s actually spinning both left and right, until you measure it, then the wave collapses, and it’s definitely only spinning in one direction. Great. Weird as shit, but that’s what I want, so fine.

“So, why does measuring a wave make it collapse into a particle?

“Nobody knows. Fuck.

“Fortunately physics is full of smart folks, and they have a few theories on the measurement problem, why waves collapse, and how the quantum world connects to ours. None of this shit has been proven - they’re just guesses - but smart guesses that are mathematically possible. Let’s consider the top five:

The Copenhagen Interpretation - It doesn’t matter how these worlds connect. As long as quantum physics makes accurate predictions, who gives a fuck how it works. This was the most popular theory with the fucking guys who created quantum physics in the 1950’s. It’s how serious people who smoke at work view the fucking universe.

Multiverse Theory - Maybe the probability wave never collapses. Maybe everything happens somewhere. The probability wave of each particle could create an infinite amount of parallel universes for each of its possible locations. So an infinite amount of particles could create an infinity times infinite infinities exponential branching of multiverses. Mathematically, this is a possible solution to quantum equations. Mostly popular with comic book enthusiasts.

Consciousness Theory - Waves only collapse into particles when measured, and a measurement needs someone to measure it, so maybe reality needs a conscious observer for it to exist. This interpretation was not popular in the early days of quantum physics. Also not popular today. Generally considered to be human centric, egotistical, wish fulfillment, hippy-dippy bullshit. Gateway theory to using magic crystals as deodorant.

SuperDeterminism - Fuck all the hippy shit. The quantum realm isn’t a formless schmear of possibilities until we measure it. Everything has its place, it’s just waiting there to be measured, and the reason we can’t predict what’s going on beforehand is because we’re bad at math. Quantum physics is incomplete, and once we figure out some hidden variables, everything will make sense. Also, there’s no such thing as free will, because the motion of every particle in your body was decided 14 billion years before you were born. Superdeterminism is popular with grumpy math nerd edgelords. Like Einstein.

Compatibilism - The quantum world is a smear of probability, but then something weird happens, and the normal world is normal. So we have free will and can make decisions, but quantum objects don’t and can’t. Sounds about right, but doesn’t explain how we get from one to the other. Basically just the Copenhagen Interpretation for unserious people who don’t smoke.

“Anyway, I decided to work backwards. Figure out which interpretation allowed for Boltzmann Brains and assume it was correct because I wanted it to be.”

“Hmm.” I frown at Doc-Danger. “Is that how science is supposed to work?”

“Oh yeah.” he says. “ Nine times out of ten. We’re joining a rich history. Practically string theorists.”

“Okay? Then, huzzah?”

“Indeed. So, Copenhagen and Compatibilism are equally useless. They can’t be bothered to explain anything, because they’re too busy or too lazy. Respectively.

“Multiverse theory does explain what’s happening, but I don’t know how it helps anyone. There’s universes just full of brains, but we can’t get there, so fuck us. Seriously, no one even has the faintest idea how to test this theory. Science has literally zero ideas for how to interact with a parallel universe. There’s no place to start.

“This is also true of Superdeterminism. Was every thought, motion, and decision that anyone ever made pre-determined by the starting conditions of the universe and the rigid interplay of cosmic forces on the particles we’re made of? Is it impossible to change this cosmic script? Is free will a delusion? If so, I don’t know what the fuck to do with that. Was I predetermined to ignore it? Cause that’s what I’m gonna do.

“That leaves us with Consciousness Theory. The hippy granola of quantum interpretations. Human centric, navel gazing bullshit. Fuck. So disappointing. Especially because I may have a way to test it.

“We could make something more conscious than us.

“Let’s back up a little. Consciousness Theory has never been disproven because of some slippery logic. Basically, the last step of any measurement is that a conscious being looks at it. So, maybe the quantum wave didn’t collapse until that happened. Like, the entire testing apparatus - computer, camera, video tape - is in an uncertain quantum state until someone looks at the results.

“Imagine you trained a cat to be your lab assistant. He observes the results of your quantum experiments. But, according to Consciousness Theory, he would exist in multiple states, with multiple results, until he meowed them to you and collapsed into a single lab coated feline.

“Makes me tired just thinking about it. What a stupid idea. Not nearly as stupid as multiverse theory, but still. Anyway, we could test it by making xomething more conscious than us, and seeing if we turn into multiple lab cats.

