As an example take the idea of quantum suicide. I wouldn’t commit quantum suicide even given a high confidence in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics being true. Logical implications just don’t seem enough in some cases.
You shouldn’t commit quantum suicide because it decreases your measure, which by observation we know is important in ways we don’t theoretically understand, and, unless you are very careful, the worlds where you escape death are not likely to be pleasant. You don’t need skepticism of rationality itself to reach this conclusion.
unless you are very careful, the worlds where you escape death are not likely to be pleasant
I think some people don’t understand that if quantum suicide works it wont prevent the gun from being fired: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from hitting your head: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from inflicting massive brain damage as long as certain information survives.
It wont prevent the rest of your body from dying, for that doesn’t immediately kill you. At this point there are no further worlds of significant quantum measure. Who knows what happens subjectively?
I think some people don’t understand that if quantum suicide works it wont prevent the gun from being fired: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from hitting your head: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from inflicting massive brain damage as long as certain information survives.
If “quantum immortality” really were a thing, its effect would not be to save you from subjective death after deciding to commit suicide, but to prevent you from deciding to do so, or from landing on a path wherein you’d decide to do so, in the first place. That’s where all the measure is.
All the measure is only there later though. Until after the bullet hits your head, the worlds in which you shot the gun have similar measure as the worlds in which you didn’t.
You shouldn’t commit quantum suicide because it decreases your measure...
Yes, I understand that quantum suicide would be stupid. I always use such examples to avoid mentioning the forbidding topic. To be clear, I started posting here regularly mainly due to the forbidding topic. I was simply shocked but also fascinated by how seriously it was taken. I concluded that those people either are in possession of vast amounts of evidence that I lack or that they are too confident of the methods they use to arrive at correct beliefs.
You shouldn’t commit quantum suicide because it decreases your measure, which by observation we know is important in ways we don’t theoretically understand, and, unless you are very careful, the worlds where you escape death are not likely to be pleasant. You don’t need skepticism of rationality itself to reach this conclusion.
I think some people don’t understand that if quantum suicide works it wont prevent the gun from being fired: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from hitting your head: that doesn’t kill you; it wont prevent the bullet from inflicting massive brain damage as long as certain information survives.
It wont prevent the rest of your body from dying, for that doesn’t immediately kill you. At this point there are no further worlds of significant quantum measure. Who knows what happens subjectively?
If “quantum immortality” really were a thing, its effect would not be to save you from subjective death after deciding to commit suicide, but to prevent you from deciding to do so, or from landing on a path wherein you’d decide to do so, in the first place. That’s where all the measure is.
All the measure is only there later though. Until after the bullet hits your head, the worlds in which you shot the gun have similar measure as the worlds in which you didn’t.
Yes, I understand that quantum suicide would be stupid. I always use such examples to avoid mentioning the forbidding topic. To be clear, I started posting here regularly mainly due to the forbidding topic. I was simply shocked but also fascinated by how seriously it was taken. I concluded that those people either are in possession of vast amounts of evidence that I lack or that they are too confident of the methods they use to arrive at correct beliefs.