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Ghoti Nyak
καλλιστι
Join date: 7 Aug 2004
Posts: 2,078
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11-05-2005 18:40
From: Aliasi Stonebender I'm keeping an eye on it, but... there's always that "but". As Fred Alan Wolf said in the movie, "The key is not being in the know, but to be in the mystery." Personally, I don't put my faith in anything, as seems there's always another theory waiting to be proven, that proves the last one all wrong. I realise the movie itself is not heavy on the scientific presentation. I feel its meant to be sensationalistic, to draw in the curious. I'm finding my further readings fascinating. The What The Bleep book is brand new, out November 1, so alot of places don't have it yet. -Ghoti
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"Sometimes I believe that this less material life is our truer life, and that our vain presence on the terraqueous globe is itself the secondary or merely virtual phenomenon." ~ H.P. Lovecraft
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Jsecure Hanks
Capitalist
Join date: 9 Dec 2003
Posts: 1,451
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11-05-2005 18:58
Can someone break this down for me into a simple explanation? I was never too blessed with the smarts...  |
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Desmond Shang
Guvnah of Caledon
Join date: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 5,250
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11-05-2005 19:17
Quantum mechanics is, simply put, mechanics. Calculationally correct, but that proves nothing with regard to conceptual accuracy.
It can produce highly reliable, predictive results down to the 16th decimal place or more, for *some* things.
For other things, it can't predict its own backside with both hands.
The key to quantum mechanics is the concept of 'probability density'.
Most famously, what that means is that you are *mostly* at your present position, but some tiiiiny fraction of you is also on the planet Venus. And on the backside of Saturn, in deep space past the third star to the right, and in the heart of the Sun. Simultaneously.
For a large, complex object such as a person, the probabilities are shockingly low, but *real*. For a small object such as an electron, and closer distances, such probabilities start to dominate. Arguably, the electron *is* its own probability density, until something interacts with it and forces it to instantiate at some given location.
Why probability density? Nobody knows.
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Einstein, when asked, said that he came up with gravity = acceleration simply by leaning back in his chair one day.
Perhaps someone will 'lean back in their chair' one day, and crack the mystery of the probability density.
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 Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!
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Aliasi Stonebender
Return of Catbread
Join date: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 1,858
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11-05-2005 19:32
From: Ghoti Nyak As Fred Alan Wolf said in the movie, "The key is not being in the know, but to be in the mystery."
Personally, I don't put my faith in anything, as seems there's always another theory waiting to be proven, that proves the last one all wrong. I realise the movie itself is not heavy on the scientific presentation. I feel its meant to be sensationalistic, to draw in the curious.
I'm finding my further readings fascinating. The What The Bleep book is brand new, out November 1, so alot of places don't have it yet.
Putting "faith" into scientific theories still rather misunderstands the point, it seems to me. The only thing you put "faith" in is that your senses are not being constantly deceived. All other things are accepted until the body of evidence suggests otherwise, at best. Furthermore, new theories, once solidly established, tend to not necessarily throw all that came before out the window; Newton's Laws may not be universal, yet they continue to work remarkably well as a rule-of-thumb in those conditions Newton could study. Quantum mechanics perhaps comes the closest, yet relativity still holds largely accurate in the macro-universe. So, part of what seemed to be the thrust of the theories in question - that in some respects you can just will the world as you'd like it... well, it's a great idea for a roleplaying game (You can have my copy of Mage: the Ascension when you pry it from my cold dead hands!) but as a real hypothesis, it's an extraordinary claim that necessitates an equally extraordinary amount of evidence; else it's just another phlogiston.
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Red Mary says, softly, “How a man grows aggressive when his enemy displays propriety. He thinks: I will use this good behavior to enforce my advantage over her. Is it any wonder people hold good behavior in such disregard?”
Anything Surplus Home to the "Nuke the Crap Out of..." series of games and other stuff
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Ulrika Zugzwang
Magnanimous in Victory
Join date: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 6,382
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11-05-2005 19:43
From: Jsecure Hanks Can someone break this down for me into a simple explanation? I was never too blessed with the smarts... ~Ulrika~
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Chik-chik-chika-ahh
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Jsecure Hanks
Capitalist
Join date: 9 Dec 2003
Posts: 1,451
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11-06-2005 02:10
From: Ulrika Zugzwang *edited*  ~Ulrika~ Post reported as personal attack |