The Existential Crisis Iceberg

Youtuber Alex O'Connor summarizes The Existential Crisis Iceberg.

There is an assortment of philosophical theories that deny our existence, and make everything not what they appear to be. I have discussed examples here, such as the simulation hypothesis, many-worlds theory, and superdeterminism. There are more.

Most of these cannot really be proved true or false, but believing them requires abandoning science as we know it.

Yes, I think it is beneficial to be aware of these theories, even it is kooky to believe in them.

Many worlds offers quantum immortality. Hugh Everett believed in this, reportedly. He would die in various branches of the universal wave function, but there would always be a branch in which he lives, and his consciousness would persist in that branch, so he would be immortal.

If you really believed this nonsense, you could buy a lottery ticket, and rig a machine to kill you if you do not win the jackpot. Your consciousness will then go with the branch that wins the lottery, and you will be rich.

Many physicists say that they believe in many-worlds theory, but they sure do not act like it.

Here is David Deutsch, trying to explain away the quantum suicide paradox. He describes a scenario, where you can stay at home and risk getting killed by a meteor from outer space, or drive to the grocery store and get killed in a car crash. A normal person would say that the meteor is so unlikely as to not worry about it.

But if you believe in many-worlds, it does not make sense to compare the probabilities of the parallel worlds. Both are just as real as each other. So why not play Russian roulette, or buy that deadly lottery ticket?

He says that he solved this problem. He says you have to make decision somehow, and a rational person will make decisions as if the probabilities are meaningful, so we get the same human behavior whether we believe in many-worlds or not.

I am not persuaded. Maybe I did not understand his argument. Listen for yourself.