Probability of Self-Location in the Framework of the Many-Worlds Interpretation

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Entropy
Published
2025-04-11
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/e27040416
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.25

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article

Probability of Self-Location in the Framework of the Many-Worlds Interpretation

Lev Vaidman
1 citations
Entropy
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
1.25
article

Probability of Self-Location in the Framework of the Many-Worlds Interpretation

Lev Vaidman
article en
1 citations

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.

EntropyVol. 27(4)
Tel Aviv University (IL), Chapman University (US)
Israel Science Foundation
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 22%
Quantum Mechanics and Applications
1.25
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