Quantum Immortality And Parallel Universes - Alternative View

Table of contents:

Quantum Immortality And Parallel Universes - Alternative View
Quantum Immortality And Parallel Universes - Alternative View

Video: Quantum Immortality And Parallel Universes - Alternative View

Video: Quantum Immortality And Parallel Universes - Alternative View
Video: Quantum Theory reveals Parallel Universes and Quantum Immortality in alternate universes 2024, March
Anonim

What if I told you that immortality is not such a fantastic concept? And now we are not talking about some futuristic cryocapsules and other fiction, but about what can exist now, in our modern world. Well, or almost in ours. This idea is so vast that in order to explain it, it will be necessary to touch upon all the worlds known to us and even the theory of the multiverse. Intrigued? Let's start then.

Multiple worlds

To begin the path to realizing the concept of quantum immortality, you have to start from afar. Otherwise, you will not understand anything. Quantum immortality is called so because it can be explained only in the quantum world. So first, let me introduce you to him.

It's not a secret for anyone that in our observable universe there are several so-called worlds with their own objects and forms of life? No, these are not different planets, as some might think. There is a conditional classification of these worlds:

  • Megaworld - planets, star clusters, galaxies.
  • Macrocosm is where we live. Everything that we see, hear, feel at the moment.
  • Microcosm - molecules, atoms and elementary particles.

All the worlds, although connected with each other, live according to different laws. The laws of physics, which we obey every day in the macrocosm, simply do not work in the quantum world. If someone does not understand, this is the very microcosm. All particles that live there live according to their own laws, which are difficult to understand and explain in a nutshell. It is not for nothing that quantum mechanics is one of the most difficult physical disciplines. But we don't need all this. On our long journey to quantum immortality, we only need to realize a small part of all this. And I will try to explain it to you in an accessible way.

Promotional video:

Superposition principle

Are you familiar with the principle of superposition? This is when quantum particles are simultaneously in all states until they begin to be monitored. This nature of behavior is described by a wave function, which simultaneously includes all the properties that a particle can have.

In simple terms, a quantum particle is rotated in all directions at once until scientists look at it. At this moment, she assumes one position and begins to behave quite naturally, moving in one direction. If we look at it again, the direction can change again and now it will move in the other direction. From this we can conclude that the particle is simultaneously in all positions, in superposition, until it is influenced from outside. In our case, this is an observation. Would you say that we have no influence just by watching? My answer is that it is not. Optics, through which we follow the particles, and even our gaze affect them, forcing us to choose a certain position. To explain this, you need to delve into physics and load you with a ton of complex concepts. But we are not here for that, so just take it on faith, but rather search the Internet to make sure.

Now you have learned a little how all this happens in the quantum world, and, perhaps, you have even begun to guess about something, but do not rush to conclusions, now you need to transfer this situation to the macrocosm familiar to us in order to thoroughly understand how it is works.

Schrödinger's cat experiment

You should have at least heard about this. I must say right away that this is just a thought experiment, and not a single cat was hurt during it.

Image
Image

The essence of this experience is as follows. The cat is locked in a steel box with a lethal device, inside which is a Geiger counter with a small amount of radioactive material. This substance is so small that only one atom will decay in an hour, or it may not decay at all. The odds are 50/50. If the atom does not disintegrate, the cat will remain alive and everyone will be happy. But, if decay nevertheless occurs, the reading mechanism of the counter flutters, pulling a special relay tied to a hammer, which in turn will go down, breaking the flask with hydrocyanic acid, and the cat, of course, will die.

So this experiment, left on for an hour, can either kill the cat or not. For this entire hour, we won't know if he is alive or dead until we look into the box. So the chances of survival for a cat are 50 to 50, we can safely say that the cat in this box is equally conscious and is in eternal sleep at every time interval. Therefore, we can say that at the moment he is both alive and dead at the same time, that is, he is in superposition. Looking into the box, we will force the cat to take some one state: life or death.

"But how can this be?" - you ask. How can you be both alive and dead at the same time? The multiverse theory will answer this question.

The theory of the existence of the multiverse

Books, movies, comics constantly tell us about the possibility of multiple universes. Just imagine that our universe is not the only one, and somewhere there is a parallel world in which alternative versions of ourselves live. Where there are the same you and the same me, perhaps, writing the same article now.

