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William's avatar

Richard Feynman: “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, you don't understand quantum mechanics.”

Also, “I think I can safely say that no one understands quantum mechanics.”

Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (MIT Press, 1967), p. 129.

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Sarah Salviander's avatar

When I read those words as an undergrad, I was like, "Challenge accepted!" LOL. Now I just accept it all as a mystery we'll probably never comprehend. But that's almost more fun than having a complete understanding.

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Paul Sternberg's avatar

I appreciated this article more than I expected when I started reading it. What it unlocked for me is an analogy concerning free-will that I have carried for a long time. If we think of a (geometric) plane that embraces all future possible choices, each choice we make “collapses” (to use the QM idea) all of the possibilities into what is now history. Each set of choices made reduces the possibilities - or probabilities - into an actualized set. The plane behind me has become a series of line segments connecting decision points, while the half plane of possibilities extends beyond me. Watched from outside the plane, it appears on the whole either as a pattern of random interactions or interactions following a law - such as particles in a plasma in an electric field. Each particle reacts mechanistically to its environment (our human nature), but can be moved in a particular direction to a determined end - such as electrons in a cathode tube.

Thank-you for that extra insight.

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Sarah Salviander's avatar

Wow! Glad I managed to help with that.

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Mark H.'s avatar

Strangely, we also talked about QM at our Wednesday small group meeting and used the same analogies to understanding the Trinity.

For myself, I see God as the cosmic observer that collapses all the quantum uncertainty and wave functions to a single reality.

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Sarah Salviander's avatar

It could indeed work like that if the Copenhagen Interpretation is accurate.

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Evan K's avatar

I just had a small group on Tuesday where the main topic was the Holy Trinity but also Quantum Entanglement and Galileo’s observations about Math came up (although those were kind of off topic side conversations) so it was a nice surprise to see this piece today

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Sarah Salviander's avatar

That is quite the coincidence!

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Andrew Fulford's avatar

Have you encountered Wolfgang Smith's interpretation?: https://philos-sophia.org/schrodingers-cat-thomistic-ontology/

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Brent Shadbolt's avatar

Unfortunately I think you’ll find that at a fundamental level, quantum mechanics is completely at odds with Einstein’s general theory of relativity… ‘another modern mathematical marvel describing the world.’ The two theories are mutually exclusive in other words.

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Robert Italia's avatar

A grapeshot of thought: Are we looking at the physics of reproduction at the subatomic level? The physics of the spark of creation (let there be man, one man, a son) and all that must happen and exist for him to exist? And when you tap into all that exists, its structure, you see the mathematics. Everything that must exist for that one man to exist. The mathematics is like a long string of DNA. It connects everything because everything is connected. The father creating the son, and the holy spirit is the math.

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Lori Fast's avatar

That's beautiful. Thank you. My oldest is studying particle physics, and I understand none of it but find it fascinating!

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