3 ms·

This title really irks me. Basically it is saying that quantum states or possible paths are realities. But the very definition of reality is what we experience,

This title really irks me. Basically it is saying that quantum states or possible paths are realities. But the very definition of reality is what we experience, so how can a quantum state, be a separate reality? The article mentions reality 5 times, not explaining what it even means by the word "reality". While there may be some philosophical content to the statement, it is not a well-defined physical statement and moreover, the article doesn't show any "evidence" for it assuming that there is even a valid way to interpret the title. I've come to expect this type of artilce from Quanta Magazine though.

3np 4y ago
The title irks me for a different reason. An improvement would be "Reality Considered As a Sum of All Possible Realities". This is an interpretation/model you can choose. It doesn't seem falsifiable or provable. "The sweater I wear today may be a sum of all sweaters is my wardrobe" - yeah, it is if you choose to think of it that way.
- Rury 4y ago
  It irks me, because I find the title reads similar to: "Our possibilities may be a sum of all possible possibilities". Or shorter "What's possible is the sum of all that's possible". It's like, well no duh? If it doesn't read like that, then I too find it irksome for the aforementioned reasons.
goatlover 4y ago
> But the very definition of reality is what we experience If you're an anti-realist when it comes to science. I suspect a lot of scientists think there's plenty of reality we don't experience, such as quarks, dark matter or the interior of black holes. Or what lies beyond our light cone (probably a lot more of the same), given the flat topology that's been measured. Sean Carol has argued for the Many Worlds Interpretation being a true description of reality, even though we can only experience the decohered branch (world) we're on.
layer8 4y ago
One way to look at this is that there is no difference between possibility and reality. If there was, then the question would arise why only this one particular possibility is real, while the other possibilities aren’t. If there is a necessary reason for why this particular possibility is real, then that would mean that the other possibilities aren’t actually possible after all. If, on the other hand, there isn’t any such reason, then that would mean that the fact that this particular possibility happens to be real is fundamentally arbitrary. Personally, I find it more plausible, in a parsimonious Occam’s razor sense, that everything that is logically possible actually exists, because the only other option is arbitrariness, the lack of any explanation even in theory. Whether summing up path integrals makes sense, is however a different question.
- deleted 4y ago
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- Rury 4y ago
  The problem with that, is how can you ever be certain that, there isn't always such a reason? Just because no reason is found (yet), is not proof that there does not exist any such a reason. To me, accepting that everything logically possible actually exists, is accepting arbitrariness, as all of logic is fundamentally built upon arbitrary assumptions. It seems like rather accepting that things aren't inherently arbitrary (that not all logical possibilities exist / there always is such reasons), is the only way to avoid arbitrariness. It's just a matter of finding the theory that explains it.
GoblinSlayer 4y ago
That's a definition of solipsism, not reality.

3np 4y ago

The title irks me for a different reason. An improvement would be "Reality Considered As a Sum of All Possible Realities". This is an interpretation/model you can choose. It doesn't seem falsifiable or provable. "The sweater I wear today may be a sum of all sweaters is my wardrobe" - yeah, it is if you choose to think of it that way.

Rury 4y ago
It irks me, because I find the title reads similar to: "Our possibilities may be a sum of all possible possibilities". Or shorter "What's possible is the sum of all that's possible". It's like, well no duh? If it doesn't read like that, then I too find it irksome for the aforementioned reasons.

goatlover 4y ago

> But the very definition of reality is what we experience If you're an anti-realist when it comes to science. I suspect a lot of scientists think there's plenty of reality we don't experience, such as quarks, dark matter or the interior of black holes. Or what lies beyond our light cone (probably a lot more of the same), given the flat topology that's been measured. Sean Carol has argued for the Many Worlds Interpretation being a true description of reality, even though we can only experience the decohered branch (world) we're on.

layer8 4y ago

One way to look at this is that there is no difference between possibility and reality. If there was, then the question would arise why only this one particular possibility is real, while the other possibilities aren’t. If there is a necessary reason for why this particular possibility is real, then that would mean that the other possibilities aren’t actually possible after all. If, on the other hand, there isn’t any such reason, then that would mean that the fact that this particular possibility happens to be real is fundamentally arbitrary. Personally, I find it more plausible, in a parsimonious Occam’s razor sense, that everything that is logically possible actually exists, because the only other option is arbitrariness, the lack of any explanation even in theory. Whether summing up path integrals makes sense, is however a different question.

deleted 4y ago
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Rury 4y ago
The problem with that, is how can you ever be certain that, there isn't always such a reason? Just because no reason is found (yet), is not proof that there does not exist any such a reason. To me, accepting that everything logically possible actually exists, is accepting arbitrariness, as all of logic is fundamentally built upon arbitrary assumptions. It seems like rather accepting that things aren't inherently arbitrary (that not all logical possibilities exist / there always is such reasons), is the only way to avoid arbitrariness. It's just a matter of finding the theory that explains it.

GoblinSlayer 4y ago

That's a definition of solipsism, not reality.