• Who here believes in the Many World Interpretation? Why or why not?
    So they believe in a real, physical infinity, as opposed to a mathematical infinity? I thought infinities in physics meant there was a problem with the theory requiring revision.Marchesk

    Infinite space? Of course. Whether it's "real" and "physical" is down to semantics, I guess*. But the idea that space is infinite is old and, I would think, much less controversial than its opposite. We only got a good grip on the latter concept (of finite space) recently, with the development of topology and modern cosmology. Otherwise it is rather hard to imagine, intuitively.

    I forgot which ancient Greek philosopher it was that argued that space must be infinite, because suppose that it rather had a boundary; then on reaching that boundary you could just poke a stick through it.

    * But if you think that space is somehow not physical or not real or doesn't count for some other reason, well, once you suppose that space is infinite, it is only natural to suppose that there's an infinite amount of stuff in it - stars, galaxies, etc. - and that's as real and physical as it gets, right? The alternative would violate the Copernican principle, making our finite pocket of the infinite universe very special for no good reason.
  • Who here believes in the Many World Interpretation? Why or why not?
    The consensus from my fairly recent read of Max Tegmark's Multiverse book among physicists is that the MWI is the correct approachQuestion

    Not only not the consensus, but apparently not even the majority view.

    I find it hard to concieve the MWI due to the rather infinite amount of realities there may be; but, so do many mathematicians have qualms with dealing with real infinities.Question

    Well, the idea that the universe is spatially infinite was commonplace throughout the history of thought, and among today's cosmologists this is probably much closer to a consensus. And that doesn't even require the acceptance of any particular interpretation of quantum mechanics. So I don't think the infinitude of the world - or worlds - is all that controversial.

    A quasi deterministic universe always seems more appealing; but, why can't we have determinism within a many worlds interpretation.Question

    MWI is a deterministic theory (in a way).
  • Causality - what is it?
    "Produces" is indeed a synonym for "causes" in this context. Thus we can plug in "causes" in place of "produces" and the problem should then become obvious:

    x causes y just in case A, B, C, ..., x causes y, D, E, ...
  • Causality - what is it?
    x exerts forces that produce yTerrapin Station

    "x produces y" is a paraphrase of "x causes y". Your definition is even worse than circular: it appeals to a narrower notion of causation (one that specifically relies on forces) to explain causation simipliciter.
  • Causality - what is it?
    we call every situation where a dynamics inside the set A is always followed (wrt time) by a dynamics in the set B as "A causing B"Babbeus

    In your model universe and by your definition, everything causes everything that follows. That is, any given set of events cause any given events that follow (assuming that your universe is also non-relativistic, so that "follow" is objectively given). A butterfly flapping its wings in China causes a hurricane in the Caribbean, as long as one precedes the other.
  • Feature requests
    Update for the Ignore extension (5/19/2018):

    Chrome:

    Chrome now allows installing extensions only from its web store, and since I am not a registered and payed-up developer, I cannot publish there. If you really want it and know what you are doing, you can install an unpacked extension as described here: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-install-chrome-extensions-manually/

    Zipped Chrome extension

    Firefox 45 or later (this update is functionally identical to the old version):

    Download the XPI file, double-click and allow the browser to install the extension.

    tpfignore1.png
    tpfignore2.png
  • Feature requests
    So I guess this is my first post here. I am just an occasional lurker at this point. But I come bearing gifts :)

    For myself and those few of you who use Firefox I made add-on that implements an ignore list feature.

    tpfignore1.png
    https://postimg.org/image/ej2g76sp9/

    tpfignore2.png
    https://postimg.org/image/8jjah9xal/

    Limitations:

    • Firefox only (I might try and make a Chrome version at some point, if I have the time).
    • The list is stored locally with your bookmarks and other browser data. This means that if you log in at another computer or device, you'll have to install the add-on there and maintain a separate list.
    • You can't view, edit or export the list.

    Installation:

    See message below with an updated version.