Posted: Oct 06, 2017 4:24 pm
GrahamH wrote:John Platko wrote:DavidMcC wrote:John, how is the Gell-Mann interview video relevant to free will? It is only relevant to interpretation of QM.
It's relevant to the interpretation of multiple histories. And multiple histories suggest branching points, i.e. the actual possibility to do this rather than that. And that is what the concept of free will is all about.Is this not obvious?
It's not obious. What you would need for free will in MWI is to consciously choose the quantum branches (your conscious intent determining the quantum, branch).
It's certainly not obvious to me why conscious intent is needed for the choice. Why is unconscious intent insufficient?
Why do you believe that the free will you don't seem to believe in must have conscious intent?
Otherwise your choice will depend what branch you happen to be on which is the cart before the horse. That would be you choosing what QM selects for you.
I think it is you who is putting the cart before the horse. If one wants a bottom up view of the situation then first one must show the possibility for real choice, i.e. the branching points. Once that is well established and agreed on we can proceed to how the branches are navigated.
The other way to look at MWI is that every branch is realised so you have no freedom.
Are you suggesting that I'm only imagining I'm eating vanilla ice cream when I choose it over chocolate but in reality I'm eating both?
You are compelled to make all possible choices.
I think we better take a step back and define exactly what you mean by "you". I've been wrong before, but as far as I can tell there's only this one me, in one world, licking one cone.
It's no consolation to think that some duplicate of yourself in some other universe got it right if you in this universe has just made a colossal bad call.
Actually, I find it easy to be happy for the good fortune you're imagining me having in another world. I'm more troubled by the thought of the terrible things I'm doing in those other worlds - it's like your dammed if you do and you're dammed if you don't.