The Boltzmann Brain Story

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The Boltzmann brain story is not true that these fluctuations happen instantaneously. You basically would most likely witness a very long series of individually unlikely events assembling the brain out of vacuum fluctuations. We, you and I, live in a world that is entirely conditionalized on the existence of a very strong thermodynamic arrow of time. If you didn't have an arrow of time, all of those implications, inferences, would be completely unjustified.

Welcome to the July 2023 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patreons, whittle them down to a more manageable number -- based primarily on whether I have anything interesting to say about them, not whether the questions themselves are good -- and sometimes group them together if they are about a similar topic.

We're experimenting with a new benefit for Patreon supporters: short video (or audio-only) reflections by me on the podcast that just happened. If you've been wondering whether to join up, this could be the time.

Blog post with questions and transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/07/03/ama-july-2023/

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