Blueberry comments on The Contrarian Status Catch-22 - Less Wrong

49 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 19 December 2009 10:40PM

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Comment author: Blueberry 21 December 2009 10:26:59AM 0 points [-]

I've yet to see a clear answer on this. My understanding was that quantum events occur when a particle interacts with another particle in such a way as to yield different outcomes depending on its spin (essentially "measuring" the spin). There are exactly two possibilities and the world only splits into two.

It's not at all clear that you can arrange the possibilities into a world where a sperm whale spontaneously appears. I would love to see a correction or further explanation.

Comment author: Nick_Tarleton 22 December 2009 12:22:14AM 5 points [-]

Spin is popular for examples and experiments, but it's not fundamentally special; all physical properties are subject to QM in the same way.

Have you read the Quantum Physics Sequence?