Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of consciousness exploration & research

Brain & Mind in Everett Many-worlds

Andreas Wichert

Published Dec 1, 2016• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We redefine free will as the concept of identity in a deterministic universe. Causality is related to a meaningful explanation. For impossible explanations, causality does not exist, and the identity of the self-breaks. Only in meaningful causal worlds may personal identities exist. We are one person described by the meaningful path in the multiverse that is correlated with our free choices.

Related papers

Quantum Cognition and the Mind

Andreas Wichert

Clues from psychology indicate that human cognition are not only based on classical probability theory as explained by Kolmogorov’s axioms but additionally on quantum probability. Quantum probabilities lead to the conclusion that our brain adapted to the Everett many-worlds reality trough the evolutionary process. The Everett many-worlds theory views reality as a many-branched tree in which every possible quantum outcome is realized. In this context, one of the cognitive brain functions is to provide a causally consistent explanation of events to maintain self-identity over time. Causality is related to a meaningful explanation. For impossible explanations, causality does not exist, and the identity of the self breaks. Only in meaningful causal worlds may personal identities exist.

Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness•Jan 18, 2021•4 citations

Multiverse

Andreas Wichert

The modern version of the wave-function collapse in quantum mechanics is based on decoherence and leads to the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics. The decoherence causes the universe to develop an emergent branching structure. One can interpret the branching structure either as a tree structure or as parallel different histories. Time is not continuous since there are no measurable continuous in quantum physics. Notion of continuous range of possible values of time is just an idealization. The same goes with the direction of time that is a prior assumption based on the branching structure of the multiverse. The multiverse does not exist in external space nor time since there is nothing more beside it. The observer's mind should be not in a superposition with himself. Because of this, in the Many-minds interpretations it is argued that the distinction between worlds should be made at the level of the individual observer. The human bodies are in a superposition, but the minds have definite states that are never in superposition. All possible lives, personalities that do not violate the laws of physics are facts since they represent a valid history in the multiverse. We are one of this possible personalities. Our choices are defined by our personality explained to us by our mind, our consciousness is the unchangeable part of us. It is nonphysical and it senses the world. It does not interact with the brain in the other way beside it.

Chapman & Hall/CRC eBooks•Aug 12, 2022•0 citations

Many Worlds and Narratives of Personal Identity

Emily Qureshi‐Hurst

This paper examines personal identity in the context of the Everett interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. According to Everett, the universe branches many – perhaps an infinite number of – times per second. This leads to a universe in which many versions of ‘you’ exist, many of whom are living different lives to yours. How are we to make sense of the continuation of the self in this context? This is of particular importance for Christian theism, which is committed to an enduring self that can be held responsible for past actions and can develop an ongoing relationship with God. The paper argues that the best way to understand identity in the Everettian world as fundamentally narrative in nature.

Scientia et Fides•Oct 31, 2025•0 citations

What is physics? The individual and the universal, and seeing past the noise

A. R. P. Rau

Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the whole framework is built. In quantum physics, first in non-relativistic mechanics and later in quantum field theories, even familiar concepts of position, momentum, wave or particle, are derived constructs from the classical limit in which we live but not intrinsic to the underlying physics. Most crucially, the very idea of the individual, whether an object or an event, distinguished only in a mere label of identity from others identical to it in all the physics, exists only as an approximation, not an element of underlying reality. Failure to recognize this and seeking alternative explanations in many worlds or multiverses leads only to incoherent logic and incorrect physics. As an example, in a physical system such as an atom in a particular state, physics deals with the universal system of all such atoms but makes no meaningful prediction of the position of an electron or the time of decay of any specific atom. Those are incidental, entirely random among all possible positions and times, even while physics makes very precise predictions for the distribution of the outcomes in measurements on atoms in that state. Physics deals with the universal, not the individual.

arXiv:1605.03106•Physics Essays•Mar 16, 2017•1 citation

What is physics? The individual and the universal, and seeing past the noise

Rau, A. R.P.

Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the whole framework is built. In quantum physics, first in nonrelativistic mechanics and later in quantum field theories, even familiar concepts of position, momentum, wave, or particle, are derived constructs from the classical limit in which we live but not intrinsic to the underlying physics. Most crucially, the very idea of the individual, whether an object or an event, distinguished only in a mere label of identity from others identical to it in all the physics, exists only as an approximation, not an element of underlying reality. It is not an element of physics. Failure to recognize this and seeking alternative explanations in many worlds or multiverses leads only to incoherent logic and incorrect physics. As an example, for an atom in a particular state, physics deals with the universal system of all such atoms but makes no meaningful prediction of the position of an electron or the time of decay of any specific atom. Those are incidental, entirely random among all possible positions and times, even while physics makes very precise predictions for the distribution of the outcomes in measurements on atoms in that state. Physics deals with the universal, not the individual.

