Hal Finney wrote :
>It seems that there are two ways to increase the measure of copies
>and near-copies of yourself which have favorable experiences.
>
>One is to try to make good decisions. Some people say that in a
>many-worlds model decisions are irrelevant, since everything will happen.
>However this ignores the fact that different branches have different
>measures. Even though we know that all things will happen, by making
>good decisions we increase the fraction which have good outcomes, thereby
>increasing the measure of those instances of ourselves which are having
>favorable experiences.
I quite agree with that.
>The other method is by killing yourself when things go wrong.
>This approach is more controversial, but many people seem to have an
>instinctive understanding of its value. People often do kill themselves
>when things get sufficiently bad. By doing so they are increasing the
>fraction of their near-copies which have good experiences. They are not
>thinking in those terms, but that is the effect of their actions.
I still agree, but here it is necessary to be cautious. Suppose that my
goal is to prove Goldbach conjecture (or any unproved big mathematical
conjecture). I am not very gifted in mathematics, so I decide to proceed
in the following way. I use a big array of quantum particles, let us say
2^32 particles. Each one is prepared in a superposition like 1/sqr(2)(O +
1). Then I read (measure) each particle following the order given by the
array, and I decode the result in the computer-keyboard-base. In case I
understand what I read as a proof of Goldbach conjecture : I am done. If
not, then I kill myself with a gun (let us say).
Let us suppose now that there is no such proof. With MWI, I will survive
ANYWAY. For example I will survive because in some "worlds" the bullet
will go through by brain without affecting it thanks to the tunnel
effect. Unfortunately, in the majority of the world where I survive by
tunnel effect, my brain will be damaged because the probability of a
clean tunnel effect is little compare to a less clean tunnel effect.
In case there is a proof of G. conjecture less than 2^32 bits, then I can
expect to survive in good shape in a world with the proof ONLY IF the
probability to survive (even in bad shape) by tunnel effect is much less
than 1/2^32.
To sum up : to use succesfully the quantum suicide, you need to compare
carefully the probability of your gain with the probability to survive
annihilation.
(and of course you must realize that according to your friends your
quantum suicide is just suicide, and there are infinitely other ethical
problem).
(Note : More on this in my 1998 PhD Thesis, or in my 1988 or 1991 paper,
which I intend to put on a WEB page as soon as possible. In my thesis I
show that the MWI is directly deductible from the thesis "I am a
machine", so that empirical quantum mechanics is a confirmation of
mechanism. I show that most of the qualitative aspect of quantum
mechanics (indeterminism, mon-locality, etc.) are derivable from
arithmetic + mechanism.
Consciousness including the appearance of matter emerge from arithmetical
truth. This give a kind of "many (computationnal) histories, no
universes" interpretation of number theory.
Bruno Marchal
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Received on Tue Jan 12 1999 - 03:13:22 PST