On 26 September 2013 17:27, chris peck <chris_peck...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Liz > > Interesting. There's another thought experiment, or gambit, MWIers raise > involving quantum immortality. > > In this, some quantum event at time t triggers a gun to shoot (or not > shoot) the MWIer. > > Traditionally, MWIers argue the only reason they would not take the gambit > is because they would leave behind grieving family in one MWI branch. They > are not in any doubt over whether they would survive in the other branch. > Thus, in this case the probabilities are governed by a conjunction. They > are both convinced they will be killed and convinced they will survive. > There is no 1-p indeterminacy about either prior to the quantum event. > > Now the logic of q-immortality and your MWI analog of Bruno's thought > experiment seem to me to be the same. But, the MWIers apparently treat the > two inconsistently. How can one be uncertain about whether one will be in > Moscow in one experiment but certain about surviving in the other? Do you > see my problem? > Hi Chris Yes, I think I see the problem. I have other problems with the "QI gambit" anyway - decoherence probably happens far faster than the time it takes a bullet to reach you, so maybe you need a nuclear bomb to do this properly (as first suggested by Fred Hoyle when he came up with the idea, I believe). Plus the QTI suggests that you will survive being shot anyway, so you might just end up horribly disfigured, but alive... ditto for a nuclear bomb, come to think of it. Actually, that might answer your point. The "QI gambit" doesn't work as MWIers believe, even assuming QTI is true. Hence the probability of finding yourself experiencing either branch is 50-50 (in a sense. Actually, assuming the MWI "you" experience both branches, but "you" have split in the meantime). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
