Re: What are the consequences of UD+ASSA?

From: Brent Meeker <meekerdb.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:11:43 -0700

Günther Greindl wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>> One thing I still don't understand, is in what sense exactly is the "Measure
>> Problem" a problem? Why isn't it good enough to say that everything exists,
>> therefore we (i.e. people living in a lawful universe) must exist, and
>> therefore we shouldn't be surprised that we exist. If the "Measure Problem"
>> is a problem, then why isn't there also an analogous "Lottery Problem" for
>> people who have won the lottery?

That's a good argument assuming some laws of physics. But as I understood it, the "measure problem" was to explain the law-like evolution of the universe as a opposed to a chaotic/random/white-rabbit universe. Is it your interpretation that, among all possible worlds, somebody has to live in law-like ones; so it might as well be us?

Brent Meeker

>
>
> thank you Wei Dei, I have expressed something similar concerning the
> Doomsday Argument which has the same reasoning flaw.
>
> You can't reason about probabilities "inside" the system and be
> surprised that you are in "location" A or B.
>
> Example:
>
> 1) If I draw from an urn with 1 Million white balls and 1 black ball, I
> should be pretty surprised if I draw the black one.
>
> 2) If I am a black ball in an urn (same distribution as above) and I
> only become conscious if I am drawn and I suddenly "wake up" to find
> myself drawn, I shouldn't be surprised at all - my being drawn was a
> condition for being a perceptive being.
>
> I think a mixing up of these two viewpoints underly much of "measure
> problem", doomsday and other arguments of the same sort.
>
> Regards,
> Günther
>
>


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Received on Sat Oct 27 2007 - 18:12:20 PDT

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