Oct 2, 2015 06:11 PM
http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.in/2015...zmann.html
EXCERPT: I find the Boltzmann Brain skeptical scenario interesting. I've discussed it in past posts, as well as in this paper, which I'll be presenting in Chapel Hill on Saturday.
A Boltzmann Brain, or "freak observer" is a hypothetical self-aware entity that arises from a low-likelihood fluctuation in a disorganized system. Suddenly, from a chaos of gasses, say, 10^27 atoms just happen to converge in exactly the right way to form a human brain thinking to itself, "I wonder if I'm a Boltzmann Brain". Extremely unlikely. But, on many physical theories, not entirely impossible. Given infinite time, perhaps inevitable! Some cosmological theories seem to imply that Boltzmann Brains vastly outnumber ordinary observers.
This invites the question, might I be a Boltzmann brain?
The idea started getting attention in the physics community in the late 2000s. One early response, which seems to me superficially appealing but not to withstand scrutiny, is what I'll call the Still Here response. Here's how J. Richard Gott III put it in 2008:
There's also a version of the Still Here response in Max Tegmark's influential 2014 book:
In other words, if you're still reading this, you're not a Boltzmann brain (p. 307-308)
I see two problems with the Still Here response....
http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.in/2015...zmann.html
EXCERPT: I find the Boltzmann Brain skeptical scenario interesting. I've discussed it in past posts, as well as in this paper, which I'll be presenting in Chapel Hill on Saturday.
A Boltzmann Brain, or "freak observer" is a hypothetical self-aware entity that arises from a low-likelihood fluctuation in a disorganized system. Suddenly, from a chaos of gasses, say, 10^27 atoms just happen to converge in exactly the right way to form a human brain thinking to itself, "I wonder if I'm a Boltzmann Brain". Extremely unlikely. But, on many physical theories, not entirely impossible. Given infinite time, perhaps inevitable! Some cosmological theories seem to imply that Boltzmann Brains vastly outnumber ordinary observers.
This invites the question, might I be a Boltzmann brain?
The idea started getting attention in the physics community in the late 2000s. One early response, which seems to me superficially appealing but not to withstand scrutiny, is what I'll call the Still Here response. Here's how J. Richard Gott III put it in 2008:
Quote:How do I know that I am an ordinary observer, rather than just a BB [Boltzmann Brain] with the same experiences up to now? Here is how: I will wait 10 seconds and see if I am still here. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ... Yes I am still here. If I were a random BB with all the perceptions I had had up to the point where I said "I will wait 10 seconds and see if I am still here," which the Copernican Principle would require -- as I should not be special among those BB's -- then I would not be answering that next question or lasting those 10 extra seconds.
There's also a version of the Still Here response in Max Tegmark's influential 2014 book:
Quote:Before you get too worried about the ontological status of your body, here's a simple test you can do to determine whether you're a Boltzmann brain. Pause. Introspect. Examine your memories. In the Boltzmann-brain scenario, it's indeed more likely that any particular memories that you have are false rather than real. However, for every set of false memories that could pass as having been real, very similar sets of memories with a few random crazy bits tossed in (say, you remembering Beethoven's Fifth Symphony sounding like pure static) are vastly more likely, because there are vastly more disembodied brains with such memories. This is because there are vastly more ways of getting things almost right than of getting them exactly right. Which means that if you really are a Boltzmann brain who at first thinks you're not, then when you start jogging your memory, you should discover more and more utter absurdities. And after that you'll feel your reality dissolving, as your constituent particles drift back into the cold and almost empty space from which they came.
In other words, if you're still reading this, you're not a Boltzmann brain (p. 307-308)
I see two problems with the Still Here response....
http://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.in/2015...zmann.html