Re: Subjective measure? How does that work?

From: Wei Dai <weidai.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 03:09:08 -0500

On Sat, Jan 24, 2004 at 11:49:09PM -0500, Jesse Mazer wrote:
> But measures aren't just about making decisions about what to *do*, the main
> argument for a single objective measure is that such a measure could make
> predictions about what we *see*, like why we see regular laws of physics and
> never see any "white rabbits". Although Bob can decide that only universes
> where gravity is repulsive matter to him in terms of his decision-making (so
> that he'd be happy to bet his life's savings that a dropped ball would fall
> up), he'll have to agree with Alice on what is actually observed to happen
> when a particular ball is dropped.

Well, when the ball is dropped, in one universe it falls down, and Bob has
to agree with Alice, and in another universe it up, and Alice has to agree
with Bob. Alice thinks the second universe is less important than the
first, but Bob thinks it's more important. How do you break this symmetry?

> Without an objective measure, I don't
> think there's any way to explain why we consistently see outcomes that obey
> the known laws of physics (like why we always see dropped balls fall towards
> the earth).

What good are the explanations provided by an objective measure, if I
choose to use a different subjective measure for making decisions? How do
these explanations help me in any way?
Received on Sun Jan 25 2004 - 03:11:58 PST