"Probabilistic Counterfactuals"
Abstract:
Various quantum paradoxes involve counterfactual questions of the
following type: A decision to measure property P of a quantum system was
based upon tossing a coin which turned up heads. What WOULD have occurred
IF the outcome had been tails, resulting in the measurement of a different
property Q? A method will be presented for analyzing questions of this
sort. The basic idea behind it can (and will) be explained without
reference to quantum theory, and the procedure might be useful for
analyzing other kinds of counterfactual questions.
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