Science Memes

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Literally exactly how it works, too. (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 hours ago by ivanafterall@lemmy.world to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[–] jwiggler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 42 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

I was curious, so I went to Wikipedia, as one does.

A notable example of the observer effect occurs in quantum mechanics, as demonstrated by the double-slit experiment. Physicists have found that observation of quantum phenomena by a detector or an instrument can change the measured results of this experiment. Despite the "observer effect" in the double-slit experiment being caused by the presence of an electronic detector, the experiment's results have been interpreted by some to suggest that a conscious mind can directly affect reality.[3] However, the need for the "observer" to be conscious is not supported by scientific research, and has been pointed out as a misconception rooted in a poor understanding of the quantum wave function ψ and the quantum measurement process

Edit: erhm. this isnt an ad for Wikipedia. the words just shook out that way. lol

[–] BillyClark@piefed.social 17 points 5 hours ago (3 children)

If anybody still doesn't understand, when the wave function collapses, that is called observation. Again, from Wikipedia:

In various interpretations of quantum mechanics, wave function collapse, also called reduction of the state vector, occurs when a wave function—initially in a superposition of several eigenstates—reduces to a single eigenstate due to interaction with the external world. This interaction is called an observation and is the essence of a measurement in quantum mechanics, which connects the wave function with classical observables such as position and momentum.

Physics has this problem with naming things. They use words like "particle", "observation", and "spin", among others, which are words that every English speaker knows, but then they use those words to describe stuff that's actually only similar to the words everybody knows. This makes physics a lot more approachable for people who know nothing, but then completely confuses people with only a little knowledge.

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 1 points 41 minutes ago

This makes physics a lot more approachable for people who know nothing, but then completely confuses people with only a little knowledge.

My favorite example of this is the use of "stress" and "strain". In common language they're synonyms, but in Physics they're definitely not.

[–] dalekcaan@feddit.nl 3 points 2 hours ago

"Theory" is another bad one in all of science. That's what leads knuckleheads from saying dumb shit like "evolution is just a theory!"

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 hours ago

In general, I agree, but spin is quite surprising in how much like angular momentum and dynamos it behaves. Either way, we don't know enough about it yet, and it's at best a coincidence.