Everything Theory

Complex proteins are composed on smaller, simpler genes. Massive computers are composed of individual resistors, logic gates, and electrons. Animate life is composed of simple cells. Everything, even the seemingly infinite, can be broken down into small discreet chunks. The question is not, Is it possible to categorize the Infinite using the Finite, but, How small must we go?

The theory that in an "open database", the information that is most useful and most aesthetically pleasing will rise to the top, while the information that is not will wither away, based solely on the habits and usage of its consumers. The most elegant and effective way to create an encyclopedic information system.

The only problem with this theory is that, by this theory, the greatest single element of human knowledge is this. My guess is that the theory still needs some refinement. The question is: can it be done inside of E2, or will it require a new entity to contain it?

"Follow the nothingness of the Tao,
and you can be like it, not needing anything,
seeing the wonder and the root of everything.

And even if you cannot grasp this nothingness,
you can still see something of the Tao in everything.

These two are the same

only called by different names

--and both are mysterious and wonderful."

--Tao Te Ching, chapter one
translated by Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer, and Jay Ramsay

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The wordplay was a little too beautiful to resist quoting. All things need poetry in their respective discourses; sometimes theory gets a bit cumbersome. And when dealing with something like Everything Theory, a little verse seems to go a hell of a lot farther than a thousand lines of code and symbology. Sometimes.

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I took a little liberty with the formatting; it was difficult to translate into HTML. May the gods forgive me.