On the contrary, I’ve found that MWI is “usually presented” as continuous branching happening continuously over time and space. And (the argument goes) you can’t argue against it on the grounds of parsimony any more than you can argue against atoms or stars on the grounds of parsimony. (There are other valid criticisms, to be sure, but breaking parsimony is not one of them.)
Sure. Here’s one. LW’s own quantum physics sequence discusses systems undergoing continuously branching evolution. Even non-MWI books are fairly explicit pointing out that the wavefunction is continuous but we’ll study discrete examples to get a feel for things (IIRC).
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an MWI claim outside of scifi that postulates discrete worlds. I concede that some of the wording in layman explanations might be confusing, but even simplifications like “all worlds exist” or “all quantum possibilities are taken” implies continuous branching.
It seems to me like continuous branching is the default, not the exception. Do you have any non-fiction examples of MWI being presented as a theory with discretely branching worlds?
On the contrary, I’ve found that MWI is “usually presented” as continuous branching happening continuously over time and space. And (the argument goes) you can’t argue against it on the grounds of parsimony any more than you can argue against atoms or stars on the grounds of parsimony. (There are other valid criticisms, to be sure, but breaking parsimony is not one of them.)
Any links?
Indeed, the underlying equations are the same whether you aesthetically prefer MWI or not.
Sure. Here’s one. LW’s own quantum physics sequence discusses systems undergoing continuously branching evolution. Even non-MWI books are fairly explicit pointing out that the wavefunction is continuous but we’ll study discrete examples to get a feel for things (IIRC).
In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an MWI claim outside of scifi that postulates discrete worlds. I concede that some of the wording in layman explanations might be confusing, but even simplifications like “all worlds exist” or “all quantum possibilities are taken” implies continuous branching.
It seems to me like continuous branching is the default, not the exception. Do you have any non-fiction examples of MWI being presented as a theory with discretely branching worlds?