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Huge pet peeve of mine is when writers use analogies to describe technology or science instead of writing what actually happened. I think I read somewhere once

Huge pet peeve of mine is when writers use analogies to describe technology or science instead of writing what actually happened. I think I read somewhere once, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." which seems to ring true with these artful descriptions of mechanical things.

Pharmakon 8y ago
I think that’s probably a rephrasing of Einstein’s alleged quote, ”It should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid.” That quote as relayed by de Brolgie seems to have mutated quite a bit, changing the meaning to something more general. Of course it’s also worth pointing out that Quantum Mechanics sort of throw a superposition of wrenches into that puppy.
- everdev 8y ago
  > Quantum Mechanics sort of throw a superposition of wrenches into that puppy Maybe because we don't understand it enough quite yet! I'm sure gravity was hard to explain when it was first being talked about.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    Rough idea for a barmaid-level explanation: "Quantum mechanics pop up because the stuff we're made of isn't very small balls. It's really a manifestation of waves. How can something that's made of waves behave like particles? Let me show you: [proceeds to pull out a length of cable, tying one end of it to some structure] [proceeds to wave the other end, creating a wave on the cable, pointing out how the peaks move forward] [proceeds to wave faster, creating a standing wave, pointing out the nodes] Roughly like this. You can think of the moving peak, or the standing node, as particles - stationary or in motion. They're not really there, but you can point to them and name them. Now all the weird stuff that quantum mechanics is about - quantum tunneling, double slit experiments, etc. - appear when you stop looking at particles, and start doing the math on the underlying waves."

Pharmakon 8y ago

I think that’s probably a rephrasing of Einstein’s alleged quote, ”It should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid.” That quote as relayed by de Brolgie seems to have mutated quite a bit, changing the meaning to something more general. Of course it’s also worth pointing out that Quantum Mechanics sort of throw a superposition of wrenches into that puppy.

everdev 8y ago
> Quantum Mechanics sort of throw a superposition of wrenches into that puppy Maybe because we don't understand it enough quite yet! I'm sure gravity was hard to explain when it was first being talked about.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  Rough idea for a barmaid-level explanation: "Quantum mechanics pop up because the stuff we're made of isn't very small balls. It's really a manifestation of waves. How can something that's made of waves behave like particles? Let me show you: [proceeds to pull out a length of cable, tying one end of it to some structure] [proceeds to wave the other end, creating a wave on the cable, pointing out how the peaks move forward] [proceeds to wave faster, creating a standing wave, pointing out the nodes] Roughly like this. You can think of the moving peak, or the standing node, as particles - stationary or in motion. They're not really there, but you can point to them and name them. Now all the weird stuff that quantum mechanics is about - quantum tunneling, double slit experiments, etc. - appear when you stop looking at particles, and start doing the math on the underlying waves."