Hal wrote:
> One of the concepts we have explored is that all universes and hence > all minds exist, but that some observer-moments have greater "measure" > than others. This may help to explain why we observe the kind of universe > that we do, because we must be observer-moments that have relatively > large measure. > > I wonder if it would be possible for the measure of an individual > to vary over the course of his lifetime. We do expect the measure > to fall as he ages, as he comes to occupy fewer and fewer universes. > However there may be other ways that his measure could change. > > For example, suppose he took a drug which made his mental processes > become confused. He was no longer sure of basic facts about himself > and the universe. This mental state would no longer be bound to one > specific universe. Instead, a large collection of distinct universes > could be consistent with this mental state. These observer-moments > might therefore have larger measure, since they would correspond to a > larger part of the multiverse. > > In general, one might expect those minds with less observational power > and less specific knowledge and understanding of the universe to have > larger measure. > > Does this have any implications for the use of the all-universe hypothesis > to explain and predict our observations? Yes it does. In particular it explains why we are of finite age, contrary to what one would naively expect from qti. As I have written some time ago qti needs to be modified precisely because of the effect you describe above. The analogy with the universal prior favoring simpler universes is interesting. Saibal