[ExI] Free will was: Everett worlds

[Stuart LaForge]

Quoting extropy-chat-request at lists.extropy.org:


>>> But if Schrodinger's Equation and thus the entire Multiverse is 100%
>>
>>> deterministic why involve probability at all? Because each individual
>> version
>>
>>> of me can only see a very small slice of the multiverse, until I actually
>>
>>> observe the particle in question I am lacking vital information, I have
>> no
>>
>>> way of knowing if I am in the universe that has the spin up particle or
>> the
>>
>>> one that has spin down. Probability is necessary for predicting the
>>
>>> behavior of something even if it's completely deterministic if you have
>>
>>> incomplete information about it.
>>
>>
>>
>> That is fine, but who or what is it that ensures that each possible
>>
>> quantum state is manifested completely deterministically in its own
>>
>> universe? Determinism is about cause and effect. What is breathing
>>
>> fire into the Schrodinger equation such that it can deterministically
>>
>> cause different universes to manifest to the observer?
>
>
> You could ask the same question about any physical theory. Equations
> describe reality, they don?t stand over reality with a stick to ensure that
> the law is obeyed.
>

But in other physical theories, that question has a definite answer.  
For example, in Newton's theory, it is the force of gravity. In  
Einstein's theory, it is space-time curvature. Contrast "matter tells  
space-time how to curve; curved space-time tells matter how to move."  
with "shut up and calculate!" If that isn't an example of equations  
holding a stick over you, then what is?

Stuart LaForge