Abstract
The question of the ultimate limits of physics can be construed in two different, but closely related, senses: as (1) What is ultimately knowable in physics? and as (2) What is ultimately doable in our physical environment? I argue that, while we may soon have understood the origin of what is conventionally meant by “physics”—a particular low-energy limit (“vacuum”) of the string theory or any alternative unified field theory—such knowledge needs to be supplemented by a complete understanding of the observation-selection effects. In particular, precise determination of the habitable region in the parameter space will enable us to explain the very origin of physics in naturalistic terms and, thus, circumscribe all possible physics knowledge. Precise cartography of this huge Archipelago will enable the act of ultimate engineering: transcending effective dynamical laws and modifying entire spacetimes for the benefit of self-aware substructures (i.e., observers).
Milan M Cirkovic