Rain Thoughts
It is raining on the mountain this morning, making it a fine day to drink coffee and think.
And, what I'm thinking about is Schrödinger's cat. In this thought experiment a cat is placed in a steel box along with a small quantity of radioactive material. If and when an atom decays, it releases an atomic particle, triggering a hammer that breaks a vial of cyanide and subsequently kills the cat. Now, once the steel box is sealed, the cat is in two possible states, dead and alive. Without opening the box and observing the cat, we can only know the probability of each state based on the rate of atomic decay. However, once we open the box and observe the conditions inside (vial broken or not, cat breathing or not, etc.), local realism sets in and the probability approaches unity that the cat is either dead or alive.
In physics, the quantum state of the cat has been destroyed by physical observation. However, between the time the box is closed and subsequently opened, some physicist would say that the cat exists in two worlds simultaneous, one just as real as the other. In one of these worlds the same cat exists as a living creature and in the other, as a non-living creature.
Strange idea?
Man has held a belief in some form of a dual existence since long before recorded history. In this system of beliefs, an individual simultaneously consists of a physical being (the body) and a non-physical being (the soul). In our case, however, we are the cat in the closed box (between birth and death) with our coexistent body and soul.
And, what of the observers of this strange cat? What they see depends upon just what instruments of observation are available to them. Consequently, some would open the box and find the body. Others would open the box and find the soul.
And, what of us? We are just the cat staring back at the observers with our minds, trying to figure out just who the heck they are and what they see!
And, what I'm thinking about is Schrödinger's cat. In this thought experiment a cat is placed in a steel box along with a small quantity of radioactive material. If and when an atom decays, it releases an atomic particle, triggering a hammer that breaks a vial of cyanide and subsequently kills the cat. Now, once the steel box is sealed, the cat is in two possible states, dead and alive. Without opening the box and observing the cat, we can only know the probability of each state based on the rate of atomic decay. However, once we open the box and observe the conditions inside (vial broken or not, cat breathing or not, etc.), local realism sets in and the probability approaches unity that the cat is either dead or alive.
In physics, the quantum state of the cat has been destroyed by physical observation. However, between the time the box is closed and subsequently opened, some physicist would say that the cat exists in two worlds simultaneous, one just as real as the other. In one of these worlds the same cat exists as a living creature and in the other, as a non-living creature.
Strange idea?
Man has held a belief in some form of a dual existence since long before recorded history. In this system of beliefs, an individual simultaneously consists of a physical being (the body) and a non-physical being (the soul). In our case, however, we are the cat in the closed box (between birth and death) with our coexistent body and soul.
And, what of the observers of this strange cat? What they see depends upon just what instruments of observation are available to them. Consequently, some would open the box and find the body. Others would open the box and find the soul.
And, what of us? We are just the cat staring back at the observers with our minds, trying to figure out just who the heck they are and what they see!
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