Schroedinger's Cat

[WalterTrull]

OK, I’ve been trying to read a lot of stuff about the non-mathematical implications of quantum theory. (The mathematics is well beyond me.) Unfortunately, after a while my eyes glaze over. Never-the-less:

I’ve never been able to grasp the point of Schroedinger’s thought experiment as presented by almost everybody. From a classical standpoint, the cat is either dead or alive, opening the box has absolutely no influence on the condition. OK. Duh.

Quantum folk get hold of the notion to illustrate “superposition” where the cat is both dead and alive. What? So I read a bit of Schroedinger. Introducing his experiment he writes: “One can even set up quite ridiculous cases.”. Apparently, Schroedinger presented his experiment to show the absurdity of the Copenhagen view of superposition. OK, that I get.

However, after reading a bunch of other quantum stuff, there is an interpretation (that Schroedinger probably didn’t intend) that appeals to me. While the possibility of a live or dead cat may exist until observation creates the fact of one or the other, it must be determined: whose observation. Aha! Opening the lid on the old deity, or maybe holy ghost, can of worms. I like it!

 

[sayak83]

OK, I’ve been trying to read a lot of stuff about the non-mathematical implications of quantum theory. (The mathematics is well beyond me.) Unfortunately, after a while my eyes glaze over. Never-the-less:

I’ve never been able to grasp the point of Schroedinger’s thought experiment as presented by almost everybody. From a classical standpoint, the cat is either dead or alive, opening the box has absolutely no influence on the condition. OK. Duh.

Quantum folk get hold of the notion to illustrate “superposition” where the cat is both dead and alive. What? So I read a bit of Schroedinger. Introducing his experiment he writes: “One can even set up quite ridiculous cases.”. Apparently, Schroedinger presented his experiment to show the absurdity of the Copenhagen view of superposition. OK, that I get.

However, after reading a bunch of other quantum stuff, there is an interpretation (that Schroedinger probably didn’t intend) that appeals to me. While the possibility of a live or dead cat may exist until observation creates the fact of one or the other, it must be determined: whose observation. Aha! Opening the lid on the old deity, or maybe holy ghost, can of worms. I like it!

Nah. The cat is either dead or alive. The air molecules hitting the cat act as good enough observers.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

 

[WalterTrull]

Yeah. Unfortunately, this just restates the problem rather than explains it. Then again, maybe that's all Schroedinger was trying to do, point out the problem.

 

[idav]

OK, I’ve been trying to read a lot of stuff about the non-mathematical implications of quantum theory. (The mathematics is well beyond me.) Unfortunately, after a while my eyes glaze over. Never-the-less:

I’ve never been able to grasp the point of Schroedinger’s thought experiment as presented by almost everybody. From a classical standpoint, the cat is either dead or alive, opening the box has absolutely no influence on the condition. OK. Duh.

Quantum folk get hold of the notion to illustrate “superposition” where the cat is both dead and alive. What? So I read a bit of Schroedinger. Introducing his experiment he writes: “One can even set up quite ridiculous cases.”. Apparently, Schroedinger presented his experiment to show the absurdity of the Copenhagen view of superposition. OK, that I get.

However, after reading a bunch of other quantum stuff, there is an interpretation (that Schroedinger probably didn’t intend) that appeals to me. While the possibility of a live or dead cat may exist until observation creates the fact of one or the other, it must be determined: whose observation. Aha! Opening the lid on the old deity, or maybe holy ghost, can of worms. I like it!

The double slit is the strange thing. Say you threw a drop of water through at a single slit, eventually you get some through. Well say you used a fire hose instead obviously more get through. Sending one particle in a quantum state is physically speaking, like using the fire hose, yet only one ever gets through, and people argue as to why that is. I understand the math says this but nobody gets into how these quantum particles get magically displaced as if coming in as a wave of particles.

Current quantum computing are harnessing the real oddities. They are like, we might not be able to figure out how it works but we can use it. Things are like that with most science we just generally know things like gravity and evolution are true we don't usually have a great expertise in it.

The schrodinger cat is a thought experiment to analyze the fact that we can't use the classical standpoint with quantum mechanics.

 

[bobhikes]

However, after reading a bunch of other quantum stuff, there is an interpretation (that Schroedinger probably didn’t intend) that appeals to me. While the possibility of a live or dead cat may exist until observation creates the fact of one or the other, it must be determined: whose observation. Aha! Opening the lid on the old deity, or maybe holy ghost, can of worms. I like it!

Interesting so if Quantum realities exist does that mean that God is not watching everything, God is Quantum or god does not exist. Hmmmm.

 

[sun rise]

I prefer the stories where the cat puts the physicist in a box.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

I prefer the stories where the cat puts the physicist in a box.

