mlionson

I think I see where we are disagreeing.

Consider a quantum computer. If the laws of physics say that only our lack of knowledge limits the amount of complexity in a superposition, and the logic of quantum computation suggests that greater complexity of superposition leads to exponentially increased computational capacity for certain types of computation, then it will be quite possible to have a quantum computer sit on a desktop and make more calculations per second than there are atoms in the universe. My quote above from David Deutsch makes that point. Only the limitations of our current knowledge prevent that.

When we have larger quantum computers, children will... (read more)

“To really make progress here, what we need is a thought-experiment in which a macroscopic superposition is made to yield information about more than one branch, as the counterfactualist rhetoric claims. Unfortunately, your needle-in-the-arm experiment is not there yet, because we haven't gone into the exact details of how it's supposed to work. You can't just say, 'If we did a quantum experiment where we could produce data about glucose levels in someone's bloodstream, without the needle having gone into their arm, why, that would prove that the multiverse is real!' Even just as a hypothetical, that's not enough. You need to explain how the decoherence shielding works and what the quantum... (read 475 more words →)

“By modulating the boundary conditions we are exploring logical possibilities, and that is how we probe counterfactual realities (in the transactional interpretation)”

But note then that these “logical possibilities” must render a complete map of the blood and all its atomic and subatomic components and oxygen concentration, because without these components and a heart beating properly to oxygenate the blood, the measurement of the blood sugar would be wrong. But without an atmosphere and a universe that allows an atmosphere to have appropriate oxygen content and lungs to breath in the oxygen, the blood sugar measurement would also be wrong.

But it is not wrong.

So this “logical possibility’ (blood sugar measurement with... (read more)

"What makes this theory a good one is that people have eaten turkeys for Thanksgiving in the past and induction tells us they are likely to do so in the future (absent other data that suggests otherwise like a rise in Veganism or something)."

I do appreciate your honesty in making this assumption. Usually inductivists are less candid (but believe exactly as you do, secretly. We call them crypto-inductivists!)

But there is no law of physics, psychology, economics, or philosophy that says that the future must resemble the past. There also is no law of mathematics or logic that says that when a sequence of 100 zeroes in a row are observed, the... (read more)

And if no law of physics precludes something from being done, then only our lack of knowledge prevents it from being done.

So if there are no laws of physics that preclude developing bomb testing and sugar measuring devices, our arguments against this have nothing to do with the laws of physics, but instead have to do with other parameters, like lack of knowledge or cost. So if the laws of physics do not preclude things form happening, we might as well assume that they can happen, in order to learn from the physics of these possible situations.

So for the purposes of understanding what our physics says can happen,... (read more)

"And if the event happens even more when you expect it to then

it is even more evidence for the theory, "

I am not sure you agreed with this based on your response but I will assume that you did. But correct me if I am wrong!

If you did agree, then consider the Bayesian turkey. Every time he gets fed in November, he concludes that his owner really wants what's best for him and likes him, because he enjoys eating and keeps getting food. Every day more food is provided, exactly as he expects given his theory, so he uses Bayesian statistical inference to increase the confidence he has in his theory... (read more)

"True, but many will say it is impossible for all practical purposes."

So the truth of the science is determined by the costs of doing the experiment? By the way, experimentalists are getting far better at creating larger and larger superpositions in making quantum computers, and quantum unitary evolution of the state vector has never been shown to be violated. There is never a time when what could have happened can not effect what does happen.

"The situation resolves into either: 1. The measuring apparatus pierces the skin, has a bloody needle, and reports the result. 2. The measuring apparatus does not pierce the skin, does not have a bloody needle, and does... (read more)