[extropy-chat] FWD (SK) Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

[Mike Lorrey]

It is essentially that there are more than one characteristic of a
quantum particle. The uncertainty principle states that if you observe
the value of one characteristic, the act of observation disturbs the
particle, such that you can never know what the original values of the
other characteristics were.

For example, if you observe the position of a particle, you cannot know
what its spin was before you observed the position (and vice versa).

It is not physically possible to observe a particle without receiving
some amount of information from it. That information requires some type
of broadcast via energy or other particles. This causes the change in
characteristics. 

Nor is 'observation' dependent upon human beings to observe.
Chlorophyll observes the wavelength of photons all day long without a
human around, else trees would not live.

--- "Terry W. Colvin" <fortean1 at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Can anyone here (especially someone with physics credentials) give me
> a 
> good layman's explanation of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?

It is essentially that there are more than 
> 
> When I do a web search, I get some sites saying that we simply don't 
> have the tools required to view delicate sub-atomic structures
> without 
> disturbing them. One page claimed that, for instance, observation 
> requires light, and photons striking the subject disturbs it.
> 
> However, some other articles assert that it is the act of human 
> observation, no matter what technology we use, which affects the 
> outcome. This interpretation is favored by mystics, who claim it is 
> proof that reality is subjective.
> 
> Any help on this would be very much appreciated.
> 
> -- 
> Jonathan
> 
> 
> -- 
> "Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992,
> Frank Rice
> 
> 
> Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) <
> fortean1 at mindspring.com >
>      Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
> Home Page: < http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/8958/index.html
> >
> Sites: * Fortean Times * Mystic's Haven * TLCB *
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=====
Mike Lorrey
Chairman, Free Town Land Development
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                       - Gen. John Stark
Sado-Mikeyism: http://mikeysoft.zblogger.com

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