Quantum Mechanics
So this is a long overdue update for the masses (dozen or less people that read my blog) on what has been going on in my life.
So I left my job at the day spa to go work for a company doing business to business sales. I won’t get into it too much but basically the job was nothing like I expected. Long hours for only slightly better pay, and the more research I did on the company the more crooked I found it to be. It was bad enough to where I was reading testimonials on people who warned anyone involved with that company to get out, because it practices illegitimate business, while distracting it’s employees from the problems with techniques similar to a cult would do to it’s victims. This is not my gross exaggeration, this is what I found when I researched
I left that job and I’m now currently unemployed. It sucks.
I’ve been sending in my application to a million places. I have a semi-lead right now that I’m following up on so we’ll see how that turns out.
But I don’t really want to talk about my misfortune at the moment. It’s depressing and I need not be depressed because I’m only temporarily down, and when I come up it’s going to be better than before. That’s how things have been working for me recently. This would be where I tell you the inspiring story of when I moved to California and was as broke as I am today. How literally last minute I got a job that saved me from moving back because I had essentially failed. But I don’t want to talk about that story because I’ve preached it one too many times and even I am starting to get sick of it.
So instead I choose to tackle the topic of quantum mechanics.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a quantum physicist. I have taken no classes on quantum theory and don’t claim to be nearly as educated on the topic as some people who are reading this. I DO however understand that quantum mechanics is a widely explored field, and with every step we take into it more questions seem to be brought up than answered. I don’t intend to answer questions, but rather remark on how mind boggling some of the questions are. Additionally: to those out there who understand in depth quantum mechanics, I ask you to oversee the fact that the questions I reference are the most basic and simple ones concerning the field and while I know there’s so much more to it, I think you have to get your mind past how crazy the elementary properties of it are first, which most people reading this haven’t done.
Okay so now that that’s out of the way, let me pawn off the duty of explaining the infamous double slit experiment to a corny animated character. Some of you may have seen this video clip as it’s been around for a while, but it does a really good job of explaining what it is I want to talk about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc
Now there are a few problems that I want to address with this clip. Now that you have seen it(maybe twice so you fully understand what they are talking about) I am going to correct what to my understanding are mistakes in this clip. This video was pay rolled by what some people consider to be a scientific cult and some of their explanations, people argue, are biased by the “cults” beliefs. Nevertheless, the experiment they explain is a factual one that did occur, and the results are as they told.
The problem with the clip is it makes it seem as if an electron just “knows” it’s being watched. The eyeball/camera thing is a metaphor for a measuring device that they actually used in the real experiment. The act of observing the electron in no way affected the outcome, but rather the act of measuring the actions of the electron is what collapsed the probability wave. The act of measuring something affected the outcome, or what it was you were measuring, and that’s the mind-boggling part.
Anything you seem to measure on a quantum level is affected by the very act of measuring. I’ll point you to another experiment, this one as well gives the impression that the matter (in this case a photon), just “knows” when it’s being watched. Do not be confused, it is not the photon that changes the outcome because it knows it’s being watched, but rather the very act of measuring how the photon behaves that determines the end result. Not to say that the measuring device itself is somehow interfering, but simply the act of measuring is. Kinda grasp the concept? Here’s the example I was talking about. It’s not put together very well, and is flash so if you miss something you can’t rewind it (I apologize for the corny hot pockets joke referencing Jim Gaffigan).
http://quantamiscool2.ytmnd.com/
This example is just another way of showing how the act of measuring something on the quantum level affects the outcome of what it is you’re measuring.
So the last example of quantum mechanics I will reference is Schrödinger’s cat. This is actually a hypothetical scenario that didn’t actually occur, as it would be inhumane to test but here’s the basis:
Erwin Schrödinger was arguing with Einstein on the topic of an early interpretation of quantum mechanics. Schrodingers words were as follows:
“One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small, that perhaps in the course of the hour one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges and through a relay releases a hammer which shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts.
It is typical of these cases that an indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain becomes transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy, which can then be resolved by direct observation. That prevents us from so naively accepting as valid a "blurred model" for representing reality. In itself it would not embody anything unclear or contradictory. There is a difference between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks.”
