Well, if I didn’t know about MWI, I would believe it to be much more likely that I’ll die (in some number of years) than that I’ll become a happy immortal.
Since I do know about MWI, this translates into a really high Quantum Torment/Quantum Happiness ratio.
ETA a response to your ETA: I don’t think it’s symmetric. There’s a next moment for your consciousness whether or not you stay in the hot shower, but there is only a next moment for the consciousness of a dying and suffering person if he keeps living (and most likely suffering). That’s the whole point.
But your (main) concern doesn’t seem to be death per se, rather the possibility of existing for an extremely long time in the state of almost-being-dead. It is not at all obvious to me why such a possibility carries more weight than the possibility of existing for an extremely long time in the state of being perfectly healthy. In fact it seems like most observer moments over all branches would be biased toward a state of health rather than illness.
As I alluded to in my ETA above, the whole point of quantum immortality is that we’ll end up in a really unlikely branch because we won’t exist in all the other branches.
Are you asking why, once I’m in a state of almost-being-dead, it’s likely that the branch I’ll be in at the next moment will be one in which I’m still almost-dead, rather than healthy? It’s because even if MWI is true, the next moment is caused by the current moment. If my body is deteriorating now and nothing happens to change that, it will be deteriorating in a moment too.
Or are you asking why it’s more likely I’ll end up in a state of almost-being-dead than not in the first place? I’ve answered that one above.
Hm, I think my confusion is over the idea of quantum immortality in general rather than specific to the torment scenario.
If I understand it correctly, QI says that at some point in time there will exist a single branch containing a “me” that, against all odds, never dies. The idea of quantum torture comes from noting that continuing to exist in a state of right-about-to-die would likely be extremely unpleasant.
So, what makes this single branch so important? Why is the me in that branch more “me” than a me any given branch that exists with temporally concurrence to other branches? For example, there is probably a branch out there where I am existing in horrible agony at this point in time. I don’t see why we should worry about the quantum torture branch and not this branch. They both contain “me.”
Basically, QI gives more importance to a “me” in a branch that is temporally isolated from “me’s” in other branches. I don’t see why this is the case or why time should be a factor at all.
Well, if I didn’t know about MWI, I would believe it to be much more likely that I’ll die (in some number of years) than that I’ll become a happy immortal.
Since I do know about MWI, this translates into a really high Quantum Torment/Quantum Happiness ratio.
ETA a response to your ETA: I don’t think it’s symmetric. There’s a next moment for your consciousness whether or not you stay in the hot shower, but there is only a next moment for the consciousness of a dying and suffering person if he keeps living (and most likely suffering). That’s the whole point.
But your (main) concern doesn’t seem to be death per se, rather the possibility of existing for an extremely long time in the state of almost-being-dead. It is not at all obvious to me why such a possibility carries more weight than the possibility of existing for an extremely long time in the state of being perfectly healthy. In fact it seems like most observer moments over all branches would be biased toward a state of health rather than illness.
As I alluded to in my ETA above, the whole point of quantum immortality is that we’ll end up in a really unlikely branch because we won’t exist in all the other branches.
Are you asking why, once I’m in a state of almost-being-dead, it’s likely that the branch I’ll be in at the next moment will be one in which I’m still almost-dead, rather than healthy? It’s because even if MWI is true, the next moment is caused by the current moment. If my body is deteriorating now and nothing happens to change that, it will be deteriorating in a moment too.
Or are you asking why it’s more likely I’ll end up in a state of almost-being-dead than not in the first place? I’ve answered that one above.
Hm, I think my confusion is over the idea of quantum immortality in general rather than specific to the torment scenario.
If I understand it correctly, QI says that at some point in time there will exist a single branch containing a “me” that, against all odds, never dies. The idea of quantum torture comes from noting that continuing to exist in a state of right-about-to-die would likely be extremely unpleasant.
So, what makes this single branch so important? Why is the me in that branch more “me” than a me any given branch that exists with temporally concurrence to other branches? For example, there is probably a branch out there where I am existing in horrible agony at this point in time. I don’t see why we should worry about the quantum torture branch and not this branch. They both contain “me.”
Basically, QI gives more importance to a “me” in a branch that is temporally isolated from “me’s” in other branches. I don’t see why this is the case or why time should be a factor at all.
What makes the consciousness of the next moment the same consciousness as this moment?