- #1
CyberShot
- 133
- 2
I was recently watching a video about the double slit experiment that said if we fire electrons one by one, the QM superposition principle says that the single electron goes through both holes, goes through one, vice versa, and none all at the same time. i.e a Superposition of states.
However, it really, really bothers me how much this seems to not be a true depiction of reality, but instead nothing more than a mathematical abstraction.
Think of when we calculate population averages, and we come up with decimal values. Obviously, we can't have fractional humans (we could, but it's not truly allowed) so the answer isn't physical. It's only a mathematical way to visualize the solution. Much like the superposition principle, it doesn't occur in reality but only serves to help physicists wrap their head around the intangible.
Thus, I get the feeling that physics is all about "making the equations conform to observation", kind of like filling in a puzzle piece as one sees fit. That's a very distasteful, boring way to go about science, in my opinion.
..or Maybe quantum mechanics is not supposed to be an entirely physical theory, at least not yet?
However, it really, really bothers me how much this seems to not be a true depiction of reality, but instead nothing more than a mathematical abstraction.
Think of when we calculate population averages, and we come up with decimal values. Obviously, we can't have fractional humans (we could, but it's not truly allowed) so the answer isn't physical. It's only a mathematical way to visualize the solution. Much like the superposition principle, it doesn't occur in reality but only serves to help physicists wrap their head around the intangible.
Thus, I get the feeling that physics is all about "making the equations conform to observation", kind of like filling in a puzzle piece as one sees fit. That's a very distasteful, boring way to go about science, in my opinion.
..or Maybe quantum mechanics is not supposed to be an entirely physical theory, at least not yet?