Devs or Deus? Explained or Dissected.

Devs or Deus? Explained or Dissected.

I die, but I live. I live, but I die. I exist, but I'm neither alive nor dead. 

24 May, 2017
Considering the complexities of our host - Universe and it's organic and inorganic forms, I've started increasingly believing in the notion of everything is part of simulation, at least our Earth is. Some call the simulator, 'God', but I don't have a name for it yet.
#BT

This is what I posted in my Facebook account  on the above mentioned date.

Later in the month of May 2019, I happen to watch the mind bending science fiction of prolific sci-fi author Alex Garland's Devs - a limited series. Earlier, Alex Garland made Ex-Machina and Annihilation. Both made profound impact on my conscience.

March - April, 2020
Devs or Deus?
"Deus - God from the machine."

"Does anything ever happen without a reason?
There are no random events.
Nothing ever happenes without a reason.
Everything was determined by something prior."

"They believe everything is computational. They have cracked the encryption key to compute it. So everything is unpackable and packable. And reverse engineerable. And predictable. "

"Deterministic. Free will. Illusion of free will. "

"Never liked Evertt interpretation. I liked penrose or pilot-wave.  Evertt was right. The many worlds are real. "

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Even though, I'm still operating with a primitive computer of 512 MB RAM, it doesn't stop me from learning and aspiring to build quantum computers. After all, quantum computers are not solely based on computer technology, but physics, which is my primary interest. I have attempted to explain #quantumcomputing in a simple manner, which is, the conventional problem with computers performing calculations is memory constraints, larger the calculations, higher the physical and logical memory required. But, with quantum computing, irrespective of the complexities of any calculations, information can be simultaneously stored in the same location. Thanks to a phenomenon of #QuantumMechanics, '#Superposition'. This solves the problem of space and speed constraints. Thus, supercomputers or quantum computers are the way of the future, which have not completely evolved yet.

Before dissecting maverick Alex Garland's mind bending metphysical science thriller "Devs", let us attempt to understand some science, rather physics. Because it is vital, else we will not be able to comprehend (I doubt if we can ever) or appreciate the idea of Devs.

Superposition
Quantum Mechanics
Evertt Interpretation or Multi World Interpretation (MWI)

Superposition:
An object can exist in a particular place at a particular point of time. This is what we experience or this what we know in our world or universe. Can a particular object exist in two places at the same time? Practically impossible isn't? Supposing, I'm dead in one place and I'm alive in another place at the same time. I'm a human, therefore, I'm mortal. How can I be both alive and dead at the same time? The answer lies in the quantum universe.

According to the principle of superposition, I can be both dead and alive at the same time in different places, different parts of the worlds or universes. Here, we need to pay attention to the term "World" and "Universe". The world or the universe is not the one or single. Our perception is that what we perceive as the world or universe is what the world or universe is. However, that's not the case. We will try to learn more. We need to be patient.

Quantum Mechanics or Physics:
Simply stated, Quantum Mechanics is the opposite of Classical physics, rather what we can't see or comprehend. It is what happens at the microscopic level - elementary particles such as atoms and electrons.

What we experience or perceive in the universe belongs to the idea of classical physics, rather Albert Einstein's "General Theory of Relativity", which deals with everything big that governs our universe - gravity, planets and stars. In essence, the macroscopic view of our universe.

In the classical mechanics or physics, there is a certainity of an object existing in a particular place at a particular time. On contrary, in quantum mechanics or physics, there is a probability of an object simultaneously existing in multiple places at the same time. It deals with elements that we humans are not yet equipped to percieve of, hence the name "Quantum".

Physicists across the world are attempting to propose a unified theory of Quantum and Classical physics - Quantum Theory of Gravity. A marriage between conflicting physics. The attempts so far have not attained fruition, if successful, might unravel the secrets of our universe, rather multiverse.

Superposition is an integral part of the quantum universe.

Everett Interpretation | Multi World Interpretation:

Hugh Everett, an iconoclastic quantum theorist, introduced humanity to the idea of multiverse or Many World Interpretation (MWI). In 1951, he proposed a quantum theory that the universe is not only a multiverse, but within it there are countless number of universes. In effect, what he did, not met with reception but hostility.  Subsequently, he had to withdraw the idea of encompassing MWI in his Ph.d thesis, eventually left academic physics and continued his work for Pentagon assisting them in secretive military projects.
50 years later, his ideas were considered to be world changing and gained popularity.

Is it really possible to define MWI?
When a decision is made, an outcome is produced. There is a certainity or determinism. In essence, a cause and an effect. However, it is possible that an effect of a decision we make is a probability, rather possibilities of outcomes. Each outcome exist in a universe. Therefore, the universe is countless as the probabilities of an effect of an event is infinite.

Does it mean that MWI is against determinism and for free will?

If everything is predetermined and there is a cause and an effect, then there is an outcome to an event in the universe, essentially one universe exists, which is against MWI. Determinism holds validity here.

