RE: many worlds theory of immortality

From: Jonathan Colvin <jcolvin.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 23:01:41 -0700

>Jonathan Colvin writes:
>> That's putting it mildly. I was thinking that it is more
>likely that a
>> universe tunnels out of a black hole that "just randomly" happens to
>> contain your precise brain state at that moment, and for all
>of future
>> eternity. But the majority of these random universes will be
>precisely
>> that; random. In most cases you will then find that your immortal
>> experience is of a purely random universe, which is likely a
>good definition of "hell".
>
>But it's not all that unlikely that someone in the world,
>unbeknownst to you, has invented a cure; whereas for a
>universe with your exact mind in it to be created purely de
>novo is astronomically unlikely.
>
>Look at the number of atoms in your brain, 10^25 or some such,
>and imagine how many arrangments there are of those atoms that
>aren't you, compared to the relative few which are you. The
>odds against that happening by chance are beyond
>comprehension. Whereas the odds of some lucky accident saving
>you as you are about to die are more like lottery-winner long,
>like one in a billion, not astronomically long, like one in a
>googleplex.

I'd say considerably more than one in a billion for a lifespan of even a
thousand years. But we are talking *immortality* here (surviving even the
heat death of our local universe). At that point the odds must be getting
googleplexian...

>Especially if you accept that it is possible in principle for
>medicine to give us an unlimited healthy lifespan, then all
>you really need to do is to live in a universe where that
>medical technology is discovered, and then avoid accidents.
>Neither one seems all that improbable from the perspective of
>people living in our circumstances today. It's harder to see
>how a cave man could look forward to a long life span.

I thought QTI applied to *any* observer, cave men included. I suppose even a
cave man can look forward to long life if a UFO lands and gifts him the
technology for life extension.

>I should add that I don't believe in QTI, I don't believe that
>we are guaranteed to experience such outcomes. I prefer the
>observer-moment concept in which we are more likely to
>experience observer-moments where we are young and living
>within a normal lifespan than ones where we are at a very
>advanced age due to miraculous luck.

Agreed.

Jonathan Colvin
Received on Thu May 12 2005 - 02:04:00 PDT