>>13720653>'no matter which way it is, the ultimate outcome is the same'Almost. The second part is: The outcome (whatever it may be) makes no difference because there is no observer to record the result. Did something happen? Can't say, no-one was there to record the event or the after effects.
>Only if one were to step outside of the universe, thus removing their position on this matter from the causation, could their position on the subject not itself make a real difference in the physical evolution of the universe. Yes it would. Because consciousness at this particular point in time, is understood to be linked to physical matter. e.g. a brain. Remove the observer outside the universe, you remove matter. Therefore the evolution of the universe has to be impacted in the long term by the fact that some matter is absent. Non-linear systems, chaos theory and all that.
Let me put it another way:
Assume that humans are the only sentient beings in the universe.
If that be the case, there was a time before human sentience existed.
Did the universe exist?
In this particular case yes.
Why?
Because when hominids evolved sentience with observation and deduction, then conclusions could be drawn about the after effects of the passage of time and explain where and how we are now.
If there is no sentience it would make no difference whether the universe existed or not. Who would be there to complain?
The foundation of the problem is this:
Does the universe exist if you don't exist?
No it does not. Because you're not there to observe it.
When I die, my universe stops. It may exist for others, I would not be there to know for sure though. My experience to this point tells me it will go on, but from my own perspective, the flow of time ceases, I'm not even there to observe that fact. It no longer matters.
