this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2025
85 points (89.0% liked)

Ask Science

12242 readers
119 users here now

Ask a science question, get a science answer.


Community Rules


Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.


Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.


Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.


Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.


Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.


Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.


Rule 7: Report violations.Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.


Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.


Rule 9: Source required for answers.Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.


By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.

We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I guess I've always been confused by the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Physics and the fact that it's taken seriously. Like is there any proof at all that universes outside of our own exist?

I admit that I might be dumb, but, how does one look at atoms and say "My God! There must be many worlds than just our one?"

I just never understood how Many Worlds Interpretation was valid, with my, admittedly limited understanding, it just seemed to be a wild guess no more strange than a lot things we consider too outlandish to humor.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (11 children)

Two points:

  • The MWI/Everett interpetation is the simplest interpretation of quantum mechanics—other interpretations have to add additional assumptions to prevent it from happening.

  • The most common version of the MWI is actually an interpretation of an interpretation (i.e., Bryce deWitt’s reinterpretation of Hugh Everett's 1957 thesis), but many of those who subscribe to deWitt’s interpretation (including deWitt himself) don’t seem to grasp how it differs from Everett’s. Everett’s thesis makes no explicit reference to multiple worlds—just a single wave function that can be measured in different bases to produce multiple versions of each observer, each of which perceives a different version of the universe. For Everett, the wave function was ontologically prior to the material world, so his universal wave function was a complete explanation as-is. But for deWitt (and for most people), the material world is ontologically prior, while the wave function is just a tool for describing its behavior. So by their reasoning, those multiple perceived worlds must all really exist as parts of the wave function in some sense.

[–] Wigners_friend@piefed.social -2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If we sufficiently torture the word "simplest".

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago

Or, you know, use it accurately.

load more comments (9 replies)