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Quantum Immortality




Have you ever heard of quantum immortality?

It’s an interesting thought experiment, a branch off the many-worlds interpretation of the universe. If you aren’t familiar with it, don’t worry; I’ll explain.

Here’s how the many-worlds interpretation works: whenever a choice is made, whenever you go that way instead of this, the universe splits into two distinct, separate realities. Each option is preserved, though you only perceive one. Every choice anyone ever made results in yet another universe, some so similar to our own as to be virtually indistinguishable, and some so different you would never recognize them.

This also means that for every universe in which a choice or action could lead to your death, there’s one in which it doesn’t. And according to the quantum immortality interpretation, you never perceive the universe in which you die. Your consciousness always defaults to the universe in which you survive, however slim the odds of that survival might have been.

You’ve probably already experienced this without realizing it. Have you ever almost fallen down a staircase? Nearly been hit by a car? Have you ever found yourself thinking, after some close call or other, “I could have died!”

In another universe, you did. You just didn’t notice because your consciousness defaulted here, to a universe in which you’re still among the living. That’s quantum immortality for you: from your perspective, you never die.

I understand that this may seem exciting; most people are terrified of their own deaths and relieved by the prospect of never perceiving them. However, I’d advise you to be careful. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Quantum immortality is just a thought experiment, after all, and it isn’t entirely correct. Your consciousness doesn’t always default to the universe in which you survive—it usually does.

Don’t get me wrong, the odds are in your favor, especially if you lead a quiet life and aren’t especially clumsy. But sometimes, by some unfortunate quirk of the cosmos, your consciousness lands in the universe where you didn’t catch yourself in time, or step out of the way.

I presume you’ve already heard of ghosts.

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