Why are “observers” ontologically fundamental in these anthropic arguments?
An elaboration on the coin demon example. Let’s say flipping “tails” instantly kills half the people. There are three things that can happen when the coin is flipped:
50%: heads, everyone lives
25%: tails, and you’re lucky and live
25%: tails, and you’re unlucky and die
Now imagine you’re looking back at a coin that was flipped earlier: 1⁄3 of the time you’ll see tails and 2⁄3 you’ll see heads.
An elaboration on the coin demon example. Let’s say flipping “tails” instantly kills half the people. There are three things that can happen when the coin is flipped:
50%: heads, everyone lives
25%: tails, and you’re lucky and live
25%: tails, and you’re unlucky and die
Now imagine you’re looking back at a coin that was flipped earlier: 1⁄3 of the time you’ll see tails and 2⁄3 you’ll see heads.
If a tree falls on sleeping beauty might be useful.