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I feel like quantum physics is gently pointing us towards the idea "everything you can imagine is real at once". As in, all possible universes and physics syste

I feel like quantum physics is gently pointing us towards the idea "everything you can imagine is real at once". As in, all possible universes and physics systems and whatnot do exist in some sense of this word, and we happen to inhabit one. Just like Earth is a totally unremarkable planet in a totally unremarkable solar system in a totally unremarkable galaxy, except we popped up here so for a long time we thought there's something deeply special about Earth.

layer8 1y ago
Quantum mechanics doesn't imply at all that everything possible is actual. That is a misconception. I do agree that it makes sense, but not because of what quantum mechanics says.
- anal_reactor 1y ago
  Yes, it doesn't imply, but parallel universes is one of possible interpretations.
  - layer8 1y ago
    If you are referring to the many-worlds interpretation, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. There is no implication in many-worlds that every conceivable world exists as a branch of the actual wave function. See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44253344 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44253344.
    - notfed 1y ago
      I fail to see how this doesn't lead to "every possible world". Maybe some edge cases are ruled out, but it seems to imply every possible world as far as what that means to the imagination.
      - layer8 1y ago
        It is constrained by whatever you take as the initial conditions. The quantum state of the universe is a specific and precise thing, as well as how it evolves over time. It can be taken as a vector in Hilbert space that evolves according to the Schrödinger equation. There is no implication that the resulting path will have it visit every point in Hilbert space, or that the slices of the wave function that represent individual “worlds” somehow cover all worlds present in the unvisited points.
        anal_reactor 1y ago
        This sounds like "technically no but in practice yes". Like a TV screen cannot display all visible colors, but it's close enough that we consider the job done.
    - grumple 1y ago
      The math does imply infinite universes. There are many physicists who believe that all these worlds do exist. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation And a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKWfw68M5U&list=PLsPUh22kYmNCAR1U8MD_1ELQnl640zYqi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKWfw68M5U&list=PLsPUh22kYm...
      - layer8 1y ago
        Infinite universes doesn’t imply every possible universe. I don’t disagree about them existing.
decae 1y ago
Not only does the sun not rotate around us, the rest of the galaxy doesn't even care to think that we exist. An interesting evolution in thought nonetheless.
Rattled 1y ago
I find it more useful to anchor the concept of "real" in what one has direct access to. Beyond that there are many ways to describe our shared reality and the space of possible realities, including the past and future, some of which are more real than others, and go far beyond what we can imagine. Quantum physics gives us a language to expand what we can describe and imagine.

layer8 1y ago

Quantum mechanics doesn't imply at all that everything possible is actual. That is a misconception. I do agree that it makes sense, but not because of what quantum mechanics says.

anal_reactor 1y ago
Yes, it doesn't imply, but parallel universes is one of possible interpretations.
- layer8 1y ago
  If you are referring to the many-worlds interpretation, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. There is no implication in many-worlds that every conceivable world exists as a branch of the actual wave function. See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44253344 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44253344.
  - notfed 1y ago
    I fail to see how this doesn't lead to "every possible world". Maybe some edge cases are ruled out, but it seems to imply every possible world as far as what that means to the imagination.
    - layer8 1y ago
      It is constrained by whatever you take as the initial conditions. The quantum state of the universe is a specific and precise thing, as well as how it evolves over time. It can be taken as a vector in Hilbert space that evolves according to the Schrödinger equation. There is no implication that the resulting path will have it visit every point in Hilbert space, or that the slices of the wave function that represent individual “worlds” somehow cover all worlds present in the unvisited points.
      - anal_reactor 1y ago
        This sounds like "technically no but in practice yes". Like a TV screen cannot display all visible colors, but it's close enough that we consider the job done.
  - grumple 1y ago
    The math does imply infinite universes. There are many physicists who believe that all these worlds do exist. See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation And a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKWfw68M5U&list=PLsPUh22kYmNCAR1U8MD_1ELQnl640zYqi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzKWfw68M5U&list=PLsPUh22kYm...
    - layer8 1y ago
      Infinite universes doesn’t imply every possible universe. I don’t disagree about them existing.

decae 1y ago

Not only does the sun not rotate around us, the rest of the galaxy doesn't even care to think that we exist. An interesting evolution in thought nonetheless.

Rattled 1y ago

I find it more useful to anchor the concept of "real" in what one has direct access to. Beyond that there are many ways to describe our shared reality and the space of possible realities, including the past and future, some of which are more real than others, and go far beyond what we can imagine. Quantum physics gives us a language to expand what we can describe and imagine.