Believe

[liberonscien]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

[Flumble]

As a solipsist, I believe the universe would be pretty much the same.

Or do you mean "shared beliefs" as in "agreed upon by all inhabitants" and assuming solipsists are wrong? Then the universe probably would stop working as soon as people learn classical mechanics and think it works on all scales*, because then relativity and the weak and strong forces would stop existing. Or they never existed in the first place and only started existing when people started believing their wrong measurements.


*insert "even the bathroom scale? because I surely can't be that heavy" joke

[flicky1991]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

[Soupspoon]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

I turtally agree.

[liberonscien]

As a solipsist, I believe the universe would be pretty much the same.

Or do you mean "shared beliefs" as in "agreed upon by all inhabitants" and assuming solipsists are wrong? Then the universe probably would stop working as soon as people learn classical mechanics and think it works on all scales*, because then relativity and the weak and strong forces would stop existing. Or they never existed in the first place and only started existing when people started believing their wrong measurements.


*insert "even the bathroom scale? because I surely can't be that heavy" joke

This.

[liberonscien]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

I am not familiar with this.

[flicky1991]

I am not familiar with this.

One of the fundamental rules of the universe in the Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett is that the world works the way it does because people believe it. The world is flat, orbited by the sun. All gods exist; the Tooth Fairy and bogeymen exist. In the plot of one novel, one god loses all his power because almost no-one actually believes in him any more - they believe in the religion, and the rule of the church, but not the god behind it. In another, not enough children believe in the Hogfather (the equivalent of Santa Claus) any more, so he stops existing - Death takes over the job for a while.

Death actually takes vacations a couple of times, one time resulting in no-one in the world dying until he takes on the job again. But that can only happen because he's an anthropomorphic personification of death (with the skull face and scythe) - if people didn't think of Death that way, then death as a process would function without him. It's only because people believe he's necessary that it all goes wrong without him.

[liberonscien]

I am not familiar with this.

One of the fundamental rules of the universe in the Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett is that the world works the way it does because people believe it. The world is flat, orbited by the sun. All gods exist; the Tooth Fairy and bogeymen exist. In the plot of one novel, one god loses all his power because almost no-one actually believes in him any more - they believe in the religion, and the rule of the church, but not the god behind it. In another, not enough children believe in the Hogfather (the equivalent of Santa Claus) any more, so he stops existing - Death takes over the job for a while.

Death actually takes vacations a couple of times, one time resulting in no-one in the world dying until he takes on the job again. But that can only happen because he's an anthropomorphic personification of death (with the skull face and scythe) - if people didn't think of Death that way, then death as a process would function without him. It's only because people believe he's necessary that it all goes wrong without him.

Huh. That sounds pretty interesting.
Terry Pratchet, right?

[flicky1991]

Yep.

[liberonscien]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

Alright, what would happen if one day the universe started operating like that?

[Soupspoon]

Perhaps Dr. Rjinswand, the renowned Swedish international expert in nuclear physics, might know...

[liberonscien]

Perhaps Dr. Rjinswand, the renowned Swedish international expert in nuclear physics, might know...

Are you trying to suggest that I Google this person?

[gmalivuk]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

Alright, what would happen if one day the universe started operating like that?

Then the universe would probably start looking (even more) like has already been extensively described in these books.

[liberonscien]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

Alright, what would happen if one day the universe started operating like that?

Then the universe would probably start looking (even more) like has already been extensively described in these books.

I should clarify: this universe.

[Angua]

Perhaps you should read the Science of Discworld series. They pretty much answer your questions about this universe.

[gmalivuk]

What would life be like if the universe shaped itself to reflect the shared beliefs of its inhabitants?

Discworld.

Alright, what would happen if one day the universe started operating like that?

Then the universe would probably start looking (even more) like has already been extensively described in these books.

I should clarify: this universe.

The universe would probably start looking (even more) like has already been extensively described in those books, apart from the specific details of geography and race.