From what I’ve read, according to the Many Worlds theory, every time I make a choice, a new universe springs into being in which I make a different choice. But what constitutes a choice? Does it have to be a conscious, binary choice? For example, there are a large number (infinite?) of things I’m NOT doing right now, including running around my workplace naked except for clown makeup. Does that mean that there’s a universe in which I am doing that? And am I just getting lucky to keep ending up in the universe in which I’m behaving well? Or does the theory only apply when I have to actually consider what to do next? (Until now I’ve never considered running around naked at work with clown paint on).
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Its not about choices. Many Worlds is an interpretation of the maths behind quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics have a so called measurement problem. Particles seem to exist in a weird way. They are in a superposition of may states but when they interact with something they have to “decide” which specific state to pick.
In other words we have a wave that describes a particle. That wave is a probability. Like location is a good example. The position of a particle is indefinite. The wave shows where we are more likely to find it and where we are less likely to find it. But when we measure the wave collapses and the position of the particle becomes definite. So what is going on here?
Does the particle only occupy one state and we just don’t know which one? Is the wave function real or just a mathematical model? Whats the reality? We dont know. We know that particles are really in a superposition of many states and not carrying hidden information. We can experimentally verify that.
So what happens when the wave of probabilities collapses. It appears to be truly random, its not sudorandom, there is no hidden complexity that creates so much chaos that we can call it random like a coin flip. Its random we have no way to predict exact results.
This goes again what we know about the macroscopic world. We (its uncertain) believe its deterministic. This means that if you have a perfect model and know all the necessary starting conditions of a system, you can predict its future perfectly. But that isn’t true in quantum mechanics.
So we have this problem, where does the randomness come from? How can it be this undeterministic. Many Words says that there is no randomness. Every outcome of a measurement happens.
The key idea is that every interaction creates an entanglement. You got a particle it can be in state A or B with 50% chance of each. You measure state A. What Many Worlds say happened is that the measurement caused the universe to branch in two. On where the particle is state A and one where its state B. You got entangled with the state A particle and exist in the universe with the state A particle. Another version of you got state B and got entangled with that particle in another universe.
We gave determinism back the most pointless way. Every outcome happens so the entire multiverse is deterministic but we still cant say anything about the future in the universe we are in. Quantum mechanics is no longer random its the universe we get thats random as we only see one outcome but all of them happen.
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