pontus

26 ms·

211.
by pontus 6y ago
Totally agree
212.
by pontus 6y ago
Yes, there is a constant amount of information in the system. In fact, that's part of the beauty of MWI in contrast with Copenhagen. In MWI, the state at any point in time can be used to reconstruct the state at any other time. However
213.
by pontus 6y ago
Put another way, suppose you have some linear dynamical differential equation in n variables that you solve somehow. Then, take that solution and expand it in some set of basis functions (e.g. a Fourier series). You wouldn't throw your
214.
by pontus 6y ago
That's not the right way to frame MWI, there's no explosion of entities at all, just a single wave function that evolves. The wave function starts out being a function of n variables, evolves according to a differential equation a
215.
by pontus 6y ago
The MWI is literally obtained by taking traditional Copenhagen QM and removing the postulate of measurement. In other words, it is by the most genuine way of measuring complexity of a theory, demonstrably simpler than copenhagen! We just
216.
by pontus 6y ago
You say "The measurement is the particle collision, not the detection.", but this is not right. When two particles bounce off each other, there is no collapse according to traditional copenhagen, instead the wave function just evo
217.
by pontus 6y ago
I think the points here are pretty interesting. Related to this, I feel like there's a missed opportunity for the federal government to create a national public online university. There's a lot of talk about online education being
218.
by pontus 6y ago
I think this is great advice. I remember when I was an undergraduate physics student, looking forward to grad school and idolizing all the famous physicists. My adviser, who was not the most soft and cuddly type of guy, always pushed this t
219.
by pontus 6y ago
Not sure if I necessarily agree that the issue we face in the US has to do with "tyrany of the majority", but even if it does I would never claim that the system is perfect, hence the "try to mitigate this" part of the s
220.
by pontus 6y ago
Many governments have been built in ways to try to mitigate this. For example, in the US we have the electoral college and the Senate (where each state has an equal vote). Not saying I support the electoral college (I don't), but at le
221.
by pontus 6y ago
Feel like they missed an obvious opportunity to coin the term slacklash...
222.
by pontus 6y ago
These retrospective analyses, while intriguing to read, should be taken as more descriptive than prescriptive. When you talk to someone who actually succeeded at something, they'll talk about platitudes like working hard, product marke
223.
by pontus 6y ago
The article misses the point, I think. The reason why (most, not all!) VCs are successful is not because they have some secret visionary insights into the future of technology but rather because they have the means of diversifying their inv
224.
by pontus 6y ago
This is not intended, I'm almost certain. Go you youtube.com and it'll play unmuted. I have an ad blocker and can't see the video but I still hear the audio.
225.
by pontus 6y ago
I think the right phrasing ought to be that anyone can learn physics if they want to . The problem is that learning anything deeply is really hard, much harder than you think it'll be upfront. So, unless you're really motivated a
226.
by pontus 6y ago
Although, referring to Wald as a "high level overview" is not right. In my mind, Wald is a very abstract and rich book and one that should not be read until you've mastered GR reasonably well.
227.
by pontus 6y ago
This is a good and accurate list (albeit rather aspirational!) For context, I did my PhD in physics.
228.
by pontus 6y ago
Oh man does this bring me back! I used to view this list as such an aspirational goal. Honestly though, if you want to become good theoretical physicist you pretty much need to go to grad school.
229.
by pontus 6y ago
That's a great way to put it. Makes my brain hurt.
230.
by pontus 6y ago
Crazy. That means that he has $72B more than $100B.
231.
by pontus 6y ago
This is really exciting! I know that these results generally don't transfer to humans, but it gives me hope that we might be able to address several neurodegenerative diseases at once.
232.
by pontus 6y ago
This seems like a reasonable analogy. What about it do you feel is wrong?
233.
by pontus 6y ago
I don't know, that's the problem :) Btw, I would imagine that our experience of consciousness is emergent from something else, but the question is what that something else is. Is it nothing more than mass, charge etc. or is it som
234.
by pontus 6y ago
Woah, that's awesome! I had no idea this was a thing :) Thanks!
235.
by pontus 6y ago
My background is in theoretical physics, so I absolutely subscribe to this perspective. In understanding my own consciousness, however, I find it a lot harder to see how such an explanation could work. The only other problem that I feel may
236.
by pontus 6y ago
I agree that other mediums (like artificial neurons) would likely still be conscious, but an abstract calculation on a bunch of pieces of papers, possibly spread over years and across multiple people performing the calculations? That seems
237.
by pontus 6y ago
Understanding how a brain works may only require a mechanistic model, but consciousness is different. Consider the following thought experiment: suppose that we had a complete understanding of how neurons work (as well as the brain more bro
238.
by pontus 6y ago
I agree that consciousness is correlated with this, but having a lot of experiences over years does not explain to me why I feel things. Similarly I can definitely see how there would be a mechanistic explanation for intelligence (basical
239.
by pontus 6y ago
Honestly, as weird as it might sound, to me it's even weirder to claim that consciousness somehow is just a manifestation of effect that we are already familiar with. Saying things like "Consciousness is emergent" or "Co
240.
by pontus 6y ago
Taking care of my kids while simultaneously trying not to pull all my hair out.

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