Negative Probability

Negative Probability

Negative probability seems impossible; while there can be a probability something will happen, and zero probability of something happening, negative probability doesn't necessarily imply anything. While quintessential to string theory, suggesting that there must be more dimensions since negative probability isn't possible, means that you could resolve a potentially very important aspect of string theory without needing extra dimensions.

But before determining if negative probability is even possible, we have to determine what probability is. Probability is the chance something will happen; if there are different 8 colors, say green, red, and so on, then the chance of it landing on green is 1/8. If there are two greens on another spinner toy, and we spin it around, and it randomly lands on a color, then there is a 2/8 chance of it landing on green, and so on. A chance of it not landing on green would be 7/8 or 6/8, respectively. Probability is more or less the chance something will happen.

According to wikipedia, "Probability is a measure or estimation of likelihood of occurrence of an event. Probabilities are given a value between 0 (0% chance or will not happen) and 1 (100% chance or will happen). The higher the degree of probability, the more likely the event is to happen, or, in a longer series of samples, the greater the number of times such event is expected to happen."[1]

Probability, ultimately, is inconclusive, and not an exact science. The chance something will happen does not mean it will happen. Hypothetically, the chance you'll land on heads when flipping a coin is 50%. If you flip a coin 10 times, you may however, land on heads 10 times, or land on tails 10 times. The chance of this happening is remote, but still very possible. In the same way, you could flip a coin 10,000 times, and have it never land on tails, and so on. Probability is interesting in that it ,by itself, isn't really an explanation for an event, just it's likelihood. This makes mathematical probability somewhat paradoxical, as mathematics is meant to be empirical, or exactly concrete, while probability is still questionable.

This leads to numerous issues in mathematical calculations. In fact, mathematics, in human use, in it's own right, is imperfect at explaining the real world; as mathematics is nothing more than human input, and human input is likely never perfect, the outcome will always be a close estimation to the answer. When we do calculations, say in calculating trajectory, we typically come up with two answers; generally, a negative answer, and a positive one. Since the curved trajectory uses X^2, or X squared, it means that the number could be positive, or negative. The human application of mathematics tells us to throw out answers that seem erroneous, and thus that likely couldn't exist in real life; we take the fact that an upwards arcing trajectory is what we're looking for, instead of the bottom one, since we are trying to calculate for instance, the effect of gravity, which is always pushing down when on earth. In fact, this same type of principle is what makes a negative probability a factor to ignore in string theory.

But what if there was a negative probability; what if, probability, already in it's own right, isn't a mathematical concept. It is impossible to divide by zero within mathematics because zero is merely a concept; it would be like trying to divide 8 by apples, or gravy, it's fundamentally impossible. Or it might be like negative zero, which has no sign to begin with (as it's neither positive nor negative). But what if, then, we as humans are simply doing the calculation wrong; what if negative probability stands for an idea or concept we are simply glossing over?

What would negative probability then, be? The probability something can't happen, or probability something won't happen? So, the negative probability of something landing on green would be 7/8; since the probability something won't happen is the opposite of the probability something will happen, it could just be that negative probabilities are opposites of regular probabilities; since it can be represented in a positive way, probabilities of which are defined as a concept of a chance of something happening between 0-100, then it's still possible to represent this as something concrete.

Since positives and negatives are more or less inverses of each other, such as positive and negative magnetic poles, or positive and negative particles, the reality is that while we few negative and positive as plus or minus, addition and subtraction, the reality is that when multiplying with concepts we are merely inferring the opposite of what an ordinary symbol is. Thus, a negative probability is simply the opposite probability. What this is exactly I'm not entirely sure. What I do know is that wavelength and frequency inversed, or perhaps where the wave meets is not impossible to get backwards. Thus, the way the string is vibrating does not necessarily imply more dimensions to vibrate in, but perhaps the opposite way it is vibrating. On the other hand, it may just imply negative mass or energy, which is capable of and likely existing in it's own right.