An omnipotent magicker decides to flip a coin, and the coin lands heads. Afterwards, the magicker changes every particle in the universe to what it would be had the coin landed tails—including those in his own brain. Is it true that in the past, the coin landed heads, even though this event is epiphenomenal?
I realize that the magicker is violating the laws of entropy, and that in the real world there are no magickers. I also realize that for the purposes of anyone in the universe, the first coin flip doesn’t and couldn’t possibly matter, because it was epiphenomenal. But I’m still curious what the answer to my question is.
It may help to start with regular quantum mechanics/ Many Worlds. Because there, your scenario sounds like a world receiving amplitude from two different histories—actually many more, but let’s start with them—there’s the actually possible history in which the coin landed tails, and the magical one where it landed heads. Both contribute to the underlying result.
Timeless physics sounds like it takes this one step further. In this view, both pasts exist as disconnected points in a timeless space. Eliezer’s version (I think) has an implicit causal connection between the ‘present’ and the ‘tails’ past if we analyze them according to real physics, and another connection to ‘heads’ if we analyze them by magical physics.
For the purposes of the universe, the first coin flip not only doesn’t matter, it never existed. The magicker himself will claim—and show any amount of supporting evidence—that it landed tails. He will not even remember casting a spell, unless he’d have cast one in this case, too, but for a different reason (if he’d have cast anyway regardless of the toss outcome, he’d get looped, recalling himself making the toss, but not yet casting; or being confused why he recalls casting, but there is no change in the toss outcome).
Time between the toss and casting, when things were different than they are now? What perspective would that need? Looking at the universe from outside the universe?
An omnipotent magicker decides to flip a coin, and the coin lands heads. Afterwards, the magicker changes every particle in the universe to what it would be had the coin landed tails—including those in his own brain. Is it true that in the past, the coin landed heads, even though this event is epiphenomenal?
I realize that the magicker is violating the laws of entropy, and that in the real world there are no magickers. I also realize that for the purposes of anyone in the universe, the first coin flip doesn’t and couldn’t possibly matter, because it was epiphenomenal. But I’m still curious what the answer to my question is.
It may help to start with regular quantum mechanics/ Many Worlds. Because there, your scenario sounds like a world receiving amplitude from two different histories—actually many more, but let’s start with them—there’s the actually possible history in which the coin landed tails, and the magical one where it landed heads. Both contribute to the underlying result.
Timeless physics sounds like it takes this one step further. In this view, both pasts exist as disconnected points in a timeless space. Eliezer’s version (I think) has an implicit causal connection between the ‘present’ and the ‘tails’ past if we analyze them according to real physics, and another connection to ‘heads’ if we analyze them by magical physics.
For the purposes of the universe, the first coin flip not only doesn’t matter, it never existed. The magicker himself will claim—and show any amount of supporting evidence—that it landed tails. He will not even remember casting a spell, unless he’d have cast one in this case, too, but for a different reason (if he’d have cast anyway regardless of the toss outcome, he’d get looped, recalling himself making the toss, but not yet casting; or being confused why he recalls casting, but there is no change in the toss outcome).
Time between the toss and casting, when things were different than they are now? What perspective would that need? Looking at the universe from outside the universe?