Imagine putting a cat in a box, not in any specific box but a box that will will prevent an observer from the outside from looking into the box. Inside the box, there is a cat, a radioactive substance and a flask of cyanide gas which will be broken automatically by a hammer when the Geiger counter is defected.
Assuming that there is a radioactive substance that has a 50/50 chance of decaying in one hour, the law of quantum superposition states that the radioactive substance will be both decayed and not-decayed after an hour until the box is opened and an observation is made. Since the fate of the cat solely depends on the occurrence of a radioactive decay, the cat is known to be both alive and dead at the same time.
Quantum physics, quantum mechanics, quantum immortality, quantum suicide?
The many-worlds-interpretation (MWI) postulates that the universe hold many worlds where each world holds a different probable result of a quantum experiment. “I” am an object, an object at a specified time in space which represents a complete description of a state of my body. Even though “Peter” and “I” represents the same thing in layman’s term, “I” and “Peter” do not represent the same thing in the MWI.
At the present moment, there are many other “Peter(s)” in many other worlds both in the past and the future. Whenever a quantum experiment is carried out (an experiment is multiple outcomes), the present “Peter” corresponds to all the other “Peter(s)” in the different worlds with all possible results of the experiment.
Now imagine having a gun which will fire a bullet if and only if a determinant quark is spinning in a anti-clockwise motion. Assuming that there is a 50/50 probability between the two outcomes, you nervously point the gun towards your head and pull the trigger. Based on the ‘Quantum Suicide thought experiment’, no matter how many times you pull the trigger, you will not die. Ironically, if you return to the point where you pulled the trigger and the the determinant quark was spinning in a clockwise position, you died.
“Hold on a minute, you said that the gun did not fire!”
According to quantum superposition and the many-worlds-interpretation, the universe splits into two whenever the individual pulls the trigger. Hence, the individual is unaware that he/she is both alive and dead at the same time (The individual is alive in the other half universe).
Warning: Do not attempt any of the above experiments in reality!
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