Quantum

Explorations of quantum mechanics, quantum computing, and their philosophical implications.

Posts

• The Physics of Agency, Part 1: The Physical Nature of Agency - Opening the flagship series, this post argues that agency is not a mystical psychological artifact b
• The Physics of Agency, Part 1: The Physical Nature of Agency - Foundational post introducing the Physics of Agency framework.
• The Physics of Agency, Part 10: The Grand Synthesis and Future Directions - Synthesizes Physics of Agency framework and outlines future research directions.
• The Physics of Agency, Part 7: Branching Realities — Agency in the Multiverse - Places Physics of Agency framework within Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI): every quantum event spli
• The Physics of Agency, Part 8: Meaning, Ethics, and Evolution Under the Physics of Agency - Explores implications of Physics of Agency for meaning, ethics, and evolution.
• The Physics of Agency, Part 9: Challenges and FAQs - Addresses key challenges to Physics of Agency framework.
• Conditionalism - Philosophical theory: all truth claims inherently depend on implicit/explicit conditions.
• Identifying Branches in the QBU - Explores Pattern Identifiers (PIs) in Quantum Branching Universe framework using concrete examples:
• Mechanics of Agency: Quantum Decisions - Illustrates agency principles using Matching Pennies game.
• The Quantum Branching Universe (QBU) - Formal framework for representing all physically possible quantum timelines as directed acyclic grap
• The Mechanics of Agency: Maximal Theoretical Agent - Explores Maximum Theoretical Agent (MTA)—opposite extreme from MVA.
• How Quantum Measurement Shapes Cosmic History - Explores Wheeler’s delayed-choice experiment at cosmic scale.
• Making Sense of P(doom) - Clarifies P(doom) probability estimates for AI existential risk.
• Objective vs. Subjective Probability
• A Rigorous Definition of Causality
• Effective Decision Theory
• Quantum Agency in the Emergent Multiverse - Integrates David Wallace’s The Emergent Multiverse (MWI via decoherence) with Three Thermodynamic
• Measure, Vantage, Branchcone, and Counterfactuals - Formal definitions of four key QBU concepts.
• The Starlight Analogy - Defends Many-Worlds against Occam’s razor objection (“too many worlds”).
• Defending Bayes - First in 5-part series defending Bayesian epistemology within QBU against Deutsch/Hall objections.
• QBism vs. Many Worlds - Compares two quantum interpretations.
• Defending Bayes, Part 2 - Reframes empirical uncertainty as timeline uncertainty—uncertainty about which timeline we inhab
• Defending Bayes, Part 4 - Short post connecting indexical uncertainty (Yudkowsky) with timeline uncertainty.
• A Gigaplex of Parallel Lives - Quantifies personal identity across QBU branches.
• Creativity as Virtual Evolution - Deepens “Evolution is All You Need” by framing human creativity as **multi-layered virtual evolution
• Yes, We Can Assign Probabilities to Counterfactuals - Response to Sara Imari Walker’s claim that probabilistic causation is incoherent.
• Defending Bayes, Part 9 (Interlude) - Critical conceptual clarification distinguishing Measure (objective physical probability) from Crede
• Observer Class Alignment - Technical post introducing Observer Class Alignment (OCA) concept within QBU framework.
• The Quantum Sequence - Major sequence announcement introducing QBU framework in detail.