Schrodinger's Cat Theater 3000
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Nando Vallart
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ByteFrenzy
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Schrodinger's cat is a way to explain some parts of theoretical physics. The physics theory states that there are thing's you can't measure because the fact of measuring them, will change them. It seems illogical, but if something can be A or B, due to the fact that it can't be measured it could be BOTH A and B (or NEITHER A or B).
In the example of the cat, the cat is put inside a closed box together with a glass vial of poison, a mechanism that will break the vial, a source of radioactivity, and a counter that will activate the mechanism once a certain number of radioactive particles have struck the counter. When you put the cat into the box it is alive. When you open the box after some time the cat is dead. In between, the cat is neither dead not alive, or possible both dead AND alive.
This is subject to a lot of discussion and probably the example did more to harm the underlying theory in physics than to advance it, because we know from experience that you can't be alive and dead at the same time.
It's also not very popular with people who like cats.
In the example of the cat, the cat is put inside a closed box together with a glass vial of poison, a mechanism that will break the vial, a source of radioactivity, and a counter that will activate the mechanism once a certain number of radioactive particles have struck the counter. When you put the cat into the box it is alive. When you open the box after some time the cat is dead. In between, the cat is neither dead not alive, or possible both dead AND alive.
This is subject to a lot of discussion and probably the example did more to harm the underlying theory in physics than to advance it, because we know from experience that you can't be alive and dead at the same time.
It's also not very popular with people who like cats.
I get off on quantum physics, theoretical astronomy and such ( and I have NO idea who's on American Idol... :sad1
. The neat thing about the cat & Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle & so forth is that they are mere approximations of reality which can't in fact be "true." However, they are accurate-enough quantum physics, and quantum physics is absolutely necessary to use in order for transistors and lasers to even exist. You've, umm, heard of computers? At least 1/3 of the world's economy is based around guesswork that just happens to work better than the guess before that one. Many people use this kind of thing to try to "discredit" science (sitting in their heated, lighted house, typing away on their computer :icon_scratch but the fact is, everybody's just running on the last, most usable guess - discomforting, in the good kind of way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle
. The neat thing about the cat & Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle & so forth is that they are mere approximations of reality which can't in fact be "true." However, they are accurate-enough quantum physics, and quantum physics is absolutely necessary to use in order for transistors and lasers to even exist. You've, umm, heard of computers? At least 1/3 of the world's economy is based around guesswork that just happens to work better than the guess before that one. Many people use this kind of thing to try to "discredit" science (sitting in their heated, lighted house, typing away on their computer :icon_scratch but the fact is, everybody's just running on the last, most usable guess - discomforting, in the good kind of way.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle
That's one of the problems with it. People automatically put it in the same category as the Skinner Box and simply label it as some form of cruelty. It's a theoretical situation attempting to illustrate a point and as far as I know never actually happened.Kublai said:
If you shoot x-rays through a person and capture the remainder on a film canister positioned on the far side, you can get a picture of certain parts inside the human body. However by exposing the patient to x-rays, you can't say his body is the same as it was before.
Z
zogoibi
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Jolly good show; except for the part with the continuum packed infinitely full of ghastly ghost kitties. :kewlpics:
Wana_make_a_guitar
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That theory/topic is pointless. :laughing7:
What this is saying the cat is in the box, we don't know if it's dead or alive but we know (possibly) that it was alive when it was put in there and we know it'll die if we take it out of the box. Am I right?
Fantastic. A cat trap.
This is turning me off doing physics for my senior classes in the next 2 years.
What this is saying the cat is in the box, we don't know if it's dead or alive but we know (possibly) that it was alive when it was put in there and we know it'll die if we take it out of the box. Am I right?
Fantastic. A cat trap.
This is turning me off doing physics for my senior classes in the next 2 years.
ByteFrenzy
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Well, fortunately there's a good reason why the experiment with Schroder's cat has (to my knowledge) never been performed: it doesn't 'do' anything. The cat would go in live, and come out dead. The exiting part is that in between the cat will be in this either/neither live/dead state. Unfortunately, when you open the box to observe this miracle of theoretical physics, you will see that the cat is either lucky and still alive, or less lucky and already dead. Observing the miracle causes it to end.
Patrick from Davis
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I want to know what Crow, Joel, and Tom Servo have to say about it. The commentary on, "Hercules versus the Moon Men," was a moment of change in my life. Such a miserable movie, yet with the right commentary, so friggin funny. The other quote from those guys that comes to mind, paraphrasing of course, "The secret super power our hero has is choosing inept enemies."
Patrick
Patrick
Wana_make_a_guitar
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It's really a 'Your guess is as good as mine' topic.ByteFrenzy said:
Return of Guitlouie
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There is a great book by one of my favorite authors, Robert Anton Wilson, called Schrodinger's Cat, in which the author exploits the notion that while the cat is in the box, not only is it "alive" and "dead", but it is every other possiblity in between at once. The story is told non-linearly, as all the events in the book take place in an "everything that can happen, does happen" series of parrallel multiverses. It's a pretty fantastic book, but a word of caution to those easily offended, it will probably offend you.
