each observer takes some note of the trailing digits of collected data…

doesn’t matter what those digits are, but we know they are different to each observer…

we then use these trailing digits to formulate a date and time and show up to our favorite restaurant at that date and time…

now we have split the universe for more than just a few moments, for all our other observers are eating at different times, at different tables, and having different meals… further creating a butterfly effect on the macro scale on all the other people the observer encounters…

quantum physics can become contagious it seems…

And it’s not so much that they’re multiple universes, but that there are multiple, approximately classical, approximately non-interacting “worlds” of the infinite-dimensional Hilbert space.

I personally think that “multiple universes” is just bad use of language, as “universe” means all that exists. So you can’t, by definition, have multiple universes. It’s just that different components of the wavefunction of the universe can’t interact with one another to any significant degree. These different components are viewed by observers within them as worlds unto themselves, because they can’t see what else is out there.

ok, still, so i can envision the dividing observers… but what comes after?
do they un-divide at some point or splinter off infinitum?

If there are multiple observers there must be multiple universes to go along with them, right?

i think the information loss aspect allows for the infinite splitting to go on without having to consider it… if it happens, it happens in a way that we can’t see and therefore doesn’t matter… ok…

but if it’s supposed to only be a limited experience then there are issues… like, what to do with all these “you’s” that just saw different things but are supposed to react the same…

The many worlds theory only comes into play when an observation is made of a quantum state? Ok, that is a relief of sorts…

That would mean only quantum physicists could be affected by this.

Haha, well, it’s not quite that simple. Basically it’s just difficult to understand quite what the quantum mechanical effects on macroscopic, highly complex systems like our own bodies are. I mean, we understand quite well what the classical limit is, but we don’t really understand how this all translates back to quantum mechanics, so it’s not really worth worrying about (unless, of course, you’re interested in discovering those details).

What’s basically happening with the many observers is that they’re continually dividing, each one only seeing one of the possible outcomes. Recovering some sort of symmetry would be effectively the same as a reducing entropy. We see the effect as, in essence, a loss of information to the environment. These other worlds are inaccessible to us. Basically, portions of the wavefunction of the universe which we can now interact with will become inaccessible to us later through decoherence: the information content of those portions of the wavefunction are effectively lost to us.

The many worlds theory only comes into play when an observation is made of a quantum state? Ok, that is a relief of sorts…

That would mean only quantum physicists could be affected by this.

Does the multi-verse re-enter a symmetry with the rest of us after the observation, or are we all experiencing a butterfly effect from the various different observations made by these quantum observers?

But i would also like to have the issue of sperm addressed… as in, if every sperm reaches the destination, then the many worlds are of every potential variation of every potential life that ever could have transpired?

It doesn’t necessarily mean this. There is no reason to suspect that macroscopic probabilities due to ignorance of all of the relevant variables are the same thing as superpositions of quantum states. That is to say, sperm are quite large enough that they’re largely classical objects. So there is no reason to suspect that every one makes it in a different one of the many worlds.

The proliferation of worlds within quantum mechanics means that every possible outcome occurs, but this doesn’t mean that every imaginable outcome occurs. And it further doesn’t mean that every outcome which, given our limited information, we think might occur will do so. Many outcomes that we think might occur may, given fuller information, prove to be impossible.

As for the amount of information, well, the Hilbert space that describes quantum mechanics is an infinite-dimensional space. There is no limit to the amount of information.

But i would also like to have the issue of sperm addressed… as in, if every sperm reaches the destination, then the many worlds are of every potential variation of every potential life that ever could have transpired?

It isn

@ Jason Dick: that’s definitely a good point. Thanks for this discussion