Will_Newsome comments on Stupid Questions Open Thread - Less Wrong Discussion
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Well, hmmm. I wonder if this qualifies as "stupid".
Could someone help me summarize the evidence for MWI in the quantum physics sequence? I tried once, and only came up with 1) the fact that collapse postulates are "not nice" (i.e., nonlinear, nonlocal, and so on) and 2) the fact of decoherence. However, the following quote from Many Worlds, One Best Guess (emphasis added):
Is there other evidence as well, then? 1) seems depressingly weak, and as for 2)...
As was mentioned in Decoherence is Falsifiable and Testable, and brought up in the comments, the existence of so-called "microscopic decoherence" (which we have evidence for) is independent from so-called "macroscopic decoherence" (which -- as far as I know, and I would like to be wrong about this -- we do not have empirical evidence for). Macroscopic decoherence seems to imply MWI, but the evidence given in the decoherence subsequence deals only with microscopic decoherence.
I would rather not have this devolve into a debate on MWI and friends -- EY above to the contrary, I don't think we can classify that question as a "stupid" one. I'm focused entirely in EY's argument for MWI and possible improvements that can be made to it.
(There are two different argument sets here: 1) against random collapse, and 2) for MWI specifically. It's important to keep these distinct.)
Unless I'm missing something, EY argues that evidence against random collapse is evidence for MWI. See that long analogy on Maxwell's equations with angels mediating the electromagnetic force.
It's also evidence for a bunch of other interpretations though, right? I meant "for MWI specifically"; I'll edit my comment to be clearer.
I agree, which is one of the reasons why I feel 1) alone isn't enough to substantiate "There is no rational controversy to teach" and etc.