17 ms·

I'd be wary of it, I haven't read the whole thing but it seems suspicious, least of which is that he comes off as if he fully understands QM. I only know so mu

I'd be wary of it, I haven't read the whole thing but it seems suspicious, least of which is that he comes off as if he fully understands QM. I only know so much about QM, but I do know that no one fully understands it, and that in attempting to sound deep, the author of this paper misattributed a classic Zen koan to Douglas Hofstadter.

Nwallins 17y ago
I certainly can't attest to its correctness, but I found it insightful and thought-provoking. As to the misattribution, the paper reads: The best I can offer as an answer to that question is a Zen koan from Douglas Hofstadter: It seems to me he is describing Hofstadter as the conduit and not the origin.
- lisper 17y ago
  I got it from GEB. Hofstadter doesn't attribute it, so I just assumed it was original with him. (And frankly I'd be surprised if you found any references to Zen Master Zeno prior to GEB.)
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
  - gjm11 17y ago
    It is not original to Hofstadter; it comes from the Mumonkan: http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/29.html http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/29.html . Of course the original doesn't call the sixth patriarch "Zeno"; it leaves him unnamed. (The sixth patriarch actually appears to have been called Huineng: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate#Case_29:_Huineng.27s_flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate#Case_29:_Huin... .)
Eliezer 17y ago
http://lesswrong.com/lw/r6/an_intuitive_explanation_of_quantum_mechanics/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/r6/an_intuitive_explanation_of_quant... "There's a widespread belief that quantum mechanics is supposed to be confusing. This is not a good frame of mind for either a teacher or a student. Complicated math can be difficult but it is never, ever allowed to be confusing."
lisper 17y ago
That paper has been reviewed at one time or another by at least a dozen card-carrying physicists, including Jeff Kimble and John Preskill at Caltech (who are the ones who actually helped me figure all this stuff out). Reactions range from, "Oh my God, what a revelation!" to "Duh. Everybody already knows that." But I have yet to encounter anyone who knows what they're doing who thinks it's wrong.
rimantas 17y ago
In the first QM lecture we were told that one cannot understand quantum mechanics, but can get used to it.

Nwallins 17y ago

I certainly can't attest to its correctness, but I found it insightful and thought-provoking. As to the misattribution, the paper reads: The best I can offer as an answer to that question is a Zen koan from Douglas Hofstadter: It seems to me he is describing Hofstadter as the conduit and not the origin.

lisper 17y ago
I got it from GEB. Hofstadter doesn't attribute it, so I just assumed it was original with him. (And frankly I'd be surprised if you found any references to Zen Master Zeno prior to GEB.)
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
- gjm11 17y ago
  It is not original to Hofstadter; it comes from the Mumonkan: http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/29.html http://www.ibiblio.org/zen/gateless-gate/29.html . Of course the original doesn't call the sixth patriarch "Zeno"; it leaves him unnamed. (The sixth patriarch actually appears to have been called Huineng: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate#Case_29:_Huineng.27s_flag http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate#Case_29:_Huin... .)

Eliezer 17y ago

http://lesswrong.com/lw/r6/an_intuitive_explanation_of_quantum_mechanics/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/r6/an_intuitive_explanation_of_quant... "There's a widespread belief that quantum mechanics is supposed to be confusing. This is not a good frame of mind for either a teacher or a student. Complicated math can be difficult but it is never, ever allowed to be confusing."

lisper 17y ago

That paper has been reviewed at one time or another by at least a dozen card-carrying physicists, including Jeff Kimble and John Preskill at Caltech (who are the ones who actually helped me figure all this stuff out). Reactions range from, "Oh my God, what a revelation!" to "Duh. Everybody already knows that." But I have yet to encounter anyone who knows what they're doing who thinks it's wrong.

rimantas 17y ago

In the first QM lecture we were told that one cannot understand quantum mechanics, but can get used to it.