Category Archives: Philosophical

Q: Is it possible to create an “almanac” of human behavior that predicts everything a person will do?

The original question was: “Furthermore, you say, science will teach men (although in my opinion a superfluity) that they have not, in fact, and never have had, either will or fancy, and are no more than a sort of piano … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Biology, Entropy/Information, Machine Learning & A.I., Paranoia, Philosophical | 10 Comments

Q: Is π the same in every universe?

Mathematician: That depends on what you mean by “universe.”  Here’s a framing: A circle of radius R centered at a point P is the set of all points in the plane with distance R from P.  The diameter D of … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Mathematician, -- By the Physicist, Geometry, Math, Philosophical | 27 Comments

Q: If the universe gets split in the Many Worlds Interpretation, then why aren’t all probabilities 50/50? Does stuff get spread thinner and thinner with each split?

The original question from “A” was: I’m reading Sean Carroll’s book Something Deeply Hidden, which is entirely about Many Worlds, and I’m following along for the most part, but there’s something I still don’t understand. […] Carroll considers an example … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Paranoia, Philosophical, Physics, Quantum Theory, Skepticism | 12 Comments

Q: How likely is it that there’s dark matter in me right now?

Physicist: Probably very likely!  Probably! When we look out into the universe we find that on galactic scales and up that most of the mass in the universe is “dark”.  Based on how galaxies form, move, collide, and bend light … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy, Paranoia, Particle Physics, Physics, Probability | 8 Comments

Q: What if the particles in the double slit experiment were conscious? Could you ask them which slit they went through afterwards?

The original question was: I find the double slit experiment super interesting and have lots of questions about it. But here’s one. What if the particles you send through the slits are conscious? You send them through without measuring anything, … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Paranoia, Philosophical, Physics, Quantum Theory | 17 Comments

A Quantum Computation Course

Physicist: I’ve been a little busy to post much here for a while, but you may be interested in what I’m working on, so here it is.  I’m teaching an introductory course on quantum information and computation, and the primary … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Computer Science, Entropy/Information, Experiments, Math, Philosophical, Physics, Probability, Quantum Theory | 9 Comments