https://twitter.com/WKCosmo/status/1183381747511300102
Sabine Hossenfelder @skdh · If a tree drops in the forest, does it decohere and remain in a mixed state of dropped and non-dropped until I come by and update the wavefunction? (No, it doesn't. That's why decoherence does not solve the measurement problem of quantum mechanics.) Will Kinney @WKCosmo Replying to @skdh Unless the mixed state density matrix simply encodes the probabilities of various outcomes, in which case you're fine. Sabine Hossenfelder @skdh · Replying to @WKCosmo Have you suddenly become a fan of hidden variables models? In that case, I am totally on your side. Will Kinney @WKCosmo I'm not sure why hidden variables are necessary in a probabilistic theory. Sabine Hossenfelder @skdh Oh, they are not necessary. The other alternative is that you give up on reductionism. Is that what you want to advocate? Will Kinney @WKCosmo · If the theory matches reality, sure. I really fail to understand physicists' attachment to a clockwork universe fully determined by boundary conditions. Nature apparently doesn't work that way. Sabine Hossenfelder @skdh I see. That's fine with me as long as you acknowledge that in this case the theory is necessarily incomplete because it lacks an explanation for why you need a second postulate for macroscopic objects if their behavior should be derivable, not an additional assumption. @philipthrift -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/760408fa-8f80-42e8-81b1-44612fbf2c09%40googlegroups.com.
