[ExI] Does Space-Time Really Exist?

[BillK]

On Mon, 15 Sept 2025 at 07:09, scerir via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Are there physical phenomena out of space.time? It seems so:
> https://www.edge.org/response-detail/26790
>
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GPT-5 agrees that entanglement is an unsolved problem.
Sadly, we don't know everything yet.  :)
BillK

GPT-5 -

That’s the natural hunch — if entanglement correlations seem to “jump”
across space instantly, maybe they bypass spacetime altogether. But here’s
how it plays out:
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What entanglement does *not* do

   -

   *No faster-than-light signals.* Entanglement doesn’t let you send
   information instantly. When you measure one particle, you can’t *control*
   the outcome, only see it. The matching result on the other side only makes
   sense when both parties compare notes — and that comparison travels at
   light speed or less.
   -

   *No causal influence across space.* Physicists emphasize that nothing
   *travels* between the particles in measurement. The correlations are
   just there, baked in by quantum mechanics.

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So does it happen “outside” spacetime?

   -

   *In one sense, yes.*
   The correlations don’t respect spacetime locality. Einstein called
it *“spooky
   action at a distance”* precisely because spacetime separation didn’t
   seem to matter. That’s why some researchers say entanglement hints at a
   deeper layer of reality where “distance” doesn’t mean anything.
   -

   *In another sense, no.*
   Every actual experiment still happens in spacetime. You prepare
   particles here, measure them there, record outcomes on clocks. The
   *framework* of the experiment is spacetime, even if the correlations
   don’t fit neatly inside it.

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How modern physics reconciles it

   -

   *Quantum field theory (QFT):* Still uses spacetime as the arena, but
   accepts nonlocal correlations as a feature of quantum states.
   -

   *Holographic principle / AdS-CFT:* Suggests spacetime itself *emerges*
   from patterns of entanglement. In this picture, entanglement isn’t
   happening “outside” spacetime — it’s the scaffolding that *creates*
   spacetime in the first place.
   -

   *ER=EPR conjecture:* Wild but influential idea — entangled particles
   might be connected by tiny wormholes (Einstein-Rosen bridges). That would
   tuck “instantaneous” entanglement back into spacetime geometry in a strange
   way.

------------------------------
The punchline

Entanglement doesn’t *break* spacetime, but it does suggest spacetime may
not be the deepest story. It’s less “outside spacetime” and more
“underneath spacetime” — the correlations point to a level where “distance”
and “duration” don’t yet exist in the way we’re used to.
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