By these standards, the ontological commitments of the multiverse or the many-worlds interpretation are actually quite thin. This is most clear with the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which says that the world is described by a state in a Hilbert space evolving according to the Schrodinger equation and that’s it. It’s simpler than versions of QM that add a completely separate evolution law to account for “collapse” of the wave function. That doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong; but it doesn’t lose points because there are a lot of universes. We don’t count universes, we count elements of the theory, and this one has a quantum state and a Hamiltonian. A tiny number!
I agree with all that (except for “and that’s it” part for MWI, given that the Born rule is still a separate assumption).
Counting worlds or universes towards complexity of a quantum theory is as silly as counting species towards complexity of the theory of evolution.
Another quote:
I agree with all that (except for “and that’s it” part for MWI, given that the Born rule is still a separate assumption).
Counting worlds or universes towards complexity of a quantum theory is as silly as counting species towards complexity of the theory of evolution.