Several points: first are you claiming that particular events will repeat or sequences of events? Second, it is well known (don't ask me to lecture on it) there are different levels of infinity; suppose the infinitude of time differs from the infinitude of possible events? Third, at what degree of resolution are we speaking? Is it Aristotelian or similar realism? Is it the events in one's head as in Joyce's Leopold Bloom? Finally how does your argument relate to the metaphysics of multiple universes? Thank you
i) Token events by definition never repeat, but event-types repeat. A "sequence of events" is itself an event, so that also repeats.
ii) Time is infinite in two ways: (a) it is infinitely extended, (b) there are infinitely many points within any interval. The order of the latter infinity is the continuum. That is also the order of infinity of the points in any n-dimensional space, which includes the space of configurations of a physical system.
iii) I don't understand this question. But any qualitative state of (a finite part of) the universe will approximately repeat.
iv) If there are infinitely many universes, as some people claim, then there should right now exist infinitely many qualitative (approximate) copies of any (finite) configuration that you see, in different universes. However, I don't believe this is the case.
I feel like if this is true, it’s in tension with the existence of a perfect God. There’s something creepy and Lovecraftian about the idea that my exact life has been lived infinitely many times without any changes. The world should have a natural tendency to progress into something better if God exists, right?
Several points: first are you claiming that particular events will repeat or sequences of events? Second, it is well known (don't ask me to lecture on it) there are different levels of infinity; suppose the infinitude of time differs from the infinitude of possible events? Third, at what degree of resolution are we speaking? Is it Aristotelian or similar realism? Is it the events in one's head as in Joyce's Leopold Bloom? Finally how does your argument relate to the metaphysics of multiple universes? Thank you
i) Token events by definition never repeat, but event-types repeat. A "sequence of events" is itself an event, so that also repeats.
ii) Time is infinite in two ways: (a) it is infinitely extended, (b) there are infinitely many points within any interval. The order of the latter infinity is the continuum. That is also the order of infinity of the points in any n-dimensional space, which includes the space of configurations of a physical system.
iii) I don't understand this question. But any qualitative state of (a finite part of) the universe will approximately repeat.
iv) If there are infinitely many universes, as some people claim, then there should right now exist infinitely many qualitative (approximate) copies of any (finite) configuration that you see, in different universes. However, I don't believe this is the case.
Are there no physical traces of distinctively earlier universes in this one? Is temporal relation between universes not a sensible idea?
I feel like if this is true, it’s in tension with the existence of a perfect God. There’s something creepy and Lovecraftian about the idea that my exact life has been lived infinitely many times without any changes. The world should have a natural tendency to progress into something better if God exists, right?
Oh, there are a whole lot of things that are in tension with a perfect God. This one is kind of the least of the theist's worries.
If there is a perfect creator, I would think that the world would never progress, because it would already be perfect, at all times.
Also, reincarnation might in fact be the optimal form of afterlife. It's hard to see how the traditional alternatives would be desirable. (https://fakenous.substack.com/p/whats-the-best-afterlife)