wedrifid comments on Natural Laws Are Descriptions, not Rules - Less Wrong
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I think Tegmark's idea is either tautological or preposterous, depending on what he means by exist. If exist means ‘exist in an abstract, mathematical sense’ (as it does in the sentence There exist infinitely many prime numbers) then it's tautological, and if it means ‘physically exist in this particular universe (i.e., the set of everything that can interact or have interacted with us, or interact or have interacted with something that can interact or have interacted with us, etc.)’ (as it does in the sentence Santa does not exist), it's preposterous. The last chapter in Good and Real by Gary Drescher elaborates on this.
Once again, we badly need different words for ‘be mathematically possible’ and ‘be part of this universe’.
From what I can tell, Tegmark doesn't mean either of the options you provide. It is closer to the first option ('exist in the abstract') but without all the implied privilege for the universe that happens to have you in it. The difference seems significant.