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It seems that the scientific method has led us to a theory that is beautiful, accurate, and yet utterly incomprehensible. Until we can explain exactly what happ
by brianberns 10y ago
It seems that the scientific method has led us to a theory that is beautiful, accurate, and yet utterly incomprehensible. Until we can explain exactly what happens during a wave function collapse, I think QM will remain that way.
- evanb 10y agoWave functions do not collapse in the realist view, as explained in the article. The cost, however, is a giant explosion of alternate possibilities all having equal reality, summed in superposition. But, the point is, there is at least one interpretation of QM where the wavefunction never collapses: it just evolves unitarily according to the Schrodinger equation, forever.
- akvadrako 10y agoIt doesn't seem that way to me. Decoherence is understood pretty well; although not every detail is completely worked out it explains our experience and the subjective appearance of collapse. It's just approximate though and hence we get quantum interference. The reason you think it's incomprehensible is that a lot of smart people have trouble accepting what we called reality is only one of many classical "worlds". It's a philosophical concern; technically there are no major issues and it's not that hard to understand. The reality of QM won't be commonly accepted until we find a way for people to accept that the universe isn't what they expected or we change their expectations.