Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The growing interest in the concept of probability of self-location of a conscious agent has created multiple controversies. Considering David Albert's setup in which he described his worries about consistency of the concept, I identify the sources of these controversies and argue that defining "self" in an operational way provides a satisfactory meaning for the probability of self-location of an agent in a quantum world. It keeps the nontrivial feature of having subjective ignorance of self-location without ignorance about the state of the universe. It also allows defining the Born rule in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and proving it from some natural assumptions.
Source: Entropy
DOI: 10.3390/e27040416
Author: Lev Vaidman
Institutions: Tel Aviv University, Chapman University
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Funder: Israel Science Foundation
Award: G8096576897
OpenAlex ID: W4409370033