The way I interpret this to mean is that according to some interpretations of quantum theory, all possible outcomes have occurred simultaneously until measurement (in this case measurement WOULD be as simple as observation because Schrödinger cleverly transformed an atomic issue to one that can be measured by the naked eye), forces only one of those realities to exist.
So now there are probably far more people out there who say it’s much more complicated than this: which it is-BUT, you have to think that because of the indeterminate nature of quantum mechanics, who is to say that it ISN’T this way. Perhaps behind you, where you cannot see, there is every single possible combination of matter, every possible series of events occurring simultaneously, only to have the infinite number of probabilities be collapsed from a wave-like function to a single elementary system, or combination of elementary systems acting independently of each other, by the single act of turning your head to see what’s over your shoulder.
This concept could be translated to any scenario. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, it will make both a sound, and at the same time no sound at all, until one replays the audio they recorded of it, whereupon the probability of there not being a sound is collapsed by the act of measuring it (the recording device) and a thunderous boom emits from the speakers.
Perhaps ancient Chinese philosophy understood that yin and yang DO exist, but did not realize they occur at the same time in a literal way as opposed to the metaphysical philosophy more commonly associated with it. Perhaps that confusion could be because only one or the other could be measured at a time, and that single measurement is interpreted as reality. If only one can exist in reality, then for them both to exist would be of a metaphysical type of nature.
I’m not trying to disprove any quantum theories, as there are many that at times might even contradict themselves. I’m not even here to teach you what little I know about quantum mechanics, because upon doing research of your own there will be million and one other interpretations that could be more factual based than mine that you might bump into. I’m just trying to intrigue you into maybe doing a little research of your own, because this is a damn interesting topic, and I am assured that no one can watch what you just watched, and read what you just read, without thinking to themselves: now that’s fascinating.
So I left my job at the day spa to go work for a company doing business to business sales. I won’t get into it too much but basically the job was nothing like I expected. Long hours for only slightly better pay, and the more research I did on the company the more crooked I found it to be. It was bad enough to where I was reading testimonials on people who warned anyone involved with that company to get out, because it practices illegitimate business, while distracting it’s employees from the problems with techniques similar to a cult would do to it’s victims. This is not my gross exaggeration, this is what I found when I researched
I left that job and I’m now currently unemployed. It sucks.
I’ve been sending in my application to a million places. I have a semi-lead right now that I’m following up on so we’ll see how that turns out.
But I don’t really want to talk about my misfortune at the moment. It’s depressing and I need not be depressed because I’m only temporarily down, and when I come up it’s going to be better than before. That’s how things have been working for me recently. This would be where I tell you the inspiring story of when I moved to California and was as broke as I am today. How literally last minute I got a job that saved me from moving back because I had essentially failed. But I don’t want to talk about that story because I’ve preached it one too many times and even I am starting to get sick of it.
So instead I choose to tackle the topic of quantum mechanics.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a quantum physicist. I have taken no classes on quantum theory and don’t claim to be nearly as educated on the topic as some people who are reading this. I DO however understand that quantum mechanics is a widely explored field, and with every step we take into it more questions seem to be brought up than answered. I don’t intend to answer questions, but rather remark on how mind boggling some of the questions are. Additionally: to those out there who understand in depth quantum mechanics, I ask you to oversee the fact that the questions I reference are the most basic and simple ones concerning the field and while I know there’s so much more to it, I think you have to get your mind past how crazy the elementary properties of it are first, which most people reading this haven’t done.
Okay so now that that’s out of the way, let me pawn off the duty of explaining the infamous double slit experiment to a corny animated character. Some of you may have seen this video clip as it’s been around for a while, but it does a really good job of explaining what it is I want to talk about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc
Now there are a few problems that I want to address with this clip. Now that you have seen it(maybe twice so you fully understand what they are talking about) I am going to correct what to my understanding are mistakes in this clip. This video was pay rolled by what some people consider to be a scientific cult and some of their explanations, people argue, are biased by the “cults” beliefs. Nevertheless, the experiment they explain is a factual one that did occur, and the results are as they told.
