I personally like many worlds because it helps me count on quantum immortality in case I get hit in the head by a falling 2x4 before the singularity comes. However, I was disturbed when I read about the Ashfar experiment, as it seems to disprove many worlds.. I couldn’t find anything on your blog about it.. What do you think about it?
I personally like many worlds because it helps me count on quantum immortality …
I worry whenever someone proclaims to “like” a theory because it predicts high utility, that they are conflating the concepts of “it would be nice for me if this theory were true”, and “I believe this theory is true”.
Hi to all… First off, sorry for the spelling error. Second, the link given above in one of the responses to my original post (given again below) explains why the experiment doesn’t jive with Many Worlds (or Copenhagen), at least in the opinion of the author. Third, sorry for not giving more background on the matter—I thought it was fairly well known. It’s basically an experiment that seems to contradict the principle of complementarity as it seems to reveal wave and particle features at the same time.
Yikes, this doesn’t seem to contradict many-worlds at all. Many-worlds doesn’t claim worlds don’t interfere with each other; if it did, it’d be falsified by just the two-slit experiment, no need for this complication.
After a bit of searching, I think peteshnick is talking about the
Afshar experiment.
The wikipedia article is fascinating, but I don’t really understand the
issue. It only mentions many-worlds briefly, but includes a link to the
creator of another interpretation
saying that the
experiment exposes a failure of both MWI and
Copenhagen to match the math.
I’m curious, too. peteshnick, I think that you weren’t downvoted for contradicting the conventional wisdom here on LW. You were downvoted for referring to a topic that is too obscure without providing sufficient background for casual readers.
After a bit of searching, I think peteshnick is talking about the
Afshar experiment. The wikipedia article is fascinating, but I
don’t really understand the issue. It only mentions many-worlds briefly,
but includes a link to the creator of another interpretation
saying that the experiment exposes a failure of both MWI and
Copenhagen to match the math.
Hi Eliezer,
I personally like many worlds because it helps me count on quantum immortality in case I get hit in the head by a falling 2x4 before the singularity comes. However, I was disturbed when I read about the Ashfar experiment, as it seems to disprove many worlds.. I couldn’t find anything on your blog about it.. What do you think about it?
I worry whenever someone proclaims to “like” a theory because it predicts high utility, that they are conflating the concepts of “it would be nice for me if this theory were true”, and “I believe this theory is true”.
Hi to all… First off, sorry for the spelling error. Second, the link given above in one of the responses to my original post (given again below) explains why the experiment doesn’t jive with Many Worlds (or Copenhagen), at least in the opinion of the author. Third, sorry for not giving more background on the matter—I thought it was fairly well known. It’s basically an experiment that seems to contradict the principle of complementarity as it seems to reveal wave and particle features at the same time.
Once again, for background:
Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afshar_experiment
John Cramer on why it contradicts MW: http://www.analogsf.com/0410/altview2.shtml
I’m not saying I buy Cramer’s argument—I was just curious as to other people’s opinions.
Thanks!
Yikes, this doesn’t seem to contradict many-worlds at all. Many-worlds doesn’t claim worlds don’t interfere with each other; if it did, it’d be falsified by just the two-slit experiment, no need for this complication.
After a bit of searching, I think peteshnick is talking about the Afshar experiment. The wikipedia article is fascinating, but I don’t really understand the issue. It only mentions many-worlds briefly, but includes a link to the creator of another interpretation saying that the experiment exposes a failure of both MWI and Copenhagen to match the math.
How does the Ashfar experiment disprove many worlds?
I’m curious, too. peteshnick, I think that you weren’t downvoted for contradicting the conventional wisdom here on LW. You were downvoted for referring to a topic that is too obscure without providing sufficient background for casual readers.
I’ve got no idea why pete was downvoted, seemed like an honest question to me.
I didn’t downvote peteshnick, but I didn’t upvote either, for the reason I gave.
After a bit of searching, I think peteshnick is talking about the Afshar experiment. The wikipedia article is fascinating, but I don’t really understand the issue. It only mentions many-worlds briefly, but includes a link to the creator of another interpretation saying that the experiment exposes a failure of both MWI and Copenhagen to match the math.