I mean, like, every time something happens, like election results, coups in other countries, dictator gets overthrown by rebels, some corporate ceo getting shot, etc…, I say “hmm, what an interesting timeline I’m on” like half joking as a reference to time travel Movies/TV, but its also kinda half serious.
I mean like, I think about the Cold War and the two famous nuclear close-calls (Cuban Missile Crisis with Vasily Arkhipov, and the Radar False Alarm incident with Stannislav Petrov) amongst many other less-known nuclear close-calls, and I just think, there’s no way we should’ve survived those, like if each incident was a 50%/50% of ending in a nuclear war, then amonst that many close-calls, like 9 out of 10 timelines would’ve been the end of the world. Like it doesn’t really make sense for the world be a non-many worlds type with many different possibilities, cuz we’d be dead from nuking ourselves.
So we just got lucky with ending up on the 1 in every 10 timelines where the world didn’t end. And it seems like out luck has ran out since… I mean look at how the world is dealing with climate change, no country seem to care much, USA just elected a climate change denial party.
So I mean, don’t y’all think this “different timelines” thing make sense?
(Basically what I’m asking is, Many-Worlds Theory? Do you believe that, Yes or No?)
(Sorry if this makes no sense, IDK how to express thoughts properly 😅)
Does it make sense? Yes Do I believe it? Yesn’t
It’s not testable so it just doesn’t matter to me and I don’t really care to make a choice about it being physical or not, I still experience the universe the same way regardless of how you interpret QM.
Albert Einstein once said “insanity is repeating the same thing and expecting different results”.
The “many universes” idea in this context depends on the idea that one cause can branch out into multiple effects. This is impossible.
If you’re referring to the “many-worlds” interpretation of quantum mechanics, I think DeWitt just made a mess of Everett’s original, much stronger “relative-state” formulation. But in either case, the apparent branching is caused by quantum events, while the alternate timelines we imagine as possible outcomes of prior decisions are more often due to our inability to perceive all the (non-quantum) conditions that led to those outcomes not happening.
Only when someone else (usually online) talks about that concept, not otherwise.
I think of it in terms of what if something different had happened.
What if Gore had won (or at least disputed Florida)? What if the US had provided policy support to the ex-USSR in the 1990s?
