Yeah. Despite the disclaimer, he then goes on to assume it's literally true. And, for relevance to this post, he does so in the story as well, in Chapter 28. s

Yeah. Despite the disclaimer, he then goes on to assume it's literally true. And, for relevance to this post, he does so in the story as well, in Chapter 28. su3su2u1 (who is an actual physicist) discusses the problem in http://su3su2u1.tumblr.com/post/98526012853/chapter-28-hacking-science-map-territory http://su3su2u1.tumblr.com/post/98526012853/chapter-28-hacki... : > There is no “true math of quantum mechanics.” [...] These are different mathematical formulations, over different spaces, that are completely equivalent. > What Hariezer is doing here isn’t separating the map and the territory, its reifying one particular map (configuration space)! >I also find it amusing, in a physics elitist sort of way (sorry for the condescension) that Yudkowsky picks non-relativistic quantum mechanics as the final, ultimate reality. Instead of describing or even mentioning quantum field theory, which is the most low-level theory we (we being science) know of, Yudkowsky picks non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the most low-level theory HE knows. > So this is more bad pedagogy: timeless physics isn’t even a map, it's the idea of a map. [...] It seems very odd to just toss in a somewhat obscure idea as the pinnacle of physics.