- #1
tulems
- 2
- 0
Hi,
I know that there are numerous threads about this, and I've also read several papers about it on the web. Still, I don't understand how the far-reaching conclusions of QM follow from the setup or results of the double-slit experiment. If anyone here has the patience to explain in non-technical terms why he/she accepts these conclusions, I'd be very grateful!
So here's how I understand it. You shoot individual photons at a screen with two slits, one at a time. You expect the distribution of hits to be 50/50. Instead, the distribution is what you'd expect from a wave, not a particle.
For starters, how do you know that you're shooting only one particle? Maybe your particle gun is shooting additional unknown particles, which cause the wave pattern? Why trust the particle gun? Why trust any device in this experiment for that matter, if you're going to be skeptical enough as to accept the ultra-weird premises of QM? If reality is what QM says it is, then that's the way it is on any scale, not just the quantum scale. Every particle in this experiment is "weird" before we shoot the photons. Why do you accept that the gun, the screen etc. are "classical", and stable enough to serve as a background for the weird QM behavior?
Thanks for your patience, T.
I know that there are numerous threads about this, and I've also read several papers about it on the web. Still, I don't understand how the far-reaching conclusions of QM follow from the setup or results of the double-slit experiment. If anyone here has the patience to explain in non-technical terms why he/she accepts these conclusions, I'd be very grateful!
So here's how I understand it. You shoot individual photons at a screen with two slits, one at a time. You expect the distribution of hits to be 50/50. Instead, the distribution is what you'd expect from a wave, not a particle.
For starters, how do you know that you're shooting only one particle? Maybe your particle gun is shooting additional unknown particles, which cause the wave pattern? Why trust the particle gun? Why trust any device in this experiment for that matter, if you're going to be skeptical enough as to accept the ultra-weird premises of QM? If reality is what QM says it is, then that's the way it is on any scale, not just the quantum scale. Every particle in this experiment is "weird" before we shoot the photons. Why do you accept that the gun, the screen etc. are "classical", and stable enough to serve as a background for the weird QM behavior?
Thanks for your patience, T.