Oh, here's another one. I wouldn't here the tree fell, but Mother Nature would. She would say, "That's 1 life back." Get it? When a tree falls, it's like a person dies. See? You get it...?
That doesn't really make sense because if nothing was recorded on the tape, then what is the person listening to?
The general idea is that the tape is simultaneously in a state of having been recorded or not been recorded, collapsing down to one or the other at the moment an observation of the contents of the tape is made.
The general idea is that the tape is simultaneously in a state of having been recorded or not been recorded, collapsing down to one or the other at the moment an observation of the contents of the tape is made.
Oh dear, not another "Schrodinger's Cat" follower.... please look more into what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate by his thinking exercise, and look more into quantum superposition...
Oh dear, not another "Schrodinger's Cat" follower.... please look more into what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate by his thinking exercise, and look more into quantum superposition...
I know perfectly well what I am talking about thank you very much.
How do you know sound didn't become recorded on the tape when you started listening to it?
The general concept behind quantum superposition is that you cannot be sure of a state of an object until you make some measurement to determine what that state is. In fact, that it's in all possible states when unobserved, and only collapses into one state when a measurement of that state is made.
It's one of the fundamental principles of quantum computing, and we have evidence that quantum computers work.
Actually the idea behind quantum superposition is that, in quantum mechanics, a particle has the properties of both a particle and a wave. This was most clearly displayed by the double slit experiment, whereby an observed particle behaved as a particle and was seen passing through one slit or another. When the particle was not observed, and only it's effect after passing through the double slit was observed, then it appeared to have passed through both slits and functioned as a wave.
That being said, you are interpreting quantum superposition as applied to quantum particles to be applicable in the observable world. You are understanding QM based on evidence from observation and testing, yet every test to show superposition as applicable on large objects, and especially on multicellular organisms has come up with nothing.
While I agree that it has great philosophical implications, and is quite mind boggling (as well as greatly entertaining to consider) such an application of superposition is not based on any real science. Simply because something works on one scale does not necessarily follow that it will work on another, especially when we are dealing with subatomic particles.
Allow me to illustrate this with Schrodinger's thought experiment itself.
If we leave the cat in the box for, say, a day prior to opening the box to observe the cat's state and the cat is alive then we can say definitively, due to medical science, that the cat was never dead.
If, on the other hand, the cat is dead, we can use medical science to determine the time of death. Obviously, unless the cat perished within the previous few minutes, we can definitively say that the cat was dead prior to our observation.
The fact that we can use science to show the time of death was not at the time we opened the box and became observers illustrates that the cat was never in a state of superposition.
Actually the idea behind quantum superposition is that, in quantum mechanics, a particle has the properties of both a particle and a wave. This was most clearly displayed by the double slit experiment, whereby an observed particle behaved as a particle and was seen passing through one slit or another. When the particle was not observed, and only it's effect after passing through the double slit was observed, then it appeared to have passed through both slits and functioned as a wave.
No. Quantum superposition has everything to do with observation. Objects exist in all possible states until they are observed. If there is no way to observe something then it is existing in all states. Thus with regard to the tree falling in the forest it has simultaneously fallen and not fallen, and made a sound and not made a sound, until someone observes it.
yet every test to show superposition as applicable on large objects, and especially on multicellular organisms has come up with nothing.
Every 'test' falls prey to the same deficiencies as simply placing a tape recorder in a forest to capture the sound emitted.
Simply because something works on one scale does not necessarily follow that it will work on another, especially when we are dealing with subatomic particles.
Simply because something has never been observed on a macro scale does not mean it cannot be.
Allow me to illustrate this with Schrodinger's thought experiment itself.
I am sorry but that is a truly horrible description of Schrodinger's Cat experiment.
The actual experiment is that you put a cat in a box shielded from outside radiation, along with a small amount of radioactive substance. If one of the radioactive atoms decays, then the Gieger counter detects the radiation, making the flask of poison break killing the cat. There is a chance that none of the atoms decay, or that one will decay within the minute, so if you don't look inside the box the cat is both dead and alive. However once you look inside the box the cat can only be dead or alive, not both.
This is a thought experiment explaining how in quantum mechanics, something can be considered in a superposition of states until it is observed. It is not supposed to accuratey reproduce quantum superposition since there are too many variables and was actually thought up partly to take the piss out of the Copenhagen interpretation.
If a tree falls in the forest, it does indeed make a sound. No one hears it, but there is still the fact that it did happen. Just for instance, what if a water droplet fell off a leaf and hit the ground. Even if no one was around to see it, it still happened. This can also apply to history. If an event happened to a nomadic tribe, and it wasn't recorded in written history, are you denying the fact that it didn't happen?
Thus with regard to the tree falling in the forest it has simultaneously fallen and not fallen, and made a sound and not made a sound, until someone observes it.
Quantum physics usually doesn't apply on the macroscopic level.
If a tree fell in a forest, it would make a sound. duh. based off of regular trees, when they fall it would generate friction between the air and leaves. making a sound. wow. end of discussion. just because you didnt hear it in person doesnt mean it doesnt make a sound:
I will demonstrate "smart kids" and i say smart kids in the most sarcastic sense.
a man tries to steal a bell from his neighbor. but he doesnt want to get caught, and he knows the bell will make a sound if he tries to move it down. So what he does instead he covers his ears and then tries to steal the bell. well even though he doesnt hear it himself everyone else dose. and he gets thrown in jail where he drops the soap. and other prisoners take their liberties with his posterior.
sound is a man made concept that we created to describe the phenomena of what the signals are that our ears receive and send to the brain for interpretation. We could argue that there is no such thing as sound... you could propose that you know is real... its just one big interpretation of your mind... maybe its just a dream and we die and wake up...
I'm saying that sound exists. all a sound is made of is vibrations in whatever medium through which the vibrations are occurring. therefore sound = vibrations. If a tree falls then it creates vibrations and therefore sound. (if u want to say sound actually equals brain interpretation of vibrations then have at it)... without vibrations there is no interpretation of sound.
A plant that produces yellow flowers sprouts in a field... it grows, blooms, wilts, and dies. no human ever saw it or knew it existed while it was alive... its now decayed and reabsorbed by the plants growing around it. was it ever yellow? Was it ever alive? Was it ever actually there? Yes would be my answer to those questions and the one that this thread is actually about.
