Sean Carroll

So again, I don't think that Everettian attitude towards quantum mechanics says much or is much informed by the success or workings of quantum computers. Nanu says, I recently had the pleasure to read your paper, Reality as a Vector in Hilbert Space, and truly enjoyed it. I read it over and over again.

I was wondering what was going through your head when you realized that reality is a vector in Hilbert space. You know, I don't – I feel bad sometimes because people ask me questions just like we had the question just a second ago about like what philosopher or what idea helps you through this.

I was wondering what was going through your head when you realized that reality is a vector in Hilbert space. You know, I don't – I feel bad sometimes because people ask me questions just like we had the question just a second ago about like what philosopher or what idea helps you through this.

I think I just think differently than other people do maybe or at least I think differently than other people want me to think. Because there seems to be this feeling like that there should be epiphanies and moments. You go like, this is the moment I realized something. Or I read this book and this book helped me realize something.

I think I just think differently than other people do maybe or at least I think differently than other people want me to think. Because there seems to be this feeling like that there should be epiphanies and moments. You go like, this is the moment I realized something. Or I read this book and this book helped me realize something.

Or this person is very brilliant and I would, you know, here's the list of people I would like to talk to who are dead. But I really like to talk to them because they're brilliant people. I just don't think that way, honestly. Like it's much more gradual and process-oriented in my head. There was not a moment when I realized that reality is a vector in Hilbert space. It kind of creeps up on you.

Or this person is very brilliant and I would, you know, here's the list of people I would like to talk to who are dead. But I really like to talk to them because they're brilliant people. I just don't think that way, honestly. Like it's much more gradual and process-oriented in my head. There was not a moment when I realized that reality is a vector in Hilbert space. It kind of creeps up on you.

You think about quantum mechanics and you try to understand quantum mechanics. And then you think about interpretations of quantum mechanics and you decide that the Everett interpretation is a good one. And you realize that the Everett interpretation is really not about many worlds. It's about just the wave function, the vector in Hilbert space always obeying the Schrodinger equation.

You think about quantum mechanics and you try to understand quantum mechanics. And then you think about interpretations of quantum mechanics and you decide that the Everett interpretation is a good one. And you realize that the Everett interpretation is really not about many worlds. It's about just the wave function, the vector in Hilbert space always obeying the Schrodinger equation.

And then you say, well, okay, what are the data that define a quantum mechanical theory? Like what do you have to put into it? And you ask people and they tell you, oh, we have to give an algebra of observables and all these things. But then you think about it and you realize, no, you really don't.

And then you say, well, okay, what are the data that define a quantum mechanical theory? Like what do you have to put into it? And you ask people and they tell you, oh, we have to give an algebra of observables and all these things. But then you think about it and you realize, no, you really don't.

It might be convenient and it might be important if you are devoted to some notion of locality in your theory. So in quantum field theory, we often care about algebras of observables and things like that. Local observables is usually implicitly taken for granted there.

It might be convenient and it might be important if you are devoted to some notion of locality in your theory. So in quantum field theory, we often care about algebras of observables and things like that. Local observables is usually implicitly taken for granted there.

But really, you understand that the quantum theory simply is a theory of a vector in Hilbert space obeying the Schrodinger equation. You come to that understanding gradually. So nothing was going through my head in that moment because that moment didn't exist. Many, many things went through my head along the way to it.

But really, you understand that the quantum theory simply is a theory of a vector in Hilbert space obeying the Schrodinger equation. You come to that understanding gradually. So nothing was going through my head in that moment because that moment didn't exist. Many, many things went through my head along the way to it.

And I hope that things keep going through my head and I come to new understandings. And it's going to be a very, I don't want to say scattershot process, but there's always a process. It's a give and take. You go back and forth. Things become clear, less clear, et cetera. And that's how life goes, at least for me. Colin Johnson says, You know, um...

And I hope that things keep going through my head and I come to new understandings. And it's going to be a very, I don't want to say scattershot process, but there's always a process. It's a give and take. You go back and forth. Things become clear, less clear, et cetera. And that's how life goes, at least for me. Colin Johnson says, You know, um...

I hope you don't mind if I say that this is an absolutely impossible question to answer. Like, there's no such thing as the measure on how much of baseline reality we currently perceive. Let's put it this way. When I look at this table in front of me, this poor table is going to get overused as an example, but I could tell you facts about the table.

I hope you don't mind if I say that this is an absolutely impossible question to answer. Like, there's no such thing as the measure on how much of baseline reality we currently perceive. Let's put it this way. When I look at this table in front of me, this poor table is going to get overused as an example, but I could tell you facts about the table.

I could tell you its approximate size, its color, its shape, and things like that. But there's, who knows, 10 to the 26 atoms in this table. And I'm not telling you nearly that much information. So on a scale of 1 to 10 of how much I'm perceiving of baseline reality, I'm kind of perceiving 1 plus epsilon, where epsilon is 10 to the minus 26, or something like that. I'm not seeing neutrinos.