If everything is not predetermined and there is a cause and an effect or a cause and many effects or multiple causes and multiple effects, then the outcomes are enormous or infinite. And each outcome exists in each universe. Therefore, the multiverse or Many World Interpretation (MWI). Thus, free-will prevails.
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Pivotal characters:

Forest

Katie

Lily Chan

Sergei

Lyndon

Jamie

Stewart

Kenton

Amaya

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Forest, a tech mogul, pioneering in quantum computer loses his daughter and wife in a car accident. He feels guilty because a phone call he made to his wife distracted her attention on the road while driving. The car carried his wife and daughter "Amaya". It was a fatal accident. If the phone call was not made (Cause), his wife wouldn't have got distracted, moreover both wife and daughter would have safely reached home alive (Effect). His phone call was the cause, and the accident was the effect.

Forest is desperate to bring his family alive - wife and daughter "Amaya", a resurrection, which is not possible in the world we exist, apparently. However, it is permitted in the universe of quantum mechanics or MWI (Many World Interpretation). Consequently, he finds Katie an extremely intelligent Ph.D student, an iconoclastic, who seemingly believes in both determinism  and Free - Will (MWI). Not only does she become the key of the project but the mind of Forest. Thus, the elusive project "Devs", comes into existence.

A Russian rational, who happens to be an employee of "Amaya" - quantum computing company owned by Forest, exhibits exceptional intelligence in predicting or in their terms projecting the future for a few seconds. He is induced into Devs by Forest and Katie. His name is Sergei, and his girlfriend Lilly also works for Amaya. Sergei is a Russian spy, in the process of stealing the codes of Devs on realizing it's potential, he gets caught by Forest and murdered by Amaya's head of security, Kenton. The murder is covered as suicide.

Lily is not convinced that Sergei committed suicide, and believes of a conspiracy. She suspects Forest, Katie and Kenton. When she is on the verge of acquiring evidence proving Sergei was murdered by Kenton, Forest and Katie, with the help of her ex-boyfriend Jamie, things turn upside down, leading to the death of Jamie. Now, Lily doesn't have a choice but to surrender herself to Forest and Katie.

Lily learns from Katie, that they have developed a machine, rather quantum machine capable of accessing or seeing any part of the history - past, present and future of our universe.  The machine or the project called "Devs", appears to be working under the principle of determinism - cause and effect. Katie claims, everything happens because of a reason. That reason is the cause, and an outcome is the effect. There is no randomness.

Any event in the world is an information - data. If all the required details are acquired and structured, then data becomes not only computational but controllable and predictable. Devs can look into any part of the history and project it. Forest is obsessive about resurrecting his daughter Amaya. That phone he made to his wife is a cause. If that cause is cancelled, meaning Forest didn't make that phone call, there is no effect of the fatal accident killing Forest's wife and daughter. There is a setback in the Devs, which is deterring from resurrecting Forest's family.

Lydon, a young brilliant computer programmer proves that determinism doesn't exist and Many-Worlds are real (Free Will or Evertt interpretation).  The prediction or projection of history by Devs is unclear, the visualisation is grainy. Lyndon believes since Devs is computing data from the universe we exist, it's ability to visualize timelines is limited, only if it incorporates data from other parallel universes or multiverses, will the visualisation be perfect. This is what precisely Everett's interpretation of Many Worlds Interpretation is all about. For every decision we make, a universe is created for all possible outcomes. While the event happening in one universe is likely to have influence on another.

Forest sees incorporating MWI in Devs as a violation. Because Devs has evolved enough to exactly project or visualize any timeline of the universe's history - past, present and future. Moreover, MWI essentially means versions. Therefore, his daughter Amaya he had in this reality, will be different from another versions, and he cannot let that happen because it is another Amaya. Therefore, he fires Lyndon with a termination package of 10 million dollars and threatens her life if she talks about Devs to the outside world.

Lyndon proves that WMI augments the Devs and makes the visualisation the best - a mirror of the history. Grains are removed and the visualisation or projection looks like a naked eye view of the reality. Consequently, Lyndon gets fired by Forest. Lyndon is desperate in getting back to Devs so as to continue perfecting the quantum machine. She meets Katie. But, Katie had seen this meeting several times in the Devs and knows how will it end.

Katie tells Lyndon that she knows exactly how will the meeting between them end. Forest and Katie are a firm believers of deterministic quantum mechanics or principle. Everything happens in the universe is predetermined and nothing can be done. Free will is an illusion. Lyndon on the another hand is a firm believer of free will, Everett's interpretation of Many-Worlds. To prove her belief of Many-Worlds, she stands on the edge of a dam, outstrerching her hands as the only balance.

According to the Many-Worlds, she will fall and die in a world, in another world she will not fall, don't die, proves Many-Worlds theory is right, therefore earns the admiration of Forest and Katie again and goes back to Devs. Apparently, after the jump, Lyndon dies in the primary universe we or the Devs exist, but possibly survives in the other universes. Let us understand, the theory of quantum immortality. In the primary universe, our consciousness ceases to exist, when we die because of a cause. However, according to Many-Worlds, we don't die and prevail. There our consciousness doesn't remember our death and continues to exist.

