Quantum magick - the infinity paradox19:58 Dec 14 2018
Times Read: 245
Quantum theory is where theoretical physicist meets chaos magician (or at least that's what the chaote thinks - the physicist isn't taking that meeting).
The crux is the "many worlds theory," which is an outgrowth of the quantum uncertainty principle: the position of any particle is "unresolved" until it's observed...thus until that point, the position is, in essence, anywhere and everywhere. String theory takes this a step further and posits that a separate universe exists for each of those particle positions - and that when an observer resolves it, s/he is in effect choosing a universe in which to reside.
Our chaote friend scales this up to the macro level, and deems it a power source. An enchantment for you to get the girl, or win the lotto, or grow a horn isn't so much a re-weaving of reality, it's more of a shift into that pre-existing universe where you've already gotten the girl, already won the lotto, already have a horn.
The macro version of the particle-position scenario is that every decision, every change, every new state of being spins off an alternate universe. You turned right instead of left earlier today? Great. You spun off a new universe where you turned left instead of right.
The implication is there is an unimaginably huge number of universes, all existing in gradually veering parallel dimensions, within some kind of undefined (maybe undefinable?) multiverse.
How many universes? Well, the impulse is to call it "infinite," and in most of the literature that's exactly what they do. It seems apt - there are diverging alternate universes for every decision I've ever made. And the same for all of your decisions, and for everyone who has ever lived or will ever live.
And more - because, remember, this theory applies all the way down to the quantum level. So, again, there are separate universes for every possible position of every subatomic particle that has ever existed, since time first began within some "mother universe." So what could you call that number of universes, if not infinite?
But here's the paradox. If we designate the number of universes as infinite as of...NOW...then about an n-sec after I typed NOW, a quark somewhere changed its position and reappeared somewhere else. Presumably, at least one new universe was spawned, to define at least one of that quark's alternative possibilities.
So how many universes have we now? Infinity plus one? And counting? That can't be right....
The answer to the paradox, of course, is that "infinity," in this case, is just intellectual laziness. The number is huge, growing larger all the time, but it's finite. And it always will be finite.
What remains is a theory built on laziness, the wobbliest of legs, that wants to fall over with the slightest nudge. It's a fancier-than-necessary explanation for a conundrum - the uncertainty principle - that creates far more problems than it solves.
The manner in which a particle changes position is affected by observation. Yes. I can accept that. I can even accept that I don't understand why it's so.
But saying that this inevitably implies that I spawned a new universe this morning when I chose coffee instead of tea? Nah. That's a bridge too far.
Fellow chaotes, I think we have to accept the fact that theoretical physicists spew this bullshit just to make the math work. Not even they really believe it. Neither should we.
My magick works because I will it to be so. That's all. That's all I need, right here in this single lonely universe. Hopefully that works for you too?
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