Each moment [1], the wave function collapses (coheres), and turns all the possible futures that might exist for that moment into the reality of the present moment.
This identifies the multiverse with the set of all possible futures.
This identifies the specific path taken through the multiverse as the actual effect of the coherence of the wave function at each moment.
[1] But what’s a moment? Am I suggesting a discretisation of time?
Another view might be through events, where each event is one of a set of (at least theoretically possible) events. Of course, one might argue that only the events that actually occur were ever actually theoretically possible, but that’s an argument related to determinism/nondeterminism.
And lastly: a note on the difference between the present, and the consciousness/awareness of the present: these are different, perhaps related through the resonance (and hence continued existence over time) of the present moment in the cell/the brain/the biological system. This resonance enables the effect of the present to build up over time (that is, over multiple instances of the present, extending into the past), eventually enabling temporal goal oriented behaviour, and even awareness and self-consciousness: but a detailed discussion of this needs another day. Does this underlie the difference between living and non-living systems?
(Thanks to Robin in the Dunblane Hotel, for giving me the confidence to make this a blog post)
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