Frank J. Tipler

Frank J. Tipler (* 1947 in Andalusia, Alabama, United States) is an American physicist.

Life

Frank J. Tipler studied physics and mathematics, among others at Oxford University, the University of Texas at Austin, at the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich and the Universities of Bern and Vienna. Since 1987 he has been professor of mathematical physics at Tulane University in New Orleans, specializing in cosmology, general relativity, elementary particle physics and complexity theory.

Tipler is a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design, which is part of the general as neokreationistisch classified intelligent design movement and author of the popular and sometimes controversial books The Anthropic Cosmological Principle ( with John D. Barrow ), The Physics of immortality and the Physics of Christianity.

Not one should be confused with Frank Tipler, Paul A. Tipler, an emeritus professor who has written a physics book for students.

Theses of The Physics of Immortality

As a representative of the strong AI and the Anthropic Principle Tipler believes in a final goal of historical changes. The fine structure constant applies to him as a strong indication of the people oriented toward the creation of the cosmos. He sees the progress in a teleological concept involved and thus a limitless future for intelligent life and human culture. In his mind he refers less to the humanities as a purely physical arguments. One can describe his philosophical- religious attitude as a utopian formation of pantheism. He sees himself as a Deist, from a scientific insight.

Simultaneously with the computer scientist Hans Moravec and the philosopher Robert Nozick developed the extreme reductionist theory about the resurrection mechanism and published in 1994 the popular science bestseller, " The Physics of Immortality - Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead ," in which the thesis of ontological provability the existence of a becoming God is represented.

At the end of the universe cumulated after all virtual or material that exists in the Omega Point and forms, in this infinite for the Future in their tangible moment in time, because there the information is perfect, the deity. In other words: It is formed by infinite information the consummate God in eternity. The Holy Spirit, he sees the universal wave function - which contains all the information about the universe according to the Copenhagen interpretation - represents. A son of God is - if you do not want to consider becoming one of life and especially of mankind in evolution as such - no place.

The necessary to this development technological requirements are presented in a speculative vision and justified in a detailed scientific annex using mathematical formulas. The basic message is that all previous existence, everything that has life in the distant future reprogrammed into gigantic, comprehensive the cosmos computer programs, or is recreated. The prerequisite is that the existing information in the universe at all size is finite and ultimately humanity is able to propagate through space in the entire universe to install the appropriate amount of information.

Since human carbon- based life in the distant future has no chance of survival, the bearers of the future human culture nanotechnological Von Neumann probes will be on which Richard Feynman postulated as a concept in his famous lecture There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom in 1959.

Tipler assumes the theology of physics as a branch, and tries to show that his Omega Point theory coincides with the ending performances or the eschatology of the world religions.

Criticism

In the professional world encounter Tipler representations on the part of strong criticism. A primary criticism that his scenario is based on a variety of unrealistic or unnachprüfbaren assumptions (for example, the question of whether the amount of information in the universe is finite or infinite is ), each of which is so highly speculative that they banish individually into the realm of imagination must. In addition, the teleological and ideological / religious character is criticized as unscientific.

Support for the physical part of his scenarios receives Tipler in part by David German, which, however, rejects the religious aspect of Tipler's representations. Comments from colleagues to Tipler and his theories range from " masterpiece of pseudoscience " ( George Ellis in a review in the journal " Nature" ) on " My first reaction on reading the ideas behind this book in preprint form, what did Frank Tipler had gone mad. " ( Chris Clarke in a review in the journal " Physics Today " ) to " My impression after reading the book is a little different: The concept for this book was the merry physicist - round late at night " ( Gebhard Grübl, Professor at the Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Univ. Innsbruck). Also from the theological side, eg by Hans -Dieter Mutschler his theories are criticized as a transgression of natural science.

Theories and criticism of The Physics of Christianity

Also in this book explains the cosmological singularity Tipler, so the origin of everything outside of space and time, the Judeo-Christian God. While he still refers to himself in the physics of immortality as a Deist, which expressly rejects the existence of a Son of God in the biblical sense, is Tipler converts here for believers in Christ, the miracles like the virgin birth, the resurrection and the incarnation as not contrary to the laws of science and physics experiments referred propose to prove this. Lawrence Krauss described the book in a review as a collection of half-truths and exaggerations as well as uncritical and unfounded; it is far more dangerous than nonsense, because the high scientific reputation of an intelligent professional scientist wrongly conveys the convincing illusion, Tipler's theories are implied by the physics and scientific approximation possessed in any context validity.

Writings

• The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, along with John D. Barrow, Oxford 1988 ISBN 0192821474 - If ( so ) called by Tipler as an early version of the Omega Point Theory.
• The Physics of Immortality, New York 1994 ISBN 0385467990
• The Physics of Immortality, Piper Munich 1994 ISBN 3492036112
• The Physics of Christianity - A scientific experiment, Piper Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3492047203