Vlatko Vedral says parallel universes shape different versions of you

6 articles · Updated · Futurism · May 10

In Popular Mechanics, the Oxford physicist says quantum interactions, not human consciousness, force systems into definite states and steer each person's path.
He argues the popular account of the observer effect is backwards: when a photon hits sunglasses, its outcome already differs, and so does the version of you experiencing it.
Extending this logic to all quantum events, Vedral says reality continually branches like Schrödinger's cat, leaving countless simultaneous versions of you across parallel universes.

If quantum physics creates infinite copies of you, is your sense of self just an illusion?

Is our reality just one of infinite branches, or does a single universe emerge from quantum chaos?