Is There a Doppelgänger of You Somewhere in the Universe?

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The discussion centers on the concept of identical copies of individuals existing in the universe, potentially linked to the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics. One participant suggests that if the universe is infinite, the probability of someone doing the same thing and looking the same as you approaches certainty. However, another argues that if the Big Bang theory is accurate, the universe is not infinite, significantly reducing this probability. The conversation touches on the implications of infinite combinations of possibilities, questioning the feasibility of identical copies existing. Links to further readings on MWI are provided, but some participants express confusion about the theory and its relation to probability.
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I once heard somewhere that due to some physics theory, there is someone out there in the universe doing exactly the same thing as you and looking exactly the same as you. I can't remember the details though... Anyone heard of this before and can clarify?

I don't think it seems plausible though..
 
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Mathematically, if the universe is infinite, that would have to be the case, because the probability of there being somebody somewhere in the infinite universe doing the same thing would be 1. However, if the big-bang theory is correct, our universe is not infinite, so the probability of that happening would drop dramatically - so close to zero we could say for sure it's not the case.
 
even if the universe is infinite, why can't there be an infinite number of possible combinations for "things"?
 
moe darklight said:
even if the universe is infinite, why can't there be an infinite number of possible combinations for "things"?

Then it should be possible to show the existence (with probability 1) of a person 'arbitrarily similar' to you by any reasonable metric.
 
Absolution said:
I once heard somewhere that due to some physics theory, there is someone out there in the universe doing exactly the same thing as you and looking exactly the same as you. I can't remember the details though... Anyone heard of this before and can clarify?

I don't think it seems plausible though..
You're thinking of MWI (Many-Worlds Interpretation). Here are two links you can read about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-manyworlds/
 
Thanks Evo!

I don't really seem to understand it though haha... But i guess its something to do with probability too?

Happy New Year anyway!
 
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