Determinism Is Self Defeating

[little_monkey]

Can you change the course of the universe and whatever its ultimate end will be?

I think not.

In the end, the universe will be whatever it is already destined to be, regardless of what you think, feel or want.

Sure you might think you can change your own destiny. But whatever you do, one could always claim you were destined to do that. And you can argue that point. But in terms of the universe, you can't make that same argument as you can't do anything about the fate of the universe.

I'm very interested in this argument you're making; it kind of feels like the extension of the statistical combination of an active QM world into the apparent solid stability of a rock. I'm kind of divided between that statistical approach, and a kind of butterfly effect-- wherein EVERY willful act, no matter how tiny, could potentially cascade up into bigger changes-- maybe a species that spreads throughout galaxies and uses future technology to prevent them from spreading apart.

Question: if QM particles come from "empty" space, is there any chance that they can be deliberately drawn from empty space, thereby preventing the cold death of the universe?

/uneducated sci-fi fantasy about how free will saves the universe.

In QFT, we postulate that space is permeated with a photon field, an electron field, a quark field, etc. Particles are just ripples in those fields. That's why an electron produced 13.7 billion years ago is the same electron produced today here in our lab or on Alpha Centauri - same mass, same spin, same charge, i.e. totally identical. So, accordingly, "empty" space simply doesn't exist. It is filled with quantum fluctuations. Given the right conditions, pairs of particles/antiparticles can be created - Hawking radiation, Casimir effect, and according to the latest from Krauss, the universe popped out of those q. fluctuations.

The question is, what is Dark Energy? Is it those quantum fluctuations or something totally different. So far, our theories are failing on trying to link these two. We do know that DE is very weak -- you would need to harness it from the whole galaxy to light up a 100-watt lightbulb. It is only noticeable when you start looking at hundred billion galaxies.

So as to your question, until we know what this Dark Energy is, we can't tell if we can use it for any purpose, let alone change the course of the universe. But it could be a nice theme for the next Star Trek movie.