Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse

Computing Your Way to a Brave New World

Compare an abacus to the most powerful mainframe computer in the world. Both are information-processing devices with computational capabilities, but the similarity pretty much ends there. Take that same mainframe computer, and compare it to a computer that operates based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Now understand this: the superiority of the quantum computer as compared to the mainframe is greater than the superiority of the mainframe to the abacus. The advances promised by the advent of the quantum computer are awesome, and you cannot afford to ignore what it might be able to do.

Quantum Basics

Quantum mechanics is the body of scientific knowledge based on the fact that light can be understood equally as a wave or a particle. You can either observe a photon’s state (where it is) or its direction (where it is going), but not both without affecting the outcome of the experiment. In scientific terms, this is essentially saying that the same photon is in two different states at the same time - one a wave, and one a particle. Thus the physical property of indeterminacy exists. But this principle seems impossible...