“Or, more usefully, seeing if it has a greater degree of freedom.

“Because that’s what consciousness is. The ability to make decisions. We’re all made of the same fucking wavicles. Reverberations on a cosmic field. But some of us can choose how we move.

“Just waving my arms for no reason is a giant fuck you to superdeterminism. I’m more than particles mindlessly bouncing around. Choices are being made!

“And if my feeble awareness can pilot quadrillions of wavicles - and potentially collapse the probability wave of everything it perceives - how much reality could a higher consciousness control?

“Dunno. Let’s build one and find out.”

We’re swinging slightly in my hammock. What’s causing that? The breeze? The haptoclone? My fidgeting? I’m excited but slightly confused by Doc-Danger’s plan. Probably should tell him that.

“I’m excited but slightly confused by your plan.” I say. “I wasn’t aware we knew what caused consciousness.”

Doc shakes his head. “We don’t, but once again, people smarter than us have a few ideas. Let’s consider the top three:

Interconnective Processing - Consciousness may be a simple byproduct of billions of data processors that are connected in a trillion different ways. Like the human brain, that has 100 billion neurons connected by 700 trillion synapses. The ability to understand and make decisions may arise naturally from this superior hardware configuration.

Entropy Negation - Imagine getting fire-hosed with unfamiliar data. Perhaps you’ve intercepted a particularly robust alien broadcast. The Dark Web of the Space Gods. With zero frame of reference, all you can do is reduce the number of variables. Look for repetition in the base layer of data. Bootstrap that to find larger themes. Pattern recognition from first principles. Always trying to turn many things into less things. Narrowing possibilities until you find a nugget of truth. But, like, auto-mathematically.

Quantum Uncertainty - Perhaps logical computation isn’t enough for consciousness. The secret sauce may that kinda-many-things quantum weirdness but inside our fucking brains. It’s unclear how this is supposed to work. Presumably it allows some calculation beyond the scope of logic. Whatever that means. Seems like a long shot, but we do have quantum waves inside the microtubules of our neurons. Also, anesthetics cause those microtubules to contract, collapsing those waves. And then we lose consciousness. Could be a coincidence, but it’s very fucking fishy.

“So that’s, uh, as far as I got. Let’s recap:

“For billions of years, wavicles bounced around each other in a mindless clockwork dance. Then, at some point in the distant past, an inanimate object made a decision. Probably something as simple as a movement. A little choice to go here instead of there. That first decision ended the age of superdeterminism and began the collapse of the wave function. As more decisions were made, more and more of the universe became real, starting with large and close objects, and spreading to smaller or more distant objects.

“If we want to increase our control over the quantum realm, we need to expand our consciousness. Improve our ability to understand, desire, and choose. Either by increasing our complexity, decreasing the entropy around us, or adding more quantum weirdness to our thoughts.

“But, once again, I don’t know how to do any of that.”

Doc’s fucking crazy. In a good way. I think of my bio-reactors, my stolen A.I.’s, and the simplicity of human decisions. “I think I may know how to do that stuff.”

He smiles. “I figured as much. Which one shall we attempt?”

I smile back. “Why not all three?”

“Excellent.” We laugh maniacally. We’re gonna break reality. What fun.

We lie in the hammock for hours. Smoking, loving each other, planning our next move. Our consciousness needs hardware, training data, and an algorithm.

We can’t build hardware more complex than the human brain, so we’ll have to grow it. Green sulfur algae should do the job. It’s cells analogous to neurons, it’s perfect photosynthesis playing as synapses. The algae can’t process data as well as brain tissue, but I can make lots. And the “synapses” are inherently quantum, so that should drum up some consciousness magic. Hopefully. I’ve had shit luck at keeping this particular strand of algae alive, but Doc’s got a few ideas. Goody.

Most conventional training data is trash. Well labeled data sets are too small. Large data sets are unorganized trash. Both make weak A.I. We need a huge, meticulously organized trove of data to kickstart our consciousness. Obviously, the only option is Project Octopus. Obviously… fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Project Octopus was never about curing cancer. Someone’s trying to make an A.I. superintelligence. Does… that matter? Fuck, I dunno. Figure it out later.

For an algorithm, we use the math version of the Simplicity of Human Decisions. College me would be so proud.

Is that all we need to make a superconsciousness? I guess we’ll find out.

We name it the God Machine.