On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 1:08 PM, meekerdb <meeke...@verizon.net> wrote:
> The short answer is yes. But it's not four universes, it's one universe > that is a superposition of four states. The idealization is that the cats > are isolated so that it is only when a live/dead measurement is made the > universe splits. But a problem with MWI is that this depends on the basis. > Couldn't we just say that it splits for you locally when the information that makes a difference gets to you? Perhaps this leads to more of a many-minds kind of interpretation than many worlds though. > Choosing a live/dead basis is possible (in the idealization) but > mathematically any other basis is equally valid and in those other bases > there are still superpositions. So really the problem of the live/dead cat > is pushed off onto the problem of selecting the basis: why is the live/dead > basis priveleged? If the all the possible descriptions are all mathematically equivalent, regardless of the basis, maybe the question itself doesn't make sense. Perhaps asking if it's split or not is like like asking what event happened first in the context of relativity (which shows observers can disagree on simultaneity). Jason -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
