Let's discuss Schrodinger's cat

[Deidre]

So, I get that Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment to disprove the common interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some have claimed that it wasn't so much an experiment, as an illustration. Nonetheless, we all know the gist of Schrodinger's cat. But, it isn't that the cat is both dead and alive (that doesn't make sense), it's that the possibility of the cat being dead or alive until one observes its actual state, is what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate?

 

[Twilight Hue]

So, I get that Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment to disprove the common interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some have claimed that it wasn't so much an experiment, as an illustration. Nonetheless, we all know the gist of Schrodinger's cat. But, it isn't that the cat is both dead and alive (that doesn't make sense), it's that the possibility of the cat being dead or alive until one observes its actual state, is what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate?

Easy. If it's wet. The cat is alive.

If it's dry, the cat is long mummified.

 

[Meow Mix]

So, I get that Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment to disprove the common interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some have claimed that it wasn't so much an experiment, as an illustration. Nonetheless, we all know the gist of Schrodinger's cat. But, it isn't that the cat is both dead and alive (that doesn't make sense), it's that the possibility of the cat being dead or alive until one observes its actual state, is what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate?

Yes, you have it right. Some people were interpreting the wave function and superposition as real, and it was perhaps easier to think this way because people figured such a thing wouldn't be noticeable macroscopically. The cat is a way to make the absurdity macroscopic. Which is hilarious because, as you've noted, people have long since misinterpreted it to mean that exactly what was being demonstrated to be absurd is supposedly real!

 

[Deidre]

Yes, you have it right. Some people were interpreting the wave function and superposition as real, and it was perhaps easier to think this way because people figured such a thing wouldn't be noticeable macroscopically. The cat is a way to make the absurdity macroscopic. Which is hilarious because, as you've noted, people have long since misinterpreted it to mean that exactly what was being demonstrated to be absurd is supposedly real!

Thank you! It took me a while to wrap my head around his ''experiment,'' but then one day you're like...okay. Still could have chosen a way easier illustration, but whatever.

I read an interesting analysis about this recently, from the cat's perspective. Like, what is the cat doing exactly until the observer returns?

 

[icehorse]

Spooky action at a distance, the observer's affect on the outcome, electrons being in two places at the same time...

We shouldn't kid ourselves that we're close to knowing how the universe works : )

And I love that!

 

[Father Heathen]

Was Schrodinger himself simultaneously alive and dead until observed by the cat? Why wouldn't it work both ways?

 

[Estro Felino]

Maybe because observation is really what matters and relying on probabilities (=possibilities) is not that scientific, I guess.
It is what Fermi tried to say with the Fermi paradox. There are infinite probabilities of extraterrestrial life out there. But, there is no extraterrestrial life until you discover one.
Until you open the box, as for Schrödinger.

 

[Deidre]

Was Schrodinger himself simultaneously alive and dead until observed by the cat? Why wouldn't it work both ways?

Omg, that's hilarious and insightful at the same time.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

So, I get that Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment to disprove the common interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some have claimed that it wasn't so much an experiment, as an illustration. Nonetheless, we all know the gist of Schrodinger's cat. But, it isn't that the cat is both dead and alive (that doesn't make sense), it's that the possibility of the cat being dead or alive until one observes its actual state, is what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate?

Sorry. He's dead Jim.

 

[Justanatheist]

I saw his cat on a poster, Wanted dead or alive.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Poor Schrodinger. Wins the Nobel Prize for his equation, and all anyone talks about is his cat.

 

[Justanatheist]

Poor Schrodinger. Wins the Nobel Prize for his equation, and all anyone talks about is his cat.

That's you tube for you! Obsessed with cats.

 

[ChristineM]

So, I get that Schrodinger came up with a thought experiment to disprove the common interpretation of quantum mechanics. Some have claimed that it wasn't so much an experiment, as an illustration. Nonetheless, we all know the gist of Schrodinger's cat. But, it isn't that the cat is both dead and alive (that doesn't make sense), it's that the possibility of the cat being dead or alive until one observes its actual state, is what Schrodinger was trying to illustrate?

To illustrate

 

[Secret Chief]

To illustrate

View attachment 52771

I am indeed "observing their actual state" and feel I can say that they are unbroken.

 

[PureX]

Yes, you have it right. Some people were interpreting the wave function and superposition as real, and it was perhaps easier to think this way because people figured such a thing wouldn't be noticeable macroscopically. The cat is a way to make the absurdity macroscopic. Which is hilarious because, as you've noted, people have long since misinterpreted it to mean that exactly what was being demonstrated to be absurd is supposedly real!

Humans have a hard time grasping the idea that there is a world in which the 'actors' are so small that they simply cannot be observed as a 'thing'; they can only be grasped as extrapolated phenomena. Which is why we humans tend to confuse and conflate the two.

 

[Meow Mix]

Humans have a hard time grasping the idea that there is a world in which the 'actors' are so small that they simply cannot be observed as a 'thing'; they can only be grasped as extrapolated phenomena. Which is why we humans tend to confuse and conflate the two.

Yeah. Like quantum spin. We literally just throw our arms up and say "well it's not really spinning or it'd have to spin faster than light, but it's behaving as if it is."

 

[PureX]

Yeah. Like quantum spin. We literally just throw our arms up and say "well it's not really spinning or it'd have to spin faster than light, but it's behaving as if it is."

And it's all made especially difficult by the fact that we do not know the 'rules' that are controlling what's happening, to help us understand what's happening. Quantum physics is a fascinating field of inquiry, but anyone involved in it must experience a lot of headache.

 

[Meow Mix]

And it's all made especially difficult by the fact that we do not know the 'rules' that are controlling what's happening, to help us understand what's happening. Quantum physics is a fascinating field of inquiry, but anyone involved in it must experience a lot of headache.

(In my last year of my astrophysics MS and it's at least half quantum from here)

 

[Meow Mix]

In fact all I have left is Galaxies, 2 semesters of quantum, and the rest is research & thesis

 

[Martin]

In fact all I have left is Galaxies, 2 semesters of quantum, and the rest is research & thesis

Does "Galaxies" include field trips?