Quantum Immortality: Can Humans Achieve Eternal Life in Many Worlds?

In physics, quantum immortality states that someone attempting a 'quantum suicide' would fail as there would be at least one timeline in which they would manage to survive.

What Is Quantum Immortality?

Quantum immortality is a concept which began as a thought experiment in the late 1980s and was later formulated by physicist and cosmologist Max Tegmark. He believes that humans may die many times in our lifetime, and that our consciousness shifts, jumps, slides, or moves into the next timeline that resembles the one in which we died.

In the 20th century, theoretical physicists Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr formulated the Copenhagen Interpretation. According to this view, photons and other particles can simultaneously exist in different states. Attempting to measure or influence them will change them into an observed state, with all other states removed and never to reappear.

To counterbalance the Copenhagen Interpretation, American physicist Hugh Everett proposed the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) in 1957. According to this concept, when a photon is observed by a person, then the world is divided in two at that moment.

In one world, the photon goes straight while the other is undulated. Everett believes that we fall into one of these worlds by accident, without any governing principle.

To understand it better, imagine yourself entering a store. Before that moment, your world existed in two different states. You could either go or not go inside the store.

As soon as you leave your house and go to the store, your world divides into two. Upon entering the shop, you can either buy an item in the store or not purchase anything, multiplying the store further. This means that there could be infinite possible states in our universe.

Quantum immortality is rooted in the view of the Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics. It suggests that every possible outcome of a quantum measurement takes place in a separate parallel universe. Compared to the idea of the universe, the multiverse theory proposes the idea that an endless number of parallel universes coexist in various timelines.

Supporters of quantum immortality argue that everything that happens in one universe can affect the others, even death. This means that when we die in one lifetime, we just "move on to" the next one and continue to live.

Can Humans Really Become Immortal?

Quantum immortality has been debated in both scientific communities and the general public. Despite its interesting nature, however, it is still a mystery whether this idea can be considered a real possibility.

The Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics is indeed a valid interpretation of the theory, but it is not the only one, and other interpretations do not necessarily lead to the concept of quantum immortality. Even if it does really exist, quantum immortality would not guarantee true immortality.

While the concept suggests that human consciousness continues to exist in a parallel universe after we perish in this universe, it does not address the process of physical decay or aging. It should also be noted that the idea of quantum immortality is still purely theoretical, and scientists have not been able to provide any concrete evidence to support it.