Tackling the CTMU

After precisely zero deliberation I have foolishly decided to tackle the entire CTMU philosophy, including the CTMU itself and all of the major papers plus the associated background knowledge to functional mastery over the course of 2025. No, I don’t think that’s possible, and no, it’s not a good idea. But that’s exactly why it’s a great idea.

This Site

This site is the central hub for this project’s online presence. It will largely contain updates, “demonstrations” of understanding, and links to other platforms like Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or GitHub that may also contain updates for those weeks. Starting January 4th, 2025, there will be an update or proof of understanding posted here.

The Project

The project CTMU in a year is an Ultralearning project to tackle the CTMU, all of Christopher Langan’s Major Papers, and learn the whole philosophy of mathematical metaphysics to mastery - including being able to “do the math”. References to Langan’s papers will be made mostly by reference to papers and sections of that book, with others sprinkled in here and there. Mastery of the philosophy itself will be demonstrated concretely with demonstrations of understanding, which could take the form of a paper or essay expounding on or using the sections and ideas in question, a mathematical proof or set of solved problems, a simple computer program using and illustrating the ideas in question. Such proofs will be given for not just Langan’s work itself but also any and all background knowledge needed. Hopefully this project leaves a path for others to follow that allows for a deeper understanding. For those familiar, this is a huge undertaking. An at least basic mathematical understanding of Predicate Logic, Model Theory, Quantum Mechanics, and General Relativity are required, as well as a basic understanding of Information Theory and probably others. In addition, philosophical understanding of Kant, Russell, Wheeler, and much of Western Philosophy in general is required.

Operating assumptions

Given the author is a bit controversial in the public eye, some operating assumptions and protocols are in order:

  1. Langan is at least as smart as he is purported to be.

  2. He was honest and meaningfully informed when writing each of the major papers. Anyone who’s read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell knows these two to be reasonable assumptions.

  3. No politics.

Objections

I have yet to see any meaningful objections or refutations of the CTMU. For example:

  1. “But the CTMU makes no meaningful scientific predictions”. Yes it does: The recent experiments showing reality is not locally real can be argued to be predictions of the CTMU. (At least if the article is a reasonable reflection of the science).

  2. “But the CTMU uses tons of neologisms and made-up concepts”. Sure, it uses original concepts, given its goal this is to be expected, but many of the concepts are either less deviant than a first glance suggests, or concepts that were simply lacking in the literature in general.

Strategy

Due to the complexity of the project this is not just an ultralearning project but a multi ultralearning project, much like the MIT year challenge Scott Young took on in his book. As such there will be many smaller ultralearning projects nested within this one.