Schrödinger's Cat explained in a hurry

"In this episode we discuss Schrödinger's cat, quantum entanglement, and our perception of reality." - YouTube
Boise_Libsays...

This misses the entire point of the thought experiment.

It's not that the poison gas has a 50% chance of being let loose (I like the gas version).
It's that the trigger is the decay of an atomic nucleus; which--under the theory of Quantum Superposition--has the ability to be in both states simultaneously (decayed--or whole; dead cat--or live cat).

If the cat flips a coin and will die if it's heads (for the purpose of this comment we will ignore the fact that cats have no thumbs) --that's a 50% chance. But, that has nothing to do with the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum physics.

Also, Schrödinger used this scenario to refute the Copenhagen interpretation--because he didn't believe it was an accurate statement of reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat

(I still upvote this for the promotion of thought )

shinyblurrysays...

The ultimate observer is God, and every event has a definitive, unique and absolute outcome which is not contingent upon our observation. The cat is whatever he is. The question is only in our minds, it is not actual. God knows whether the cat is alive or dead. The information is there, we just haven't received it yet.

Quill42says...

I think the ultimate observer is Santa Claus. He knows if you've been naughty or nice and lets face it, blowing up cats in a bunker is pretty darned "naughty." The information is on his list, we just have to wait until Christmas to receive it.

This, of course, explains why physicists never get good toys for Christmas and why members of the so-called "scientific community" are all so intent on trying to disprove Santa's existence.

shagen454says...

The part about "looking" and nature deciding at that instant about the state of something is total bullshit. So, basically the entire theory falls apart for me right there. Also, if there is "something out there" it is not observing us by any sense that we could relate to. You might be able to relate to it if you were to take a lot of LSD... but I don't know what it is. Sort of like Quantum Physics. It's probably something we won't ever understand unless we transcend our human bodies in an Age of Spiritual Machines sort of way, hah!

Fletchsays...

He didn't explain it well at all. Bad video. I can see why people would be more confused. He didn't explain that the gunpowder exploding is dependent upon the quantum state of a radiation source (the "trigger" for the explosion; via a Geiger counter, say) which, unobserved, is in superposition. It has both decayed and remained stable ==> the cat is both dead and alive until we open the box and observe it.

Or something.

Fletchsays...

>> ^shagen454:

The part about "looking" and nature deciding at that instant about the state of something is total bullshit. So, basically the entire theory falls apart for me right there.


Not sure whether the whole theory is bullshit to you because you can't understand it, or you won't understand it because you've declared it bullshit. They could both be true, sort of like a "superposition" of posibilities.

Unlike religion, however, a leap of faith is not needed. You don't have to believe in magic. On quantum levels, this IS the nature of reality, and can be (and has been over and over) demonstrated through observation, experimentation and measurement. As xxovercastxx implied, that doesn't mean we understand it yet, nor do we have to. But we can make predictions with the theory and test them, and the predictions prove out every time.

Then again, I hear neutrinos can travel faster than light nowadays. NOT predicted!

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