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The Alien explains quantum superposition through a concrete example
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| Come Schrodinger, let's do a thought experiment with your cat! | |
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An indeterminacy originally restricted to the atomic domain becomes transformed into macroscopic indeterminacy....which can then be resolved by direct observation.
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| Just to make things interesting, we'll put your cat in the chamber with a Geiger counter, a little Carbon 14, and a relay that releases a hammer that shatters a small flask of hydrocyanic acid. | |
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| My cat...14C...hydro what???? | |
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Since release of an atomic particle is a quantum event, the results are indeterminate until we make an observation. Thus, the cat will be simultaneously dead and alive until we open the chamber.
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| We'll put just enough 14C in the chamber so that in 1hr. the chances of an atom decaying are equal to no atom decaying. | |
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| It's a chance to play God, because the cat will be in an indeterimant state until you force the issue by opening the chamber. | |
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