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all. I would like to learn about the nature of Max Tegmark's fascinating quantum suicide experiment.

  • Does it presuppose my future consciousness is dependent upon my current consciousness? Aren't they independent? Is consciousness associated with timelines, or single event instances? If independent, why should the fact I'm consciousness now imply I will remain conscious in the future?
  • Suppose we have a contraption with 20 Russian Roulette bullets aimed right at your head, each controlled by some quantum event with half-half probability. Now also suppose the contraption has a one in 10,000 chance in failing so that no bullets are fired no matter what the quantum events turn out to be, and a 9,999 in 10,000 chance of working as designed. Will you find the contraption will mysteriously fail?
  • Suppose instead we have twenty capsules, which are either filled with a placebo or some slow acting poison with a half-half quantum probability. Let's just say it takes a few hours for the effects of the poison to kick in, and you swallow the twenty capsules one at a time in one minute intervals. Will you find that all the twenty capsules are filled with placebos? What if the capsules were filled in long before you swallowed them?
  • Does it have anything to do with the many worlds interpretation?
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I'm sure this will be a contentious decision, and it can certainly be discussed on Physics Meta, but I'm closing this because quantum suicide is usually more of a philosophical issue than a physical one. We do allow some quantum-interpretations questions, but as a rule they are held to a higher standard than most questions with respect to the underlying mathematical analysis. I don't think this question meets that standard as it is. – David Zaslavsky♦ Oct 21 '11 at 6:10
I think the best refutation of quantum suicide is quantum insomnia. I tried to fall asleep, but some of my duplicates stayed awake. The question of how consciousness embeds in the world is tricky, and this is the central question of many-worlds. – Ron Maimon Oct 21 '11 at 21:39

closed as off topic by David Zaslavsky♦ Oct 21 '11 at 6:04

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