> IMHO, this latter situation seem to be what D. Deutsch proposes as a test for his MWI. If we can create a physical implementation of a quantum computation >that has greater computational power than that allowed by the classical (as per the Copenhagen Interpretation or other interpretations) case, then it would >verify .MWI. A failure of such would be a falsification.
Perhaps Stephen, but I offer that it would ultimately only lend support to the view that the classical model is incomplete. This reasoning reminds me of the anecdote about the eminent astronomer who, when his student commented on how naive it was that for so long people believed the earth to be the center of the universe , replied "on the contrary, given a belief that one is stationary relative to the celestial panoply and given no additional hard evidence other than the sun, for instance, appearing in the east -arcing across the sky - then sinking out of sight in the west, it would be foolish to think otherwise". It was at the time the simplest explanation, lacking any solid additional detailed observation. And it was simply wrong. On the subject of consciousness, I wonder how fruitful it is to conduct thought experiments that infer the observer's consciousness. The reason I wonder this is (because I am? no, that's another story..) that I'm reading more and more of late about the "zombie within" concept where it seems that while we operate under the illusion of "self" control, in fact some entity that is the product of one's integrated anatomical and physiological pattern is actually acting and reacting measurably before "I" am aware; even when I believe I thought of and "initiated" the action. Whether or not one is hallucinating, we may in fact all be in the end delusional. My question is: if "real", how does the above situation effect assumptions that are founded on the assumption of a single conscious observer/actor's "first person" experience? Perhaps all we can safely refer to is the observerand make no additional claims as to their, or even my own, conscious experience *lacking additional supportive empirical data*. Cheers CMR <-- insert gratuitous quotation that implies my profundity here -->