The problem with the clip is it makes it seem as if an electron just “knows” it’s being watched. The eyeball/camera thing is a metaphor for a measuring device that they actually used in the real experiment. The act of observing the electron in no way affected the outcome, but rather the act of measuring the actions of the electron is what collapsed the probability wave. The act of measuring something affected the outcome, or what it was you were measuring, and that’s the mind-boggling part.
Anything you seem to measure on a quantum level is affected by the very act of measuring. I’ll point you to another experiment, this one as well gives the impression that the matter (in this case a photon), just “knows” when it’s being watched. Do not be confused, it is not the photon that changes the outcome because it knows it’s being watched, but rather the very act of measuring how the photon behaves that determines the end result. Not to say that the measuring device itself is somehow interfering, but simply the act of measuring is. Kinda grasp the concept? Here’s the example I was talking about. It’s not put together very well, and is flash so if you miss something you can’t rewind it (I apologize for the corny hot pockets joke referencing Jim Gaffigan).
http://quantamiscool2.ytmnd.com/
This example is just another way of showing how the act of measuring something on the quantum level affects the outcome of what it is you’re measuring.
So the last example of quantum mechanics I will reference is Schrödinger’s cat. This is actually a hypothetical scenario that didn’t actually occur, as it would be inhumane to test but here’s the basis:
Erwin Schrödinger was arguing with Einstein on the topic of an early interpretation of quantum mechanics. Schrodingers words were as follows:
“One can even set up quite ridiculous cases. A cat is penned up in a steel chamber, along with the following device (which must be secured against direct interference by the cat): in a Geiger counter there is a tiny bit of radioactive substance, so small, that perhaps in the course of the hour one of the atoms decays, but also, with equal probability, perhaps none; if it happens, the counter tube discharges and through a relay releases a hammer which shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. If one has left this entire system to itself for an hour, one would say that the cat still lives if meanwhile no atom has decayed. The psi-function of the entire system would express this by having in it the living and dead cat (pardon the expression) mixed or smeared out in equal parts.
It is typical of these cases that an indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain becomes transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy, which can then be resolved by direct observation. That prevents us from so naively accepting as valid a "blurred model" for representing reality. In itself it would not embody anything unclear or contradictory. There is a difference between a shaky or out-of-focus photograph and a snapshot of clouds and fog banks.”
The way I interpret this to mean is that according to some interpretations of quantum theory, all possible outcomes have occurred simultaneously until measurement (in this case measurement WOULD be as simple as observation because Schrödinger cleverly transformed an atomic issue to one that can be measured by the naked eye), forces only one of those realities to exist.
So now there are probably far more people out there who say it’s much more complicated than this: which it is-BUT, you have to think that because of the indeterminate nature of quantum mechanics, who is to say that it ISN’T this way. Perhaps behind you, where you cannot see, there is every single possible combination of matter, every possible series of events occurring simultaneously, only to have the infinite number of probabilities be collapsed from a wave-like function to a single elementary system, or combination of elementary systems acting independently of each other, by the single act of turning your head to see what’s over your shoulder.
This concept could be translated to any scenario. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, it will make both a sound, and at the same time no sound at all, until one replays the audio they recorded of it, whereupon the probability of there not being a sound is collapsed by the act of measuring it (the recording device) and a thunderous boom emits from the speakers.
Perhaps ancient Chinese philosophy understood that yin and yang DO exist, but did not realize they occur at the same time in a literal way as opposed to the metaphysical philosophy more commonly associated with it. Perhaps that confusion could be because only one or the other could be measured at a time, and that single measurement is interpreted as reality. If only one can exist in reality, then for them both to exist would be of a metaphysical type of nature.
I’m not trying to disprove any quantum theories, as there are many that at times might even contradict themselves. I’m not even here to teach you what little I know about quantum mechanics, because upon doing research of your own there will be million and one other interpretations that could be more factual based than mine that you might bump into. I’m just trying to intrigue you into maybe doing a little research of your own, because this is a damn interesting topic, and I am assured that no one can watch what you just watched, and read what you just read, without thinking to themselves: now that’s fascinating.