The quantum world underlies our universe but follows its own “rules”

_{Denyse O'Leary

November 27, 2020

Intelligent Design, Physics}

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Which don’t make sense to the rest of us. Two computer engineers, Enrique Blair and Robert J. Marks try to explain:

Enrique Blair: That’s right. This is one of the things that is hard to understand about quantum mechanics. In the classical world that we deal with every day, we can just observe something and we don’t have to interact with it. So we can measure something’s position or its velocity without altering it. But in quantum mechanics, observation or measurement inherently includes interacting with that thing, that particle.
Again, you’ve got this photon that goes through both slits, but then you measure it and it actually ends up going through one—once you measure it.
Robert J. Marks: This reminds me again of Invisible Boy in Mystery Men. The photon goes through one of the two slits while you’re looking at it. Unless you look away. Then it goes through both slits.
Enrique Blair: Right. Very tricky, those photons.
News, “Here’s why the quantum world is just so strange” at Mind Matters News

You may also enjoy: A materialist gives up on determinism. Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne undercuts his own argument against free will by admitting that quantum phenomena are real (Michael Egnor)

Quantum randomness gives nature free will. Whether or not quantum randomness explains how our brains work, it may help us create unbreakable encryption codes (Robert J. Marks)

Comments

Querius, thank you for your explanations I do appreciate Sev, Thank you for the more meaningful replyAaronS1978_{December 1, 2020
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Seversky,
As for the quantum world, we only became aware of its existence in the last century or so and we’ve only been able to carry out direct observations or measurements much more recently than that. Given that this Universe is over 14 bn years old, it looks like quantum reality is able to function perfectly well without us staring at it.
Actually, the first experiment demonstrating quantum behavior was performed in 1801. But that apparently doesn't matter to your groundless opinions. And yet, quantum reality changes when we observe it and you have no explanation for it besides your skepticism. What we observe can and has demonstrably affected events that happened billions of years ago. You would know that had you read the first article linked above. But I bet you're skeptical of the results. -QQuerius_{November 29, 2020
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Seversky @8,
I see no compelling arguments or evidence for the existence of gods and the Christian Bible contains too many inconsistencies and contradictions for it to be a credible authority or even history.
That's because you've already chosen to be unconvinced. For example, over 50 persons mentioned in the Bible have been verified through archaeological evidence as well as a major civilization that was once considered biblical mythology. Of course, this evidence won't convince you. The first rigorous scientific experiment recorded in history is found in the writings of Daniel 2,600 years ago. Of course, this won't convince you either. A once-skeptical Los Angeles area cold-case homicide investigator decided to apply the same forensic techniques he used professionally interviewing or reviewing testimonies he used to crack homicide cases on the Gospel accounts and he found them credible without evidence for collusion. Again, this won't convince you. There are independent accounts that corroborate major events in the Gospels along with hostile witnesses that discounted the miracles of Jesus as if he were a clever magician. None of these will convince you. But someday you will have an appointment God . . . think about it. -QQuerius_{November 29, 2020
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Here is a very cautious assessment of the 'alleged' server raid in Germany. Recommend a healthy dose of skepticism,,,, been down this road before to no avail,,, New reports about election manipulation read like a Tom Clancy novel By Andrea Widburg - November 29, 2020 https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/11/new_reports_about_election_manipulation_read_like_a_tom_clancy_novel.htmlbornagain77_{November 29, 2020
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AaronS1978/5
Your comment will be disregarded as it serves no purpose other than pushing your personal believe that consciousness does not exist, there is no God, and quantum physics is autonomous without human interference waiving any level of human exceptionalism
I do not believe that human consciousness does not exist. I experience it just like anyone else. The debate is about the nature and origins of consciousness. I see no compelling arguments or evidence for the existence of gods and the Christian Bible contains too many inconsistencies and contradictions for it to be a credible authority or even history. As for the quantum world, we only became aware of its existence in the last century or so and we've only been able to carry out direct observations or measurements much more recently than that. Given that this Universe is over 14 bn years old, it looks like quantum reality is able to function perfectly well without us staring at it.Seversky_{November 29, 2020
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If you want accessible explanations of the quantum observer or measurement problem I suggest you look here and here. Seversky_{November 29, 2020
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AaronS1978, Since Seversky hasn't answered your questions, I'll give you a brief overview. 1. In many experiments, repeatedly firing a single photon or electron at a plate with two thin, closely spaced slits, the expected results for a particle impact at a target is two bands of impact. But this isn't what happened. Observers saw many bands in a diffraction pattern that's characteristic of waves. Each photon or electron passed through both slits as waves. Waves interfere with each other constructively and destructively to form this pattern. 2. However, when researchers added a detector at one of the two slits and repeated the experiment, the diffraction pattern instantly vanished and was replaced by two bands at the target. This was extremely puzzling! Researchers theorized that the act of measurement changed what was happening at the slits, so they changed the experiment. 3. Researchers decided to perform their measurement *after* the photons or electrons passed through the two slits. The idea was that whatever happened at the double slits was now past. But, when they repeated the experiment, they still got the same results. When they observed part of the interaction, the diffraction pattern instantly changed into double bars. They now call this "quantum erasure," meaning that the act of observation can go back and erase the past and redo it! Theorists have been struggling with this fact for a very long time. A chain of delayed quantum effects is termed, the von Neumann chain, which is like a line of tipping dominoes going backwards in time. To your second question, it seems that information lies at the bottom of all reality. The waves that pass though the double slits are actually waves of mathematical probabilities. This behavior has tangible effects, one of which is called "quantum tunneling." For example, quantum tunneling makes fusion possible in the sun and limits the miniaturization of microelectronic circuits due to electrons simply disappearing from one trace inside a chip and reappearing on one next to it. Similarly, something called quantum entanglement has been experimented on. When observing the spin on one of the of the entangled particles, the spin on the other is instantly resolved with tangle effects. If you're interested, here's a recent experiment on quantum entanglement: https://news.mit.edu/2018/light-ancient-quasars-helps-confirm-quantum-entanglement-0820 How consciousness and measurement interact is widely debated. Here's a nice overview of the problem of consciousness: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170215-the-strange-link-between-the-human-mind-and-quantum-physics Enjoy! :-) -QQuerius_{November 29, 2020
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@ 2 You didn’t answer my question you just being your own content into my own please do not do that unless you plan on answering the question Your comment will be disregarded as it serves no purpose other than pushing your personal believe that consciousness does not exist, there is no God, and quantum physics is autonomous without human interference waiving any level of human exceptionalism I get it, now shewAaronS1978_{November 28, 2020
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Polistra, The "waves" in a wavefunction are not physical, they are mathematical probabilities. Once observed, a wavefunction collapses into particles and energy. This makes our tangible reality probabilistic. The fundamental reality of our universe is information (see the von Neumann–Wigner interpretation). That's why you have conjugate variables. Also, consider von Neumann chains that collapse back to a conscious observer. Also note that these chains can apparently move backward in time. -QQuerius_{November 28, 2020
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Quantum is impossible to understand because it's an unnecessary and stupid concept. Interference between waves is easy to observe and happens everywhere including our brains. There's nothing mysterious about it when you understand that it's WAVES. Atoms prefer specific energy levels because those levels are RESONANCES, just as a trumpet or larynx prefers certain notes. Nothing mysterious when you stick with WAVES.polistra_{November 28, 2020
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And observation at the quantum level apparently does not require a conscious mind.Seversky_{November 28, 2020
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I have a question how do we know there is interference going on with out observation or measurement Second isn’t the measurement the only thing that mattersAaronS1978_{November 28, 2020
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