I summarize the arguments that strongly suggest that our universe is the product of inflation. The mechanisms that lead to eternal inflation in both new and chaotic models are described. Although the infinity of pocket universes produced by eternal inflation are unobservable, it is argued that eternal inflation has real consequences in terms of the way that predictions are extracted from theore...

This is a multidisciplinary paper. It is based on ideas taken from mathematics, physics, economics, engineering, and religion. (A) The paper justifies reincarnation by providing real life examples for three most important kinds of reincarnation. It also shows how some scientists and many ordinary people, of societies all over the world, and for all time have personally experienced, verified the...

2. The first of our trio, physicalism, is the thesis that, not necessarily but as a matter of fact, everything is physical. This thesis stands in need of clarification. For one thing, we need to be told what it is to be physical. This is a difficult and somewhat neglected question, but I want to set it aside. A rough and ready understanding will do for present purposes. Another aspect of the th...

To argue for scrutability theses, as I do in this chapter and the next, we first need a potential scrutability base. I will start with a reasonably generous base. Later (in chapters 6 and 7), I will consider whether it needs to be augmented and whether it can be narrowed down. In the Aufbau, Carnap’s main base was a phenomenal base, consisting just of logical expressions plus an expression for ...