Apr 15, 2025 02:56 PM
David Deutsch: "There is only one interpretation of quantum mechanics"
https://iai.tv/articles/david-deutsch-th..._auid=2020
INTRO: The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realised in different worlds. These many worlds have proved extremely contentious, with critics arguing that they are mere fantasy. In this IAI interview, David Deutsch explains the philosophy behind the many-worlds interpretation and argues that not only is it the best interpretation of quantum mechanics – it is the only interpretation.
Charlie Barnett: You said during a previous interview on the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics that “to do proper science, you have to be a realist.” Could you outline what you mean by this specifically?
Professor David Deutsch: Traditionally, science was just straightforwardly understood – and I think this is the only reasonable thing to do – as being a project of understanding the world. Understanding what there is and how it behaves. And, crucially, what there is that's not visible, not perceptible, but still affects the things that are visible and perceptible.
But in the twentieth century, for various bad philosophical reasons, people started to question that. And they tried to champion ideas like “the world doesn't really exist” – I mean the physical world. Or that if it does exist, we can't have any knowledge of it, or that we are only playing with words, or that there isn't a difference between a truer theory and a less true theory, and so on. And those are all dead ends.
They are all really promoting an agenda of not understanding the world. Not of understanding it better by realising that we're only talking about words and that kind of thing, but an agenda of not understanding anything, which isn't worth having... (MORE - details)
RELATED: Taming the multiverse - originally published in 2001 at New Scientist, interview by Marcus Chown
https://iai.tv/articles/david-deutsch-th..._auid=2020
INTRO: The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realised in different worlds. These many worlds have proved extremely contentious, with critics arguing that they are mere fantasy. In this IAI interview, David Deutsch explains the philosophy behind the many-worlds interpretation and argues that not only is it the best interpretation of quantum mechanics – it is the only interpretation.
Charlie Barnett: You said during a previous interview on the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics that “to do proper science, you have to be a realist.” Could you outline what you mean by this specifically?
Professor David Deutsch: Traditionally, science was just straightforwardly understood – and I think this is the only reasonable thing to do – as being a project of understanding the world. Understanding what there is and how it behaves. And, crucially, what there is that's not visible, not perceptible, but still affects the things that are visible and perceptible.
But in the twentieth century, for various bad philosophical reasons, people started to question that. And they tried to champion ideas like “the world doesn't really exist” – I mean the physical world. Or that if it does exist, we can't have any knowledge of it, or that we are only playing with words, or that there isn't a difference between a truer theory and a less true theory, and so on. And those are all dead ends.
They are all really promoting an agenda of not understanding the world. Not of understanding it better by realising that we're only talking about words and that kind of thing, but an agenda of not understanding anything, which isn't worth having... (MORE - details)
RELATED: Taming the multiverse - originally published in 2001 at New Scientist, interview by Marcus Chown