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And it is absurd to say it has no direct practical implications. We still don't know all of physics, and part of the reason is precisely because we're stuck in

And it is absurd to say it has no direct practical implications. We still don't know all of physics, and part of the reason is precisely because we're stuck in the wrong mindset regarding how nature works. Only a better insight on the true nature of the universe can give us the correct mathematical models.

thinkmcfly 4y ago
Can you explain what the direct and practical implications are? I don't know if I buy what the link says about this, but I do know that no one has ever found utility by being frustrated about many worlds
- LightMachine 4y ago
  I mean that interpretations have practical implications because they're the only way to find the true laws of physics, which in turn has obviously applications. For example, if you believe in superdeterminism, and you obviously should, then that will save a lot of work researching dead ends (like multiverse stuff), which will make us find the correct algorithms faster.
criddell 4y ago
> the correct mathematical models There are those that think reality (including the universe) is just mathematics. Not modeled by mathematics, but is mathematics. To me, the mathematical universe hypothesis is starting to be the only theory that makes sense.
- LightMachine 4y ago
  Wait isn't that the common assumption? That the universe is just an algorithm and we're trying to figure which is it?
  - goatlover 4y ago
    No, the common assumption is that we attempt to describe the universe with precise tools like mathematics, but the map isn’t the territory and all models are incomplete, some are just less incomplete. The universe being mathematical is a form of Platonism, which is the belief that mathematical and abstract objects are real.
    - criddell 4y ago
      > mathematical and abstract objects are real It might be a distinction without a difference, but I always understood the idea to be that objects we believe to be real are actually mathematical structures. I see it as sharing some ideas from the we-are-living-in-a-simulation idea. If we were in a simulation, you wouldn’t say data structures and objects are real but would say the table in front of you is actually just data.
      - goatlover 4y ago
        You would say the table in front of me is data inside a physical computer, whatever the physics of the real world were, assuming they aren't the same as our simulated world (perhaps they are an approximation of the real all depending on the purpose of the simulation). That's different from the world being mathematical or informational, which raises the question of what makes it real to us. What breathes life into the equations? Consciousness? Where does consciousness come into the picture?

thinkmcfly 4y ago

Can you explain what the direct and practical implications are? I don't know if I buy what the link says about this, but I do know that no one has ever found utility by being frustrated about many worlds

LightMachine 4y ago
I mean that interpretations have practical implications because they're the only way to find the true laws of physics, which in turn has obviously applications. For example, if you believe in superdeterminism, and you obviously should, then that will save a lot of work researching dead ends (like multiverse stuff), which will make us find the correct algorithms faster.

criddell 4y ago

> the correct mathematical models There are those that think reality (including the universe) is just mathematics. Not modeled by mathematics, but is mathematics. To me, the mathematical universe hypothesis is starting to be the only theory that makes sense.

LightMachine 4y ago
Wait isn't that the common assumption? That the universe is just an algorithm and we're trying to figure which is it?
- goatlover 4y ago
  No, the common assumption is that we attempt to describe the universe with precise tools like mathematics, but the map isn’t the territory and all models are incomplete, some are just less incomplete. The universe being mathematical is a form of Platonism, which is the belief that mathematical and abstract objects are real.
  - criddell 4y ago
    > mathematical and abstract objects are real It might be a distinction without a difference, but I always understood the idea to be that objects we believe to be real are actually mathematical structures. I see it as sharing some ideas from the we-are-living-in-a-simulation idea. If we were in a simulation, you wouldn’t say data structures and objects are real but would say the table in front of you is actually just data.
    - goatlover 4y ago
      You would say the table in front of me is data inside a physical computer, whatever the physics of the real world were, assuming they aren't the same as our simulated world (perhaps they are an approximation of the real all depending on the purpose of the simulation). That's different from the world being mathematical or informational, which raises the question of what makes it real to us. What breathes life into the equations? Consciousness? Where does consciousness come into the picture?