Sabine Hossenfelder vs. Bernardo Kastrup: Superdeterminism Debate
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal
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Controversy Over Superdeterminism in Quantum Mechanics
This chapter explores the debate surrounding superdeterminism and its challenge to the established notion of statistical independence in quantum mechanics. The discussion examines the reluctance of the scientific community to embrace new theories, the implications of hidden variables, and the pursuit of a unifying grand theory in physics.
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Sabine Hossenfelder and Bernardo Kastrup discuss the prospects of superdeterminism as a solution to quantum foundations and its metaphysical implications. The conversation examines statistical independence, experimental falsifiability, and the role of consciousness in measurement while weighing philosophical objections.
- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:04:16 - Overview of Superdeterminism
- 00:08:31 - Bernardo's agreements / disagreements
- 00:13:15 - It's more promising to violate statistical independence (SI)
- 00:15:59 - What are the hidden variables in Superdeterminism?
- 00:18:20 - What is statistical independence? Is it a mere assumption?
- 00:22:41 - People claim Superdeterminism isn't falsifiable, but is it?
- 00:31:17 - Back and forth criticism and justification of proposed experiments
- 00:38:35 - Does experiment change the outcome of what's measured?
- 00:41:37 - Contrarian views -- should they be put forward tentatively?
- 00:44:57 - Decoherence and the observer
- 00:49:22 - The observer (and consciousness) is irrelevant in quantum mechanics
- 00:52:37 - Why oppose violating statistical independence (SI)?
- 00:54:57 - Metaphysics? Or simply trying to solve the measurement problem?
- 00:55:57 - We don't have a good reason to depart with SI
- 00:59:10 - Holding Sabine to higher standards than John Bell?
- 01:01:31 - [gastronic] What is the definition of measurement / What does it mean to "look at"?
- 01:02:22 - [Salvatore Pais] Unification of forces by means of the "Super Force"
- 01:05:18 - [rad capsule] "Without thought, there is no science."
- 01:07:22 - Falsifying idealism
- 01:11:53 - Joscha Bach?
- 01:13:20 - Notes about the upcoming Salvatore Pais interview
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- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything
- Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch
RESOURCES:
- Sabine Hossefelder's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SabineHossenfelder
- Testing Superdeterminism: https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.0286
- Testing Superdeterminism: https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.4326
- Other Superdeterminism articles: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.02676
- Other Superdeterminism articles: https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.01327
- Decoherence article: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.06282
- Bernardo Kastrup's website: https://www.bernardokastrup.com/
- No Go Theorem on Wigner: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x
- Making Sense of the Mental Universe by Kastrup: http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2017-19/Kastrup_19.pdf
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.01826
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05677
- https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/12/12/123007/meta
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.05080
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0085-3
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1012682413597
- https://books.google.nl/books/about/Mindful_Universe.html?id=pArDC3K3O2UC
- http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2017-19/Kastrup_19.pdf
- https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.1804
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9806043
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9810080
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10119
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3343
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026096313729
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9609002
- Better Left Unsaid documentary: http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com
- 00:00:00 - Introduction
- 00:04:16 - Overview of Superdeterminism
- 00:08:31 - Bernardo's agreements / disagreements
- 00:13:15 - It's more promising to violate statistical independence (SI)
- 00:15:59 - What are the hidden variables in Superdeterminism?
- 00:18:20 - What is statistical independence? Is it a mere assumption?
- 00:22:41 - People claim Superdeterminism isn't falsifiable, but is it?
- 00:31:17 - Back and forth criticism and justification of proposed experiments
- 00:38:35 - Does experiment change the outcome of what's measured?
- 00:41:37 - Contrarian views -- should they be put forward tentatively?
- 00:44:57 - Decoherence and the observer
- 00:49:22 - The observer (and consciousness) is irrelevant in quantum mechanics
- 00:52:37 - Why oppose violating statistical independence (SI)?
- 00:54:57 - Metaphysics? Or simply trying to solve the measurement problem?
- 00:55:57 - We don't have a good reason to depart with SI
- 00:59:10 - Holding Sabine to higher standards than John Bell?
- 01:01:31 - [gastronic] What is the definition of measurement / What does it mean to "look at"?
- 01:02:22 - [Salvatore Pais] Unification of forces by means of the "Super Force"
- 01:05:18 - [rad capsule] "Without thought, there is no science."
- 01:07:22 - Falsifying idealism
- 01:11:53 - Joscha Bach?
- 01:13:20 - Notes about the upcoming Salvatore Pais interview
SPONSORS:
- Brilliant: 20% off at https://brilliant.org/TOE
- Algo podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9IfRw1QaTglRoX0sN11AQQ
- Algo website: https://www.algo.com/
- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal
- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE
- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt
- Discord: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs
- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802
- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e
- Reddit: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything
- Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch
RESOURCES:
- Sabine Hossefelder's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SabineHossenfelder
- Testing Superdeterminism: https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.0286
- Testing Superdeterminism: https://arxiv.org/abs/1105.4326
- Other Superdeterminism articles: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.02676
- Other Superdeterminism articles: https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.01327
- Decoherence article: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.06282
- Bernardo Kastrup's website: https://www.bernardokastrup.com/
- No Go Theorem on Wigner: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-0990-x
- Making Sense of the Mental Universe by Kastrup: http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2017-19/Kastrup_19.pdf
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.01826
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05677
- https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1367-2630/12/12/123007/meta
- https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.05080
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0085-3
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1012682413597
- https://books.google.nl/books/about/Mindful_Universe.html?id=pArDC3K3O2UC
- http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2017-19/Kastrup_19.pdf
- https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.1804
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9806043
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9810080
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10119
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys3343
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1026096313729
- https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9609002
- Better Left Unsaid documentary: http://betterleftunsaidfilm.com
Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science.
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