"The idea of quantum immortality states that, since consciousness is extinguished upon the point of death, you will never remember any of the universes in which you die. Instead, your consciousness will follow the progression of universes in which you live, effectively rendering you immortal.", excerpts from screenrant.com

Kenton wants to murder Jamie and Lilly as they may put him in jail for murdering Sergei. He does. But Lilly survives. Lily is helped by another Russian spy in the disguise of a beggar, who has been sleeping all the while in the downstairs of Lilly's apartment, who was actually deployed there by Russians to monitor Sergei.

Before Lyndon's death in the primary universe, she meets her colleague Stewart and says Forest is mad and a machine as powerful as Devs cannot be with him. Forest and Katie had seen Lilly eventually coming to Devs after her surviving ex-boyfriend Jamie shot by Kenton. Lilly does go to Devs. Stewart  standing in front of the electromagnetic capsule - pathway to Devs, says you shouldn't be here and it is going to change everything.

Lilly enters Devs, sees Forest watching her daughter Amaya on the screen - projection or visualisation of Amaya from Devs. Forest tells Lilly that she is going to kill him and shows the prediction, projection or visualisation of the future - how exactly Lilly is going to kill Forest in a couple of minutes from now. Forest says it is determinism. Events happen exactly as Devs predicted, when Forest and Lilly enter the electromagnetic capsule she makes a choice - free will and throws the gun away.

According to the quantum deterministic principle predicted or projected by Devs, she is supposed to shoot Forest in his head, and the bullet passes through his head and breaks the glass of the capsule, and it falls down into the vaccum chamber killing both Forest and Lilly. It didn't not happen. Even though, Lilly didn't shoot Forest and the capsule fall  down, both are killed in the deterministic universe. How?

Steward killed Forest and Lilly. Remember, Lyndon met Stewart and told him that a machine as powerful as Devs must not be with Forest as he is obsessive of ressurecting her daughter and doesn't want the machine to achieve its full potential. Steward, who is standing at the exit of the capsule of Devs disables electromagnetic radiation and the capsule falls killing both Forest and Lilly.

Does it mean that Forest's belief in deterministic quantum theory is disproved and Many-Worlds Lyndon's application of Everett's interpretation is proved?
Well, the direct answer is a yes and a no. Because deterministic and Many-Worlds seemingly work in tandem. Lilly is a human, she made the mistake the very first humans Adam and Eve did. The original sin. Disobedience. And it is what makes her a human. According to deterministic quantum principle, she is supposed to adhere to what the deterministic quantum machine Devs predicted, that is kill Forest. But she disobeyed. Now, it appears that deterministic quantum theory is proven wrong. But it is not. Why?

What is Devs?
A quantum computing machine, which has the consciousness of entire humanity loaded into it as data, which enables it to predict every possible outcome of an event by applying Everett's interpretation of Many-Worlds. Essentially, a simulator. Earlier, it worked under the deterministic principle of quantum mechanics, that's everything is predetermined. An outcome to an event. A cause and effect.

Forest invariably needed not only to ressurect  their family - wife and daughter Amaya but live with them again. It is not possible with Devs. Firstly, Devs doesn't work on Many-Worlds principle. Secondly, according to quantum immortality, Forest will have to die in one universe (primary or our reality), so that his consciousness will not remember his death in other universes where he did not die. Thus he becomes immortal in the quantum realm, and never remembers his death. Subsequently, his consciousness can be transferred or uploaded to Devs (after Devs incorporating Many-Worlds principle of Everett, which was made possible by Lyndon). Thereby Forest can get back to his family again.

Forest tells Lilly a secret, the name of the project is not Devs but Deus. Why?
Deus means "God from the Machine".

Devs becomes Deus after Lyndon introducing Everett's interpretation of Many-Worlds (MWI) . Because, Deus can predict and project all possible outcomes of an event in many universes - multiverse.  However, Forest tells Katie on ressurecting that Devs is Deus, but only within itself.
What does it mean?
Forest, Katie, Lilly, Stewart, Lyndon and the team of project Devs have created a God, which is capable of predicting and visualising all possible outcomes of an event in every universe but in the quantum realm not in the reality we exist in (primary universe).

Simply stated, it is simulation, not a or the reality we perceive of.

Lily is also ressurected along with Forest and she is made to ignore Sergei and unite with her truthful ex-boyfriend Jamie.

Forest and Lilly, in the quantum realm of Deus, lead a happy and peaceful life in one universe. But the Many-Worlds principle has implications, they need to encounter other outcomes of their choice they made in other universes. They may not be necessarily a harmony.

"You know the problem with people who run tech companies? They have too much power. "
I die, but I live. I live, but I die. I exist, but I'm neither alive nor dead.

Authored by Balaji Thangapandian aka BT
https://www.facebook.com/balaji.thangapandian


Thus, I die, but I live. I live, but I die. I exist, but I'm neither alive nor dead. 

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