Civil War Book Review•Mar 1, 2017•3 citations

On the Verification of the Multiverse

Thomas Stenersen

We outline a proposal for an experimental test of Everett’s many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics that could potentially verify the existence of a multiverse. This proposal is based on a quantum field theory formulation of many-worlds through the path integral formalism and a careful choice of the vacuum state.

Journal of High Energy Physics Gravitation and Cosmology•Dec 14, 2022•1 citation
We redefine free will as the concept of identity in a deterministic universe. Causality is related to a meaningful explanation. For impossible explanations, causality does not exist, and the identity of the self-breaks. Only in meaningful causal worlds may personal identities exist. We are one person described by the meaningful path in the multiverse that is correlated with our free choices.
Clues from psychology indicate that human cognition are not only based on classical probability theory as explained by Kolmogorov’s axioms but additionally on quantum probability. Quantum probabilities lead to the conclusion that our brain adapted to the Everett many-worlds reality trough the evolutionary process. The Everett many-worlds theory views reality as a many-branched tree in which every possible quantum outcome is realized. In this context, one of the cognitive brain functions is to provide a causally consistent explanation of events to maintain self-identity over time. Causality is related to a meaningful explanation. For impossible explanations, causality does not exist, and the identity of the self breaks. Only in meaningful causal worlds may personal identities exist.
The modern version of the wave-function collapse in quantum mechanics is based on decoherence and leads to the multiverse interpretation of quantum mechanics. The decoherence causes the universe to develop an emergent branching structure. One can interpret the branching structure either as a tree structure or as parallel different histories. Time is not continuous since there are no measurable continuous in quantum physics. Notion of continuous range of possible values of time is just an idealization. The same goes with the direction of time that is a prior assumption based on the branching structure of the multiverse. The multiverse does not exist in external space nor time since there is nothing more beside it. The observer's mind should be not in a superposition with himself. Because of this, in the Many-minds interpretations it is argued that the distinction between worlds should be made at the level of the individual observer. The human bodies are in a superposition, but the minds have definite states that are never in superposition. All possible lives, personalities that do not violate the laws of physics are facts since they represent a valid history in the multiverse. We are one of this possible personalities. Our choices are defined by our personality explained to us by our mind, our consciousness is the unchangeable part of us. It is nonphysical and it senses the world. It does not interact with the brain in the other way beside it.
This paper examines personal identity in the context of the Everett interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. According to Everett, the universe branches many – perhaps an infinite number of – times per second. This leads to a universe in which many versions of ‘you’ exist, many of whom are living different lives to yours. How are we to make sense of the continuation of the self in this context? This is of particular importance for Christian theism, which is committed to an enduring self that can be held responsible for past actions and can develop an ongoing relationship with God. The paper argues that the best way to understand identity in the Everettian world as fundamentally narrative in nature.
Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the whole framework is built. In quantum physics, first in non-relativistic mechanics and later in quantum field theories, even familiar concepts of position, momentum, wave or particle, are derived constructs from the classical limit in which we live but not intrinsic to the underlying physics. Most crucially, the very idea of the individual, whether an object or an event, distinguished only in a mere label of identity from others identical to it in all the physics, exists only as an approximation, not an element of underlying reality. Failure to recognize this and seeking alternative explanations in many worlds or multiverses leads only to incoherent logic and incorrect physics. As an example, in a physical system such as an atom in a particular state, physics deals with the universal system of all such atoms but makes no meaningful prediction of the position of an electron or the time of decay of any specific atom. Those are incidental, entirely random among all possible positions and times, even while physics makes very precise predictions for the distribution of the outcomes in measurements on atoms in that state. Physics deals with the universal, not the individual.
Along with weaving together observations, experiments, and theoretical constructs into a coherent mesh of understanding of the world around us, physics over its past five centuries has continuously refined the base concepts on which the whole framework is built. In quantum physics, first in nonrelativistic mechanics and later in quantum field theories, even familiar concepts of position, momentum, wave, or particle, are derived constructs from the classical limit in which we live but not intrinsic to the underlying physics. Most crucially, the very idea of the individual, whether an object or an event, distinguished only in a mere label of identity from others identical to it in all the physics, exists only as an approximation, not an element of underlying reality. It is not an element of physics. Failure to recognize this and seeking alternative explanations in many worlds or multiverses leads only to incoherent logic and incorrect physics. As an example, for an atom in a particular state, physics deals with the universal system of all such atoms but makes no meaningful prediction of the position of an electron or the time of decay of any specific atom. Those are incidental, entirely random among all possible positions and times, even while physics makes very precise predictions for the distribution of the outcomes in measurements on atoms in that state. Physics deals with the universal, not the individual.