Einstein seems to have believed in ''immortal observer moments''. In a BBC documentary about time it was mentioned that Einstein consoled a friend whose son had died in a tragic accident by saying that relativity suggests that the past and the future are as real as the present.
Saibal From: "Russell Standish" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <everything-list@googlegroups.com> Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2006 01:07 AM Subject: Re: Smullyan Shmullyan, give me a real example > > On Wed, May 10, 2006 at 11:13:27PM +0100, Patrick Leahy wrote: > > > > > > On who invented quantum suicide, the following is from the biography of > > Hugh Everett by Eugene B. Shikhovtsev and Kenneth W. Ford, at > > http://space.mit.edu/home/tegmark/everett/ > > > > "Atheist or not, Everett firmly believed that his many-worlds theory > > guaranteed him immortality: His consciousness, he argued, is bound at each > > branching to follow whatever path does not lead to death --- and so on ad > > infinitum. (Sadly, Everett's daughter Liz, in her later suicide note, said > > she was going to a parallel universe to be with her father...)" > > Sadly, because this is based on a total misunderstanding of QTI, I guess. > > > > > The reference is to Everett's views in 1979-80, but there is no reason to > > suppose that Everett had only just thought of it at the time. On a > > personal note, some time in the '80s I met one of Everett's co-workers who > > told me that Everett used to justify his very unhealthy lifestyle on > > exactly these grounds. In our world, Everett died of a heart attack aged > > 52. > > > > I have always assumed that John Bell was thinking along these lines when > > he commented on Everett's theory: > > > > "But if such a theory was taken seriously it would hardly be possible to > > take anything else seriously." (1981, reprinted in _Speakable & > > Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics). > > > > These dates all mesh with Don Page's anecdote about Ed Teller : > immortality consequences widely known, but rarely talked about by the > early '80s. > > > For that matter, this idea is implicit in Borges' story "The Garden of > > Forking Paths" (written before 1941), which provides the epigraph to the > > DeWitt & Graham anthology on The Many Worlds Interpretation. > > > > ====================================================== > > Dr J. P. Leahy, University of Manchester, > > Jodrell Bank Observatory, School of Physics & Astronomy, > > Macclesfield, Cheshire SK11 9DL, UK > > Tel - +44 1477 572636, Fax - +44 1477 571618 > > Very interesting. Its a shame my manuscript is already at the > printers, I would have loved this for my background info on QTI. > > -- > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 8308 3119 (mobile) > Mathematics 0425 253119 (") > UNSW SYDNEY 2052 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Australia http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks > International prefix +612, Interstate prefix 02 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---