Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
No wave function collapse — the universal wave function branches, and every outcome is realised in a relative state
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | "Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Non-local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Non-local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Passive |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Time in Everett's formulation is uni-directional and continuous — the universal wave function evolves deterministically under the Schrodinger equation. There is no collapse interrupting the flow.
Space
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Space is non-local: quantum entanglement — the very phenomenon the relative-state formulation is designed to handle — is fundamentally non-local. The branching structure means that spatially separated outcomes coexist.
Matter
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Matter is described by the universal wave function — substantival, conserved, and non-locally entangled. There is no fundamental distinction between matter and the wave function that describes it.
Observer
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
The observer is a physical subsystem, not a privileged entity. Each observer finds itself in a definite relative state (one branch) but cannot access the other branches. The observer is passive — observation does not cause collapse.
Energy
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Energy is conserved within the universal wave function's unitary evolution. The branching does not create or destroy energy — it redistributes it across relative states.
Information
"Relative State" Formulation of Quantum Mechanics
Information is globally conserved (unitary evolution preserves it) but locally inaccessible across branches. Personal information is not conserved: the observer splits into multiple copies with no access to each other's information.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The principal tension is the preferred-basis problem: if the universal wave function branches, what determines the basis in which it branches? Decoherence theory has partially addressed this, but the question remains open. A second tension is the probability problem: if all outcomes are realised, what does it mean to say one is more probable than another? Everett's answer (measure on the Hilbert space) has been extensively debated. A third tension: the theory was almost entirely ignored during Everett's lifetime; he left physics for defense consulting and died in 1982.