On Sun, Dec 19, 2021 at 10:04 PM Bruce Kellett <[email protected]> wrote:
*>>> The Born Rule cannot be derived from the Schrodinger equation; it has >>> to be added as a further independent assumption. So it is not true that >>> Many Worlds makes only one assumption.* >>> >> >> >> No quantum interpretation needs to derive the Schrodinger Equation >> nor does it need to be assumed because it can be experimentally verified >> to be true. And no quantum interpretation is inconsistent with >> observation, at least not so far. >> > > *> Why do we need any theory at all then? We just have to observe the > experimental results and they are true. Perhaps science is about > understanding the experimental results, not just accepting them as the > truth.* > Some productive scientists are satisfied with the Shut Up And Calculate quantum "interpretation" and that's fine, there is no disputing matters of taste, but some who don't dislike philosophy would like a bit more. The point I was trying to make was that nobody "assumes" the Born Rule anymore than somebody assumes that a body at rest or moving at a constant speed in a straight line will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant speed unless it is acted upon by a force. Neither the Born Rule or Newton's first law of motion were "assumed" to be true, they were OBSERVED to be true , and in science observation always outranks theory. If a theory concludes that a certain observation can't occur but it is observed to occur then the theory is wrong. A theory needs to be confirmed by observation, but an observation doesn't need to be confirmed by a theory. Unfortunately none of the quantum interpretations conflicts with observation so to decide on a favorite one should pick the one that makes the fewest assumptions (*NOT* the one that produces the simplest outcome). And that's why I like Many Worlds, it only makes one assumption. And that's why I think superdeterminism is the very worst quantum interpretation possible, it needs, quite literally, an infinite number of assumptions to work. If that was the best anybody could come up with I'd stick with Shut Up And Calculate, but fortunately we can do better. Of course I can't deny it would be great if a quantum interpretation could lead us straight to the Born Rule. It may be premature to claim victory but I think Many Worlds has made much more progress towards accomplishing that goal than any other: Many Worlds, the Born Rule, and Self-Locating Uncertainty <https://arxiv.org/pdf/1405.7907.pdf> John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis> mwc -- 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/CAJPayv3w0msj6mPxTBwCUr9mwV40AjAVwwHyrHvzOy9eHuNbNw%40mail.gmail.com.
