4 ms·

which experiment proves the universe uses lazy evaluation? this seems like interpretation

akira2501 2y ago
Wheeler suggested to expand the observations of the "double slit apparatus" into the "delayed choice experiment" which was then itself expanded into the "delayed choice quantum eraser experiment." From the Wikipedia article: "Wheeler pointed out that when these assumptions are applied to a device of interstellar dimensions, a last-minute decision made on Earth on how to observe a photon could alter a situation established millions or even billions of years earlier." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed-choice_quantum_eraser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed-choice_quantum_eraser That's not to say that this is "proof" but I think this is where the notion is most directly apprehended.
- SilasX 2y ago
  Which, to be clear, then invalidates at least one of the assumptions, right?
martin-adams 2y ago
I would guess the double-slit experiment to fit this analogy.
wholinator2 2y ago
It is an interpretation, the Copenhagen interpretation. There are other possibilities and nobody knows the real ground truth yet. All our speculations are just that
- medstrom 2y ago
  Speculations done correctly can have a good chance to arrive at truth. That's also known as reasoning. There's probably no experimental confirming or disconfirming this, ever, but that doesn't mean all theories stand on equal ground. After almost a century of discussions between smart people, the physics consensus has steadily inched away from Copenhagen. That said, that doesn't mean lazy evaluation isn't happening. You just can't use lazy evaluation to "explain" wavefunction collapse, it's more the other way around, that collapse can be a lazy evaluation trick. It'd describe only this simulation and say nothing about outer reality (thus no longer works as evidence for or against the simulation hypothesis, it's just a consistent part of the story given that it's true).

Wheeler suggested to expand the observations of the "double slit apparatus" into the "delayed choice experiment" which was then itself expanded into the "delayed choice quantum eraser experiment." From the Wikipedia article: "Wheeler pointed out that when these assumptions are applied to a device of interstellar dimensions, a last-minute decision made on Earth on how to observe a photon could alter a situation established millions or even billions of years earlier." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed-choice_quantum_eraser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed-choice_quantum_eraser That's not to say that this is "proof" but I think this is where the notion is most directly apprehended.

SilasX 2y ago
Which, to be clear, then invalidates at least one of the assumptions, right?

martin-adams 2y ago

I would guess the double-slit experiment to fit this analogy.

wholinator2 2y ago

It is an interpretation, the Copenhagen interpretation. There are other possibilities and nobody knows the real ground truth yet. All our speculations are just that

medstrom 2y ago
Speculations done correctly can have a good chance to arrive at truth. That's also known as reasoning. There's probably no experimental confirming or disconfirming this, ever, but that doesn't mean all theories stand on equal ground. After almost a century of discussions between smart people, the physics consensus has steadily inched away from Copenhagen. That said, that doesn't mean lazy evaluation isn't happening. You just can't use lazy evaluation to "explain" wavefunction collapse, it's more the other way around, that collapse can be a lazy evaluation trick. It'd describe only this simulation and say nothing about outer reality (thus no longer works as evidence for or against the simulation hypothesis, it's just a consistent part of the story given that it's true).