Image
Image

The same is possible for that same cat. In one universe he is now alive, in another he is already dead. Sitting in this box, he seems to be at the junction of two worlds, and in which of them he will be, it will become clear only by opening the box. Having looked at this cat, we fix one of its states in our universe. By opening the box, we complete the experiment and leave the cat in our universe in the state in which we found it. But what if you look at this experiment from the inside from the point of view of the cat itself? This is where things get much more interesting. Now we finally come to the main topic of this article. Are you ready to find out something so incredible that it will just turn your mind?

Quantum immortality

Imagine that instead of a cat, you are in this box. The experiment is underway, and you are sitting next to a dangerous acid, the fumes of which can kill you at any moment. You do not know if this will happen for sure, but at the same time you are afraid and wait for death every second. What if I told you that you are in vain afraid? That you simply cannot die while the experiment continues. Remember the principle of superposition? At a given time in your particular universe, you are both alive and dead at the same time to everyone around you. Therefore, you cannot be 100% dead while participating in the experiment. At least in this universe. If you find yourself dead, the experiment simply will not make sense, since you will not be returned back. Therefore, to continue participating in it, you must be alive. And as we know, the experiment will end only whenwhen someone opens the box. So while you're inside and no one is looking at you, you can even shoot yourself in the head with a pistol, and you still can't die. Of course, it's not worth checking this, because in real conditions you will most likely die. But in the conditions of our thought experiment, you cannot decide your own destiny. Your life or death will be determined by the observer only at the moment when he looks at you and fixes your state in his universe. Until the moment the experiment is going on, you will not die. Otherwise, there will be no superposition, and the theory will contradict itself. But in the conditions of our thought experiment, you cannot decide your own destiny. Your life or death will be determined by the observer only at the moment when he looks at you and fixes your state in his universe. Until the moment the experiment is going on, you will not die. Otherwise, there will be no superposition, and the theory will contradict itself. But in the conditions of our thought experiment, you cannot decide your own destiny. Your life or death will be determined by the observer only at the moment when he looks at you and fixes your state in his universe. Until the moment the experiment is going on, you will not die. Otherwise, there will be no superposition, and the theory will contradict itself.

If you now think that it was difficult to understand all of the above, then try to digest all this, accept and calm down, because what I want to tell you at the end, what we have been trying to get up to throughout the article, is not easy will turn your mind, and change the whole concept of life you understand.

So, it would seem, what does immortality have to do with it? After all, in the end, you can still die with a 50% probability. Such chances for oneself as for an immortal. But the theory of quantum immortality is that, in principle, you will never die. Because if in your universe you were dead when the observer opened the box, then in another you will certainly survive. The theory says that if you died in your universe before the end of the experiment, then you move to another, alternative reality in order to continue to participate in the experiment, because the experiment, as we all remember, cannot end before the moment when someone or open the box. You are in a superposition in two states at the same time and do not obey the laws of physics that exist in our world. You,your body and consciousness are now not in our world or in any other. And, if your body dies in a box, before the end of the experiment, the universe will have to refute its own laws, break the space-time continuum, and of course it cannot do this.

Then what should she do and how to be? Your universe simply will have no choice but to leave your body dead here, and just spit your consciousness out of itself, thereby creating a parallel reality, placing you in the same body, in the same conditions where you will be alive, in order to continue the experiment and prevent the universe from destroying itself. Thus, if in the new universe you die before the end of the experience, she will do the same, creating another one for you. Alternate universes will be created over and over again, and you will move through them until the experiment ends, and you will not see the contented face of an observer who is glad that you are alive. Because it simply cannot be otherwise. If you die in 59 minutes 59 seconds,you will go to a new universe And in 60 minutes exactly the experiment will end and there will be no threat to your life anymore, as you rush to leave the box, fearing death, and never knowing how many worlds you have just visited.

Somewhere there you will no longer be, events in this world will develop differently, they will happen without you. But you will never know this, because the experiment is still underway, you are still alive, and not a single force in the world, not even the universe itself, can kill you until the experience ends.

Remember that this is all just theory, and this experience is also mental. But you must admit, now you will have something to think about at your leisure. This means that my experiment with writing this article was not in vain.

Recommended: