The Wonder and Paradoxes of Penrose's World Projections

I am a big fan of Roger Penrose, and his work is absolutely brilliant reads, if you have the time and energy to truly concentrate on his writings (for my favorites see [1] and [2]).

One model that is introduced in his work is the "the three worlds" and its relations, mysteries and paradox. The idea is depicted below (taken directly from [1] ) and describes how the physical world of existance is governed by the laws of the platonic/mathematical world, while the mental world is a part of our mental world, while our mental world is a small part of physical existance!



If you - as I do - see the model as relevant notice the following 3 mysteries and one paradox:

1. Why is it that only a small part of the world of mathematics have relevance to the workings of the physical world?
2. Why does the mental world come about in association with only certain physical structures - healthy, wakeful human brains.
   
3. Why does only a small fraction of our mental minds concerns itself with mathematical/platonic truth?
4. Finally the paradox - how come the three worlds appear to encompass the next one in its entirety?
   

In Penrose's own words : "Maybe the three worlds are not separate at all, but merely reflect, individually, aspects of a deeper truth about the world as a whole which we have little conception of at the present time.

Whatever your standpoint, the model is so powerful and creates a reflection and controversy it deserves to be called a great idea.


[1] The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science)


[2] The Road to Reality : A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe