Is mankind heading for disaster?

a reply to: Phage

Quantum theory says otherwise, where an unobserved electron behaves like a wave but when observed decides to be a particle (unless all last week of trying to get my head around the magic in Quantum theory is now outdated ?)

a reply to: Discotech

Quantum theory says otherwise, where an unobserved electron behaves like a wave but when observed decides to be a particle

False.

a reply to: Phage

Quantum Theory Demonstrated: Observation Affects Reality

A Nobel prize for being in two places at once

The scientists are lying ?

I hope they took away his nobel prize for the false science

originally posted by: Discotech
a reply to: Phage

Quantum Theory Demonstrated: Observation Affects Reality

A Nobel prize for being in two places at once

The scientists are lying ?

I hope they took away his nobel prize for the false science

That is HOW it was observed and WHAT was used to stimulate it. Not simply looking at it.

a reply to: Discotech

The scientists are lying ?

No.
Nor did they say that an unobserved electron behaves as a wave but when observed decides to behave like a particle. What they say is that (in 1998) a prediction of quantum mechanics was demonstrated. The prediction that any attempt to "observe" a particle would affect the observation. In a way it's a simple concept. A photon is so small that just the act of measuring it will affect it.

That measurement does not require human observation. Did you notice, that the article places the word "observed" in quotes?

Does thinking about it change anything? No.

a reply to: reldra

In other words, the mere act of observation determines which form they take and even what reality is.

Not my words, the words of the article

If they shined the beam for the right amount of time, the atom would have a 50-50 chance of moving. In quantum mechanics, this 50-50 chance is called a "superposition," and is best known from the whimsical example, named for the Austrian physicist Schroedinger, of an imaginary cat. Imagine that a cat is locked in a box with a radioactive atom, Schroedinger said, and that the atom has a 50-50 chance of decaying in one minute. If it decays, it emits a particle that hits a vial of cyanide and releases the poisonous gas, killing the cat.
After a minute has passed, is kitty alive or dead? According to "superposition", the atom is in a combined state of intact and decayed, and so is kitty - in a superposition of alive and dead. Only when an observer looks into the box does one of the possibilities - alive or dead - become reality.

Guess it's all BS though right and let's not even get started with spooky action at a distance

a reply to: Discotech

Only when an observer looks into the box does one of the possibilities - alive or dead - become reality.

That was an effort by Schrodinger to demonstrate the weirdness of quantum mechanics but the thing is, quantum mechanics does not involve anything as large as a cat.

In any case, did you notice that the point was that there is no way of knowing if the cat is dead or alive until you open the box? Nowhere is it implied that the act of opening the box would determine the state of the cat. Whether or not you think about it.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Discotech

Only when an observer looks into the box does one of the possibilities - alive or dead - become reality.

That was an effort by Schrodinger to demonstrate the weirdness of quantum mechanics but the thing is, quantum mechanics does not involve anything as large as a cat.

In any case, did you notice that the point was that there is no way of knowing if the cat is dead or alive until you open the box? Nowhere is it implied that the act of opening the box would determine the state of the cat. Whether or not you think about it.

Perfectly explained.. the cat exists in both states until observed..

a reply to: miniatus
Which may apply to an electron. But not a cat.
Except that an electron can't be alive. Or dead, I guess.

Internet = Current, Tragic, Information Overload. It's the nature of the beast.

Mainstream news web sites love to report the worst of the worst, probably because it generates the most traffic for their advertisers. People click on the bad news links, which feeds the cycle and gives them a negative view of the world's current events.

If a person mostly reads inspiring stories and articles rather than the ugly stuff that's out there, they may develop a more positive opinion of our current world.

In reality, things in the past have been worse. Go back to early 1940's Germany for instance, and ask those folks what they think about the world!

The difference back then was the ability to suppress the bad news which skewed the public's perception of a situation.

Now, absolutely anyone can do a play by play account of a crisis in progress with just a phone and a facebook/twitter account. Also, we have the entirety of the world's knowledge accessible to us within an instant. It's incredible!

