David_Gerard comments on Boltzmann Brains and Anthropic Reference Classes (Updated) - Less Wrong

-4 Post author: pragmatist 04 June 2012 04:04AM

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Comment author: David_Gerard 04 June 2012 10:14:32AM 1 point [-]

Do you mean, they have written about Boltzmann brains, or that they actually raise concerns similar to those you raise in this post? A string of names does not actually assert the latter.

Comment author: pragmatist 04 June 2012 10:17:10AM *  2 points [-]

All of the physicists I named, except Hartle, have raised concerns about the Boltzmann brain problem threatening observational cosmology. Hartle has argued against the SSA, so he thinks Boltzmann brains aren't problematic. I probably shouldn't have included his name in the list. Still, the fact that he has published on the issue suggests that he regards it as more than just nonsense.