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Why Boltzmann Brains Are Bad

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arxiv 1702.00850 v1 pith:WFH7V7VN submitted 2017-02-02 hep-th astro-ph.COgr-qcphysics.hist-ph

classification hep-thastro-ph.COgr-qcphysics.hist-ph
keywords observersboltzmannbrainscannotexistencepredicttheoriesunacceptable
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Some modern cosmological models predict the appearance of Boltzmann Brains: observers who randomly fluctuate out of a thermal bath rather than naturally evolving from a low-entropy Big Bang. A theory in which most observers are of the Boltzmann Brain type is generally thought to be unacceptable, although opinions differ. I argue that such theories are indeed unacceptable: the real problem is with fluctuations into observers who are locally identical to ordinary observers, and their existence cannot be swept under the rug by a choice of probability distributions over observers. The issue is not that the existence of such observers is ruled out by data, but that the theories that predict them are cognitively unstable: they cannot simultaneously be true and justifiably believed.

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Cited by 3 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. High-rate qLDPC processors

    quant-ph 2026-07 conditional novelty 8.0 of 10

    Non-abelian "mitten" qLDPC codes achieve 20% encoding rate with distances 10-24 on 150-975 qubits, and simulations indicate fault-tolerant processors sustaining ~10^10 logical operations at 0.1% physical error rate.

  2. Bell Correlations and Selection Bias

    quant-ph 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Bell correlations are selection artefacts induced by sampling methods, removing any tension with relativity or realism.

  3. Algorithmic Idealism II: Reassessment of Competing Theories

    physics.hist-ph 2024-12 reject novelty 3.0 of 10

    The paper asserts that algorithmic idealism, which treats reality as an observer-centered computational process, is the most coherent framework for identity and existence.

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