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View Full Version : Everett Interpretation in English; correct or flawed?


Galteeth
Nov4-09, 01:41 AM
I came across this document http://www.hedweb.com/manworld.htm#faq containing a plain english explanation of the Everett interpretation. While it is clear that the author is very much in favor of this interpretation and has objections to others, is there any thing here that is fundamentally incorrect or out of date (not his philosophical positions, but his facts)?

Particularly this statement: prediction occurs when a theory suggests new phenomena. Many-worlds makes at least three predictions, two of them unique: about linearity, (See "Is linearity exact?"), quantum gravity (See "Why quantum gravity?") and reversible quantum computers (See "Could we detect other Everett-worlds?").

Vanadium 50
Nov4-09, 02:03 AM
That statement is not something that many physicists would agree is true.

Fredrik
Nov4-09, 02:20 AM
I have always felt that that FAQ is really bad. I have no idea why it has spread to so many sites.

dmtr
Nov4-09, 03:53 AM
IMHO only the "reversible AI" part in the "Could we detect other Everett-worlds" is a way off [reversible AI is not going to help detecting MWI], but otherwise the FAQ is Ok. And of course it is always the best to go to the original documents, rather than FAQs.

Everett's thesis is available online: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/manyworlds/pdf/dissertation.pdf, and it is quite readable.

-- Dmtr