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Why the Many-Worlds Interpretation Has Many Problems
Quanta Magazine ^ | October 18, 2018 | Phillip Ball

Posted on 10/19/2018 6:27:03 AM PDT by C19fan

It is the most extraordinary, alluring and thought-provoking of all the ways in which quantum mechanics has been interpreted. In its most familiar guise, the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) suggests that we live in a near-infinity of universes, all superimposed in the same physical space but mutually isolated and evolving independently. In many of these universes there exist replicas of you and me, all but indistinguishable yet leading other lives.

The MWI illustrates just how peculiarly quantum theory forces us to think. It is an intensely controversial view. Arguments about the interpretation of quantum mechanics are noted for their passion, as disagreements that can’t be settled by objective evidence are wont to be. But when the MWI is in the picture, those passions can become so extreme that we must suspect a great deal more invested in the matter than simply the resolution of a scientific puzzle.

(Excerpt) Read more at quantamagazine.org ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: physics; quantum
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At least the idea has provided material for Sci-Fi writers. One interesting implication of the the MWI is the nature of probabilities and infinity. If a probability distribution describes the position of a subatomic particle then there are an infinite number of positions since the probability function is a continuous function.
1 posted on 10/19/2018 6:27:03 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

There is only One who is infinite.

It’s fun watching silly dirt people running around with their grandiose ideas.


2 posted on 10/19/2018 6:30:42 AM PDT by fwdude (Forget the Catechism, the RCC's real doctrine is what they allow with impunity.)
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To: fwdude

Agreed. I’m not religious enough to believe in a multi-verse I can’t see or detect with any instrument. But when I look at how unique and special Earth is to be able to support advanced life, I find myself losing all the doubts about God’s existence that was instilled in my when I took my liberal arts “core” courses.


3 posted on 10/19/2018 6:32:40 AM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 - put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true)
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To: C19fan

4 posted on 10/19/2018 6:38:31 AM PDT by bk1000 (I stand with Trump)
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To: Tell It Right

If all possibilities didn’t exist, would we still have free will?

The idea of a multiverse does not necessarily exclude God; there are things both seen and unseen, after all.

But man traveling between multiverses... LOL!


5 posted on 10/19/2018 6:44:06 AM PDT by KittenClaws ("They've got Daryl's Dad's car! .....Red Dawn)
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To: C19fan

Einstein objected to the idea of anything being indeterminate (i.e., an effect without a cause). So do I.

This so-called collapse only occurs, not only when observation, or measurement, is underway, makes it entirely subjective, i.e. imaginary, i.e. unscientific.


6 posted on 10/19/2018 6:44:11 AM PDT by Migraine
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To: bk1000

Lol....”Can I buy some pot from you?” - Pinto


7 posted on 10/19/2018 6:46:29 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
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To: C19fan

It now provides excuses for Hollywood which has franchised 4 different incompatible versions of ‘Halloween’ and at least 3 different branches of ‘Psycho’ mythology.


8 posted on 10/19/2018 6:47:46 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Denounce DUAC - The Democrats Un-American Activists Committee)
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To: C19fan

This article transitions abruptly from a discussion of different scientific models to one that is purely philosophical. In any case, to me, the business of science is the business of making predictions, accurate and repeatable ones.

In what sense does an “alternative reality” exist if we can never interact with it, directly or indirectly? If there is none, then the discussion is no more than opinion, dressed up as science.


9 posted on 10/19/2018 6:48:18 AM PDT by rightwingcrazy
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To: KittenClaws

If you are both sinner and saint in the multiverse do you have any free will, can there be any redemption, and do all of the variants experience the same united afterlife?


10 posted on 10/19/2018 6:49:25 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Denounce DUAC - The Democrats Un-American Activists Committee)
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To: a fool in paradise

Supposedly, Hugh Everett who first proposed Many Worlds lived a gluttonous life and died early because of it. He figured it just didn’t matter since he would be conscious in a Universe that gave him a maximum lifespan.


11 posted on 10/19/2018 6:59:05 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
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To: fwdude

Some people need a proverbial infinite number of monkeys to avoid the thought of Shakespeare.


12 posted on 10/19/2018 7:02:31 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: a fool in paradise

Interesting question, but I believe the multiverse is different from many worlds, though I suppose the question could be applied to either.


13 posted on 10/19/2018 7:03:05 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Give a man a fish and he'll be a Democrat. Teach a man to fish and he'll be a responsible citizen.)
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To: Moonman62

Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we’ll still be alive in some other universe.


14 posted on 10/19/2018 7:03:55 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: C19fan

My belief is that each action creates a different timeline. That different timeline is a parallel universe. That happens for each action by each person every second.

Some of these timelines may be dead ends while others have long lives. Maybe Sci-Fi but food for thought.


15 posted on 10/19/2018 7:06:06 AM PDT by NTHockey (Rules of engagement #1: Take no prisoners. And to the NSA trolls, FU)
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To: NTHockey

I think it is pretty obvious we live in a computer simulation program. With prizes at the end for those who fulfill the quest.


16 posted on 10/19/2018 7:15:19 AM PDT by BipolarBob (ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS, EXCEPT EUROPA.ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.)
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To: KittenClaws

>>>>If all possibilities didn’t exist, would we still have free will?

The idea of a multiverse does not necessarily exclude God; there are things both seen and unseen, after all.

But man traveling between multiverses... LOL!<<<

What if, however, that all the possibilities exist at the same time, but your soul, based on free will, chooses where it will be?

The night before the 2016 election, I consciously chose not to be in a reality in which SHE was president. I woke up the next day, and I had moved to a reality where she wasn’t. I’ve been hearing “how is this possible” “this wasn’t supposed to happen” etc. for quite some time now. I claim free will moved me from that horror by shifting the universe in which my soul exists.

Somewhere, in some dystopian hell hole of a dimension, She reigns and there is universal despair and misery.


17 posted on 10/19/2018 7:25:51 AM PDT by Malsua
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To: C19fan

Did they ever mention what caused the worlds to separate? In what way are they separate?


18 posted on 10/19/2018 7:29:32 AM PDT by reasonisfaith ("...because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians))
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To: C19fan

So physics is indistinguishable from Theosophy now. Cool. I’ll remember that every time that @$$ Dawson opens his nasty mouth.


19 posted on 10/19/2018 7:41:18 AM PDT by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: BipolarBob

This is, statistically, the most likely. That we are a simulation.

Also, there are a lot of people in this thread who don’t know a damn thing about quantum physics.


20 posted on 10/19/2018 7:45:09 AM PDT by Taipei
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