One modern issue that disturbs me is this:

The "I want to know now" mentality that the internet is responsible for has thinned our level of patience and compassion for each other. I see this play out and affect situations in so many ways. Some may consider it progress, but at what cost?

/Rambling Reply

"Is mankind heading for disaster?"

Could be if we do not learn by our mistakes

But we are hard wired to survive ... we can survive in a good way or the alternative

We have a chance and have always had a chance until perhaps we have a last chance

There are so many tragedy's in the world ... they happen to us personally and also on a global scale

I guess it is up to all of us ... we are all in this rocky boat together and yet alone

The news is full of gloom and doom and it can seem all is lost or it can be viewed as a great challenge

Do what you can do on a personal level ... help that old lady cross the road safely ... and already it is a better world for both you and her
I believe in people and we can turn tragedy from disaster and reaach our potetial

When I hand my love in I'll be done.
A handed glove hides the door.

Half a chance - Half a chance.
We still have a chance.

Mr. Full, Mr. Have.
Kills Mr. Empty Hand.

Half a chance - Half a chance.
We still have a chance.

Lyrics from "Half" by Soundgarden from the Superunknown album

a reply to: wantsome

Well...Im in Dearborn just south of ya...and I hear the same echos of shots you heard last night...Everyday...its more and more...and with a wider media...news and updates everywhere...we cant escape the latest things happening.

The end has been coming for a long time...and yes, this is just the beginnings of it...and its more and more everyday, everywhere.

As a 1st Responder...I should be retired by the time the bodies stack up or the injured are crying out for help. Sad to say...but its how we feel...and Im not alone in that. Search n Rescue, Police, Fire, Emergency Workers, Nurses, Doctors etc...

Now why do we feel like this? Because as much as we want to and do...everyday...help those who need it...we soon wont be able to...there will be just too many....

But, we will as long as we can!

MS
EMT/ERT
1st Responder
Advanced Disaster Life Support

a reply to: Phage

Ok .... perhaps it is You who are not tapping into your full potential thus, shifting how you use your higher mind.

the realities of life are a harsh one. if we didnt have tv reporters and armies defending themselves we wouldnt know where the next big tragic attacks come from and would face annihilation. Its easy to be shocked into not caring at all what happens, same with the other way of caring too much. We need to keep faith in each other (the sane ones) that we can get through life, helping each other in spite of tragedies overload.

This video easily and clearly explains the famous and revolutionary 'double slit experiment' conducted by physicists, so you can see for yourself how it reveals, without a shadow of a doubt, that we as observers, create physical reality. Physicists have shown through a number of lab experiments that electrons are not solid particles after all, but are rather in a wave form which they call 'quanta,' hence this branch of science is called 'quantum physics'.

What physicists have remarkably discovered, especially through the famous 'double slit experiment' (see video above), is that as soon as you try to measure or observe an electron in its finest form, its nature changes. It instantaneously collapses from wave form into a particle that is in a specific place, space and time. They call this process 'collapsing the wave function,' and it is known in the scientific field as 'the measurement problem' - because an atom is not seen in a specific location until you try to measure it. Unobserved, it spreads itself out in wave form and is not seen.

Now since electrons are the core element, the building blocks of all matter including our reality and every 'solid' object in it, if we apply this to our physical 'reality' of time and space, quantum physics has proven that reality therefore collapses as soon as we stop observing it. It is important to note that this process does not only apply to the electrons, but also the nucleus, molecules and whole atoms.

a reply to: awareness10

Excellent video!

a reply to: Quantum12

Thankyou for that Q

a reply to: awareness10

Whenever we are not looking at something it is not there.

Mankind is heading toward evolving either through artificial super intelligence or radical genetic modification. You can consider that a "disaster," I guess. But it's a result of us being extremely clever and ambitious and filled with a desire to protect our loved ones.

Things change. Duh.