4 ms·
Weird, it seems like that's one of the most popular discussions in pop-sci. The real question is more philosophical... does Many Worlds even mean anything scien
by kurthr 4y ago
Weird, it seems like that's one of the most popular discussions in pop-sci. The real question is more philosophical... does Many Worlds even mean anything scientific (eg is it testable or a usefully simple model). Certainly, it's entertaining.
- lmm 4y agoShouldn't that be "does the Copenhagen intepretation even mean anything scientific"?
- whatshisface 4y agoThe answer to both is "no." It is really obvious that the answer is no, because they lead to the same predictions. There is real work being done in quantum foundations (which is not the same thing as fundamental physics), but it doesn't involve arguing about MWI and Copenhagen. :-)
- wannabedev22 4y agoWhy isn’t debating of the significance of quantum mechanics “real work”?
- whatshisface 4y agoBecause some debates are like, "Given the proposition 'x or not x', is x true?"
- wannabedev22 4y agoI’m not sure about what precisely you’re referring to. There is an entire school of mathematics that dismisses the law of excluded of middle and I’m not sure why that would not be “real work”.
- whatshisface 4y agoThere's no system of logic where 'x or not x is true' implies x.
- j16sdiz 4y agoThe example you gave is not specific enough to guess what you are referring to.
- whatshisface 4y agoI am referring to the fact that it is possible for indeterminacy to be an absolute fact and not a temporary artifact of incomplete development.
- goldenkey 4y agoI can make that an axiom of my system. It'll cause explosion and is a next to useless system but it's still a system.
- GoblinSlayer 4y agoWhy though? MWI works just fine.
- whatshisface 4y agoSo does Copenhagen. That's why you can't choose between them.
- GoblinSlayer 4y agoDidn't you say you can't tell whether randomness is true or due to incomplete interpretation? If Copenhagen is incomplete, then it doesn't work, only its one part works - the Schrodinger equation.
- slowmovintarget 4y agoHe published a paper with some colleagues on a way to disprove Everettian Mechanics. It falls into the difficult but not impossible category. It involves looking for minuscule energy spikes that would be evidence of some kind of "collapse of the wave function" that would rule out Many Worlds. The Copenhagen Interpretation isn't a theory, it it is an attitude.
- GoblinSlayer 4y agoMWI is confirmed in a sense that it exactly matches the Schrodinger equation and doesn't add anything contradictory or ad hoc hypotheses, and is compatible with the rest of science. And the Schrodinger equation is verified quantitatively. This is as far as verification goes.