On Mon, Dec 2, 2024 at 7:11 AM Alan Grayson <[email protected]> wrote:
*> Why should I read Deutsch? I've read enough of his stuff to know he's > totally deluded in his MW dream. With MW you won't even know that slit > experiments result in interference patterns. AG* > *It's odd you should mention the two slit experiment because back in 1986 in his excellent book "The Ghost in the Atom" David Deutsch proposed a way to test if Everett's Many Worlds idea is correct, and it involves the two slit experiment. It would be difficult (not impossible) to perform but Deutsch argues that it's not Many Worlds fault because the reason the experiment is so difficult is because the conventional view says conscious objects obey different laws of physics than non-conscious objects and Many Worlds says they do not, so to test who's right we need a mind that uses quantum properties.* *I**n Deutsch's experiment, to prove or disprove the existence of many worlds other than this one, an** intelligent (and presumably conscious) quantum computer shoots electrons at a metal plate that has 2 small slits in it. It does this one at a time. The quantum computer has detectors near each slit so it knows which slit the various electrons went through. The quantum mind now signs a document for each and every electron saying it has observed the electron and knows which slit they all went through. * *It is very important that the documents do NOT say which slit the electrons went through, they only say it went through one and only one slit and the mind has knowledge of which one. Now AFTER the electron has passed the slit but just BEFORE the last electron hits the plate, the mind uses quantum erasure to completely erase the memory of what slits all the electrons went through, but all other memories, including all the signed documents, remain undamaged. * *Then after thousands of electrons have been observed and all which-way information has been erased, develop the photographic plate and look at it. If you see interference bands then the Many World interpretation is correct. If you do not see interference bands then there are no worlds but this one and the conventional interpretation is correct.* *Deutsch is saying that in the Copenhagen interpretation when the results of a measurement enters the consciousness of an observer the wave function collapses, in effect all the universes except one disappear without a trace so you get no interference. In the Many Worlds model all the other worlds will converge back into one universe when the electrons hit the photographic film because the two universes will no longer be different (even though they had different histories), but their influence will still be felt. In the merged universe you'll see indications that the electron went through slot X only and indications that it went through slot Y only, and that's what causes interference.* *John K Clark See what's on my new list at Extropolis <https://groups.google.com/g/extropolis>* gia > -- 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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAJPayv2UBgtX8Jq6zquZLNGdBdujSqK%3Dwyv73Z7JWk_chNrtmA%40mail.gmail.com.