You might like this one:

Heisenberg and Schrödinger were tooling along the highway when a state trooper pulled them over. He asked the driver, Heisenberg, if he knew how fast he was going, The answer was, "No, but I did know my exact position."

This irritated the trooper, who asked the boys to step out of the car so that he could search it. After opening the trunk, the trooper asked, "Did you know that you have a dead cat back there?"

"I do now," Schrödinger volunteered.

 

[sayak83]

The double slit is the strange thing. Say you threw a drop of water through at a single slit, eventually you get some through. Well say you used a fire hose instead obviously more get through. Sending one particle in a quantum state is physically speaking, like using the fire hose, yet only one ever gets through, and people argue as to why that is. I understand the math says this but nobody gets into how these quantum particles get magically displaced as if coming in as a wave of particles.

Current quantum computing are harnessing the real oddities. They are like, we might not be able to figure out how it works but we can use it. Things are like that with most science we just generally know things like gravity and evolution are true we don't usually have a great expertise in it.

The schrodinger cat is a thought experiment to analyze the fact that we can't use the classical standpoint with quantum mechanics.

I would say that there is no reason microscopic reality should be of a kind that we can grasp with intuitions based on our macroscopic conceptions. Thus we should only require that the reality is logically or mathematically coherent, empirically validated and shades into our macroscopic conceptions of reality as we move to larger scales. QM satisfies this.

 

[idav]

I would say that there is no reason microscopic reality should be of a kind that we can grasp with intuitions based on our macroscopic conceptions. Thus we should only require that the reality is logically or mathematically coherent, empirically validated and shades into our macroscopic conceptions of reality as we move to larger scales. QM satisfies this.

Of course the math breaks when you try and divide anything when mass is at zero, that doesn't break intuition though it's just a problem for math.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

OK, I’ve been trying to read a lot of stuff about the non-mathematical implications of quantum theory. (The mathematics is well beyond me.) Unfortunately, after a while my eyes glaze over. Never-the-less:

I’ve never been able to grasp the point of Schroedinger’s thought experiment as presented by almost everybody. From a classical standpoint, the cat is either dead or alive, opening the box has absolutely no influence on the condition. OK. Duh.

Quantum folk get hold of the notion to illustrate “superposition” where the cat is both dead and alive. What? So I read a bit of Schroedinger. Introducing his experiment he writes: “One can even set up quite ridiculous cases.”. Apparently, Schroedinger presented his experiment to show the absurdity of the Copenhagen view of superposition. OK, that I get.

However, after reading a bunch of other quantum stuff, there is an interpretation (that Schroedinger probably didn’t intend) that appeals to me. While the possibility of a live or dead cat may exist until observation creates the fact of one or the other, it must be determined: whose observation. Aha! Opening the lid on the old deity, or maybe holy ghost, can of worms. I like it!

I can't wrap my head around quantum mechanics. Multidimensional calculus, or any other type of high-level mathematics or physics, sure, no problem, but apparently I'm just not smart enough to fully understand quantum theory.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Nah. The cat is either dead or alive. The air molecules hitting the cat act as good enough observers.

As well as the cat being an observer...

 

[Valjean]

I can't wrap my head around quantum mechanics. Multidimensional calculus, or any other type of high-level mathematics or physics, sure, no problem, but apparently I'm just not smart enough to fully understand quantum theory.

Our brains just aren't built to be able to grok real Reality, it will never '
make sense'. Approaching it mathematically is the best we can do.

Nah. The cat is either dead or alive. The air molecules hitting the cat act as good enough observers.

Everett might disagree. The cat is both dead and alive.
Many-worlds interpretation - Wikipedia

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

The Cat always survives, perhaps having lost one of its nine lives .....

 

[sun rise]

I can't wrap my head around quantum mechanics. Multidimensional calculus, or any other type of high-level mathematics or physics, sure, no problem, but apparently I'm just not smart enough to fully understand quantum theory.

It's so far from our everyday experience that I can confidently assert you're not alone (I'm in the box with you and the cat).

 

[Valjean]

Is this a rescue cat? Has she had her vaccinations?

 

[sayak83]

Our brains just aren't built to be able to grok real Reality, it will never '
make sense'. Approaching it mathematically is the best we can do.

Everett might disagree. The cat is both dead and alive.
Many-worlds interpretation - Wikipedia

Not fair. According to Everett one cat becomes two cats as the universe branches.

 

[Valjean]

Innumerable cats!

 

[WalterTrull]

Our brains just aren't built to be able to grok real Reality, it will never '
make sense'. Approaching it mathematically is the best we can do.

Funny, I would have said it the other way around, almost: Approaching reality mathematically works less and less well. Luckily, mind is able to "grok" it more and more affectively.