The Second Coming of J. Fitzgerald

Thanks to the StarShipSofa podcast we can now listen to Peter Watts reading his short story "The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald".

Maybe you may want to read this and this first?

"Nothing really exists, not down at the subatomic level. It's all just probability waves. Until someone looks at it, that is. Then the wave collapses and you get what we call reality. But it can't happen without an observer to get things started."
Thomas squints, trying to squeeze some sort of insight into his brain.
"So if we weren't here looking at this table, it wouldn't exist?"
Fitzgerald nods.
"More or less."
That smile peeks around the corner of her mouth for a second. He tries to lure it back.
"So God's the observer, is that what you're saying? God watches all the atoms so the universe can exist?"
"Huh. I never thought about it that way before."
The smile morphs into a frown of concentration.
"More metaphoric than mathematical, but it's a cool idea."

[...]

"Yes, here it is: The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead. 1994, Frank J. Tipler. I can print you out the complete citation if you want."
"Please. So what was his proof?"
The professor displays something akin to a very small smile.
"In thirty words or less," Thomas adds. "For idiots."
"Well," Russell says, "basically, he argued that some billions of years hence, life will incorporate itself into a massive quantum- effect computing device to avoid extinction when the universe collapses."
"I thought the universe wasn't going to collapse," Thomas interjects. "I thought they proved it was just going to keep expanding…"
"That was last year," Russell says shortly. "May I continue?"
"Yes, of course."
"Thank you. As I was saying, Tipler claimed that billions of years hence, life will incorporate itself into a massive quantum- effect computing device to avoid extinction when the universe collapses. An integral part of this process involves the exact reproduction of everything that ever happened in the universe up to that point, right down to the quantum level, as well as all possible variations of those events."
Beside the desk, Russell's printer extrudes a paper tongue. He pulls it free and hands it over.
"So God's a supercomputer at the end of time? And we'll all be resurrected in the mother of all simulation models?"

And here's the link for download:
• The Second Coming of Jasmine Fitzgerald

Author: Asterisk, for AZ10.com ~ 11 Jul 2009

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