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50 Years of the Multiverse Interpretation

chinmay7 writes "There is an excellent selection of articles (and quite a few related scientific papers) in a special edition of Nature magazine on interpretations of the multiverse theory. 'Fifty years ago this month Hugh Everett III published his paper proposing a "relative-state formulation of quantum mechanics" — the idea subsequently described as the 'many worlds' or 'multiverse' interpretation. Its impact on science and culture continues. In celebration, a science fiction special edition of Nature on 5 July 2007 explores the symbiosis of science and sf, as exemplified by Everett's hypothesis, its birth, evolution, champions and opponents, in biology, physics, literature and beyond.'

6 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, great! by tomhudson · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just what we need; the knowledge that there are an infinite amount of dupe posts in the multi-verse.

    ... and that another almost-me is wasting time on a Friday night posting on slashdot, while another almost-me is partying it up like there's no tomorrow (of course for trhat doppelganger, there may not be a tomorrow ...)

  2. Re:MWI is cool and all.... by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Perhaps consciousness?

    There is no good reason to believe that such a thing exists.

  3. Re:MWI is cool and all.... by Lane.exe · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Except for, you know, qualia.

    --
    IAALS.
  4. Re:50 year of an untestable hypothesis by DamnStupidElf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Quantum computing is equally bunk since it is based on the idea that a quantum property can have multiple states simultaneously, that is, when nobody is looking. ahahaha... Reminds me of the kid I knew who insisted that he could jump as high as a tall building but only when nobody was looking. Whatever happen to empiricism? Talk about pseudoscience! Everett, Schrodinger (and his stupid cat) and that lunatic David Deutsch are crackpots of the worst kinds. Only physicists can get away with such quackery. They should all be stripped naked, tarred, feathered and paraded down Fifth Avenue in New York as an example to undergraduates. ahahaha...

    Sorry, your computer now refuses to work because it no longer obeys quantum mechanics. The electrons are just stuck at the N-P junctions and nothing happens because they're all in a fully defined position with no way of jumping across it at the energy levels they have. Bump the energy up, and they behave classically and just burn their way through without any of the nice semiconductor properties that make computation with them possible.

    On the upside, now you'll have a lot more time to tar and feather the quacks who made your nonfunctional computer!

  5. Re:MWI is cool and all.... by kaidadragonfly · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not a physicist but at least from what I've read that's a rather common misconception.

    It is the act of measurement itself, not the interaction of the particles that causes changes we see in the particles. The collapse of a wave function is different from anything that we have in the macroscopic universe, it simply does not happen in every day life to an extent that we can view it.

    Quantum mechanics/physics/theory doesn't work like normal life.

    Analogies don't work properly when you try to explain QM, because it is so counter intuitive.

    Electrons are not simple particles, and our measurement doesn't cause them to be perturbed, they actually exist as a probability. This is, at least what I've understood, as the reason for the wave-particle duality that is exhibited in the double-slit experiments.

  6. Re:Personal experience of the Multiverse by resonte · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Strange...I just made a post relating to QI.

    Life is suffering. If the mutliverse is true, then absolute hell really does exist in one instance of a Universe. If QI is true, is there ever really a way to escape 'reality'? Does everyone experience every form of existence for eternity? or instead do some of us go into loops of existence, and never escape the loop? Can we direct our path to a desirable loop?

    Some forms of Buddhism teach something very similar to QI, except that Nirvana is the end of all suffering, and the end of the ego, the end of self, and that once Nirvana is reached it is eternal. Perhaps Nirvana is a way to achieve death in a deathless Universe?

    The universe is a really scary place when you sit down and think about it. It puts your own desires into perspective.

    --
    \(^o^)/