Boltzmann Brain

I find this question really fun: "Am I a Boltzmann brain, or a real human?". If there exists both a human and a Boltzmann brain with your current mental state, then it doesn't make sense to try to answer this question with a single answer. Your line of reasoning will be identically executed in both, so your line of reasoning can't result in a single answer and be correct. Instead, one way to address the confusion about whether you're a…

> Over a sufficiently long time, random fluctuations could cause particles to spontaneously form literally any structure of any degree of complexity, including a functioning human brain Can anyone explain this bit to me? The formation of biological brains was a multi-billion year climb against entropy. How would a brain form spontaneously without those random fluctuations tearing the constituent components apart? I’m having trouble understanding the logic here. Random fluctuations don’t imply that any order from…

The best explanation for this paradox and one that should be especially convincing to computer scientists is that the kolmogorov complexity of any brain aware enough to have consistent memories is higher than the universe which contains it. A Boltzmann brain might not be impossible but it is far,far less likely than arbitrary universes occurring as fluctuations. It makes sense if you think about it. It's also consistent with the fact that 17th century mathematics could make so much headway…

'Permutation City' by Greg Egan, a Science Fiction novel, has as one of its main subject a variation of this idea. Recommended, it's a very interesting reading.