ABSTRACT
Frank’s character Watson Page appears to be modeled on Hugh Everett who attended Princeton in the mid-1950s. For his dissertation Everett developed the theory of parallel universes as a solution to the “measurement problem” in quantum physics.
Erwin Schrödinger’s thought experiment explains the measurement problem: A cat is placed in a container with an atom of radioactive material that has a fifty percent chance of decaying. If the atom decays, a poison that will be released killing the cat. According to quantum theory, before the box is opened the cat exists in an indeterminate state in which it is both alive and dead. This seems impossible.
Everett proposed at the moment of measurement all potential outcomes occur, each in their own universe. So, the cat is both alive and dead, just in different universes. Everett’s theory was rejected by Niels Bohr destroying Everett’s career. Everett’s idea is now considered as important as Newton’s theory of gravity.
The chapter concludes with the theory’s application in philosophy where it is called Many Minds; its similarity to the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges; and its relationship to Searles’ schizophrenic patient, Joan Douglas. The Many Minds model is considered a possible physical basis for schizophrenia.
