For those interested in questions like 'do we live in the matrix' and 'is there a seperate reality different than our own' and so forth can check out this fun paper by prof Tegmark (a very serious scientist)
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0704/0704.0646v1.pdf
(link stolen from several physics blogs shamelessly)
It might be a tad hard to follow for those who were not exposed to some undergraduate level mathematics, but I think its reasonably well explained so you can kinda skip things here and there where it gets abstract and instead follow the logic. The first part sorta requires this b/c he requires a sort of eternal and fundamental mathematical language free from 'baggage' like words and sentences, such that say an Alien would have some hope to make sense out of it, and this requires some machinery.
http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0704/0704.0646v1.pdf
(link stolen from several physics blogs shamelessly)
It might be a tad hard to follow for those who were not exposed to some undergraduate level mathematics, but I think its reasonably well explained so you can kinda skip things here and there where it gets abstract and instead follow the logic. The first part sorta requires this b/c he requires a sort of eternal and fundamental mathematical language free from 'baggage' like words and sentences, such that say an Alien would have some hope to make sense out of it, and this requires some machinery.