The Bogosity Forum

General Bogosity => General Discussion => Topic started by: tnu on December 02, 2014, 12:48:13 PM

Title: The many worlds theory.
Post by: tnu on December 02, 2014, 12:48:13 PM
Can this even be called a theory in the proper sense of the word? I have a hard tme wth this, especially the notion that anyone believes it  whereas I have yet to see a single shred of fact or evidence backing it up. Is there ANYTHING to this "theory"?
Title: Re: The many worlds theory.
Post by: evensgrey on December 02, 2014, 02:16:12 PM
It only becomes a theory if you think you can get some measurable consequences out of it, which doesn't seem to be the case.

In any event, nobody really takes many-worlds seriously any more, much as nobody really takes the idea that Schrodinger's Cat is really in a macroscopic superposition of states seriously any more.  (And for similar reasons:  The wavefunction collapses into some definite state as soon as it makes any possibly discernible macroscopic difference.  In the case of the cat, the detector counts as an observer so the atom never gets to be in a superposition of states in the first place.)
Title: Re: The many worlds theory.
Post by: MrBogosity on December 03, 2014, 07:05:19 AM
Quote from: tnu on December 02, 2014, 12:48:13 PM
Can this even be called a theory in the proper sense of the word? I have a hard tme wth this, especially the notion that anyone believes it  whereas I have yet to see a single shred of fact or evidence backing it up. Is there ANYTHING to this "theory"?

Here's an excellent argument for it: http://lesswrong.com/lw/q8/many_worlds_one_best_guess/

There's also a follow-up: http://lesswrong.com/lw/qz/living_in_many_worlds/
Title: Re: The many worlds theory.
Post by: MrBogosity on December 03, 2014, 07:08:42 AM
Quote from: evensgrey on December 02, 2014, 02:16:12 PMIn any event, nobody really takes many-worlds seriously any more,

Bullshit. In fact, none other than Sean Carroll has said that it's "probably correct." http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2014/06/30/why-the-many-worlds-formulation-of-quantum-mechanics-is-probably-correct/
Title: Re: The many worlds theory.
Post by: Ibrahim90 on December 06, 2014, 08:36:37 PM
well, the ancients believed in a parallel world called "3abqar", inhabited by invisible beings made of pure energy.

might have been on to something :P