From Paul Conway
Any “Boltzmann brain” is likely to be suicidally depressed, popping into existence billions of light years from anything else (18 August, p 26). The odds on finding another intelligence nearby are mind-bogglingly minuscule: our “brain” is much more likely to encounter Boltzmann toasters, Boltzmann Elvis detectors or, if really lucky, a Boltzmann Shakespeare sonnet. Pretty depressing really.
Besides, what exactly are we supposed to fear about being outnumbered by these absurdities? The toasters, at least, could be useful.
Since most of the mass of the universe is different from the mass that makes up people, why would it be surprising that a typical observer would be different from us? We represent the universe in one way, while other observers represent the universe in other ways. Perhaps all that is needed is for these representations to be combined in a consistent way.
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