MetaChat - Parallels

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26 October 2008

Parallels lacking intersection yet i'm lucky to have run across it accidentally. Even though→[More:] it's supposedly available from the BBC on PBS and online, i can't seem to find a player to let you watch it right now. Maybe you'll get to run into it if you haven't seen it already; both are possible. It just doesn't seem like many worlds and cats live and dead are recent enough an idea to be the product of some guy's dad, but then i keep forgetting i'm old enough now that the idea is fifty years old and responsible for an age of science fiction already. Meanwhile, an episode of Star Trek on in the background has both cats and many worlds; they really should list Everett in the credits.

post by: ethylene at: 02:27 | 6 comments

There is this, of course, but does it play out of the US? The BBC player doesn't have it anymore and it doesn't play on another i can check, but since it's almost a year old and an award winner, i bet you can hassle your local library into getting a copy.

posted by ethylene 26 October | 02:39

I have watched Nova and Frontline online before but upon trying just now it seems they've revoked that ability in Canada. That's such a bummer.

I get PBS on TV though, and I had been planning to watch this (it was to air this past week) but I never seem to remember when they air.

posted by loiseau 26 October | 07:42

Aha, it seems only Nova hates non-Americans -- at least I can still watch Frontline online.

posted by loiseau 26 October | 07:44

It only works until the 28th, and then onto fractals.
It's really well done and short for so many complicated topics, and the associated papers and interviews are similarly accessible.

posted by ethylene 26 October | 07:53

Thanks for this. Nova and Frontline are two programs I miss not having TV. I need to be reminded now and then that I can watch them online, if I only think of it.

posted by DarkForest 26 October | 08:14

YAY! Thanks for the heads up!

I'm a big fan of the many worlds interpretation. I had a brief affair with quantum computing during college, and learned about the many-worlds interpretation via Deutsch's Fabric of Reality. One thing I think I read on the book (but can't find on la wiki, so maybe I made it up) is that Wheeler (Everett's professor) didn't really buy into the theory, and only defended it (and co-published Everett's papers) so his student wouldn't look stupid.

Definitely watching it today.

posted by qvantamon 26 October | 14:30

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