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Wednesday, Apr. 17, 2024

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Saving Schrödinger's Cat

by Graham Muad'dib

Rated: E · Book · Personal · #2232494

Thoughts on the mysteries of the universe, the human soul, and cats

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment proposed by Austrian-Irish physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935 to explore the uncertainty of the state of everyday objects when subject to the laws of quantum mechanics. In this problem, Schrödinger proposes that when a cat is placed in a box with a radioactive isotope and a vial of poison that will break when exposed to radioactive decay, the uncertainty inherent in predicting the state of a subatomic particle such as that emitted in radioactive decay will cause the cat to exist in the quantum state of being both alive and dead. This uncertain state will persist until someone looks into the box, collapses the quantum wave function holding the cat in both of these states, and sees the result.

Sometimes I feel like the guy holding the box with the cat in it, afraid to look in the box, and in constant trepidation over what my investigation will uncover. Other times I feel like the cat, trapped between uncertain possible futures. This blog is an attempt to explore the constant mysteries of life where ever they may come from and try to put a friendly human face on a cold, uncaring, and chaotic universe.

What would you do? Would you open the box to uncover the mystery and risk your curiosity killing the cat? Or would you let the mystery endure and build a story upon it, secure in the knowledge that whatever we learn, life goes on, in one state or another?

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

QPdoll

Apr 22, 2023 at 7:06am
In response to "Coffee and Progress"

It is a shame when jobs or "art" becomes obsolete. Sometimes I think of technology as cheating. With AI and writing, it's surprising to see what the "program" comes up with. I've only seen it tested on tv once. I haven't done a lot of research into it, but I would say that I don't like what I've seen so far. I feel like it takes away from those of us who put so much work into our writing. People who haven't honed their craft use it to make money. It all comes down to money, doesn't it?

1 Like

Aiva Raine

Mar 28, 2023 at 9:26pm
In response to "Signal to Noise"

Agreed. When it comes right down to it- I don't doubt that life and intelligent life exists somewhere in the cosmos beyond our planet. The trillions of galaxies and systems makes it fairly likely.

But I strongly doubt that aliens decided our little planet filled with an amazingly stupid and destructive species that seems dead-set on destroying itself and the only planet it can live on is a universal tour destination. We just aren't that special. Or that smart. And yeah- if another civilization that has the capability to travel at or past the speed of light which science can't even prove is possible yet- I'm pretty certain they could do so without us ever figuring it out.

And I'm with you. Blurry blobs and fuzzy pictures don't qualify as proof and just because we don't know what they are- does not mean it's aliens.

Robert Waltz

Mar 4, 2023 at 12:17pm
In response to "Signal to Noise"

Absolutely agree! No, the burden of proof hasn't shifted. Extraordinary claims still require extraordinary evidence. Atmospheric differential refraction can explain a whole host of UFO sightings, while sleep paralysis is a perfectly reasonable explanation for abduction claims (so is attention-seeking behavior).

As for the blurriness thing, consider the Chinese spy balloon that floated at something like 50-60,000 feet over the US and Canada. I saw pictures of it. The pictures were a bit grainy, as they were taken from miles away, but not in any way blurry, like the UFO pictures you see. If we can get a perfectly clear image of a spy balloon, we can damn sure get one of a flying saucer.

Like you, I'm willing to change my mind with evidence. But I haven't seen any real evidence.

2 Like

Prosperous Snow celebrating

Jun 9, 2022 at 6:04pm
In response to "Flirting with Death (and getting rebuffed)"

Death is a subject that has inspire many writers and poets. It's subject that never gets old, probably because everyone knows, even if they don't want to admit it, that all of us eventually encounter death in one of its numerous forms.

Robert Waltz

Sep 20, 2021 at 12:41pm
In response to "Slouching my way out of Anxiety"

I'm of the considered opinion that "self-help" books only self-help the author, and then only if he or she actually sells any.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Done. Not so much about our impending doom.

Robert Waltz

Feb 3, 2021 at 12:38am
In response to "It must flow."

I read the first book (none of the others) a very long time ago, and I have yet to be impressed by any of the adaptations of it. Nevertheless, I want to see this new one when it comes out.

Robert Waltz

Feb 2, 2021 at 12:48am
In response to "No longer neglecting the cat."

The first time I heard of Twitter, a friend of mine described an engineer who rigged his chair to tweet every time he farted.

In the years since then, I have not seen anything to make be believe that the level of maturity on Twitter has ever risen above this remarkably low bar.

Posting on Twitter is like arguing with a bumper sticker.

1 Like

Robert Waltz

Oct 18, 2020 at 11:49pm
In response to "Searching for the Spirit of Halloween"

Great analysis! I would note that Samhain originally marked the (approximate) halfway point between the equinox and solstice, so it does tie in to those fixed astronomical events. That day is usually around November 5, which anyone with knowledge of British culture knows is Guy Fawkes' Day, Bonfire Night. Why else celebrate the failure of a four-hundred-year-old act of terrorism, if not as a nod to older traditions?

But then, I'm not British, so I could be way off. In any case, it was only with the coming of the Julian, then Gregorian calendars that the celebration of Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, became fixed on October 31 of those calendars.

Anyway, I love this sort of thing, so thanks for posting this!

1 Like

Prosperous Snow celebrating

Sep 25, 2020 at 2:16pm
In response to "Justice and Security"

Justice is part of security. There are several things that are parts of justice and security that are seldom mention, because many focus on the narrow dictionary definitions of justice and security.

1 Like

Graham Muad'dib

Sep 25, 2020 at 1:20pm
In response to "The Cat Escapes the Box"

But if no one observes the cat escaping, is he simultaneously in a state of imprisonment and freedom? Will the world become overrun by quantum cats in states of superposition, threatening to replace all matter with feline matter until one brave soul takes up the courage to look at the cat and collapse the feline multiplicity back to its base state? Now that's a story!

#15. Coffee and Progress
ID #1048555 entered on April 21, 2023 at 11:48am

#14. Signal to Noise
ID #1045933 entered on March 4, 2023 at 11:59am

#13. Flirting with Death (and getting rebuffed)
ID #1033662 entered on June 9, 2022 at 5:47pm

#12. Crypto vs Common Sense
ID #1027228 entered on February 22, 2022 at 12:03pm

#11. Slouching my way out of Anxiety
ID #1017767 entered on September 20, 2021 at 12:34pm

#10. Magic isn't going anywhere
ID #1007223 entered on March 28, 2021 at 10:56pm

#9. The Flavor of Life
ID #1003699 entered on February 5, 2021 at 11:36am

#8. It must flow.
ID #1003531 entered on February 3, 2021 at 12:32am

#7. No longer neglecting the cat.
ID #1003458 entered on February 2, 2021 at 12:19am

#6. Gathering 'round the Screen
ID #998979 entered on November 23, 2020 at 7:10pm

#5. Searching for the Spirit of Halloween
ID #996206 entered on October 18, 2020 at 11:32pm

#4. Ashes to Ashes
ID #994861 entered on October 2, 2020 at 4:54pm

#3. Justice and Security
ID #994186 entered on September 25, 2020 at 1:10pm

#2. Tenets of Time Travel
ID #993572 entered on September 17, 2020 at 12:30pm

#1. The Cat Escapes the Box
ID #993524 entered on September 16, 2020 at 10:42pm

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