Quantum Immortality lead to a pretty good Egan book, and I’ve read
one or two short stories about it that have entertained me, so I’m
provisionally rating it as a way better thing than Less Wrong dot
Com.
But seriously, going to the internet and saying “I don’t understand
the big words but they’re wrong please explain how” is a bit silly. It
can be valid, I guess, but usually when you’re talking to actual experts
and the paper’s written by someone a bit cranky.
Thus, the QS/QI fallacies can threaten to lead to nothing less than a
sort of postmodern fanatical religious cult, complete with promises of
immortality, suicides (perhaps by willing suicide bombers), and
murder.
I always think the titles of posts in this sub are parodies, but then
I click the link and more often than not it turns out to be basically
the same thing. He literally is saying he’s sure he’s immortal but can’t
understand big words.
You know, there is a perfect empirical test for the existence of
Quantum Immortality. However, we do not seem to observe any attempted
executions to take advantage of Quantum Immortality. This, perhaps, is
the best circumstantial evidence to conclude that Quantum Immortality is
faith posing as science, like many other aspects of the “rationalist”
worldview such as the robot god at the end of time that will immanentize
the eschaton.
^ this is all in jest. I don’t seriously believe that if you really
believed in Quantum Immortality, you’d take that as a blank check to
recklessly risk your own life. After all, most believers in a
traditional heaven don’t do that either.
Even if one personally believed in QI, they would still leave love one's behind in the "failing" branches, who would suffer. Furthermore, in the majority of branches, *others* would not see the success of the experiment, so the "doing it for science" motive is greatly diminished.
> I don't seriously believe that if you really believed in Quantum Immortality, you'd take that as a blank check to recklessly risk your own life.
If I seriously believed in quantum immortality, I'd be... I don't even know. So utterly suicidal and yet terrified to act upon it because whatever happened would probably be worse, and would hurry me along towards literal eternal hell. Or whatever.
What I'm saying is that it's not an especially comforting thought.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Everett_III#Death_and_legacy
>Everett's daughter, Elizabeth, committed suicide in 1996 (saying in her suicide note that she wished her ashes to be thrown out with the garbage so that she might "end up in the correct parallel universe to meet up w[ith] Daddy")
This is the only case I know of, there may be others.
The Eels' Electro-Shock Blues is an excellent and sad album. I don't really think a believe in quantum immortality really factors in there that much, either.
Aren’t the Quantum-Immortalians stepping on the turf of the brain
freezing guys a bit? If I were them, I’d be afraid of getting my severed
head frozen for free.
Though I guess if you’re immortal, it doesn’t really matter.
I believe that conciousness is non local so it can travel between
branches. I believe we experiencis civilization level QI each time the
earth avoids being hit by meteors or cosmic rays Overall, im just
concerned about people peddling oblvionism with solid looking
arguments.
I’m not sure OP believes he’s immortal. It’s quite possible he
believes MW is wrong, and that its implications of immortality is a good
argument against it.
The title says a defense of QI, though.
I also can't see why someone would be so desperate for an argument that MWI implies immortality if they didn't believe in MWI.
Good point! Maybe you're right.
> I also can't see why someone would be so desperate for an argument that MWI implies immortality if they didn't believe in MWI.
Actually, I think the quantum immortality thing and related weirdness is the main reason for not believing in MWI among non-experts. It's not like most people understand the intricacies of quantum mechanics and its various interpretations. "Everything that can happen happens simultaneously" is enough to get most people to dismiss it out of hand.
Quantum Immortality lead to a pretty good Egan book, and I’ve read one or two short stories about it that have entertained me, so I’m provisionally rating it as a way better thing than Less Wrong dot Com.
But seriously, going to the internet and saying “I don’t understand the big words but they’re wrong please explain how” is a bit silly. It can be valid, I guess, but usually when you’re talking to actual experts and the paper’s written by someone a bit cranky.
Quantum Immortality is the middle of the Venn diagram of R/retconned and the lesswrong types. The obsession is really weird.
Also, from the linked paper:
We’re not quite there yet.
I always think the titles of posts in this sub are parodies, but then I click the link and more often than not it turns out to be basically the same thing. He literally is saying he’s sure he’s immortal but can’t understand big words.
You know, there is a perfect empirical test for the existence of Quantum Immortality. However, we do not seem to observe any attempted executions to take advantage of Quantum Immortality. This, perhaps, is the best circumstantial evidence to conclude that Quantum Immortality is faith posing as science, like many other aspects of the “rationalist” worldview such as the robot god at the end of time that will immanentize the eschaton.
^ this is all in jest. I don’t seriously believe that if you really believed in Quantum Immortality, you’d take that as a blank check to recklessly risk your own life. After all, most believers in a traditional heaven don’t do that either.
Aren’t the Quantum-Immortalians stepping on the turf of the brain freezing guys a bit? If I were them, I’d be afraid of getting my severed head frozen for free.
Though I guess if you’re immortal, it doesn’t really matter.
uh
I’m not sure OP believes he’s immortal. It’s quite possible he believes MW is wrong, and that its implications of immortality is a good argument against it.