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RTT
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"As all good textbooks of quantum mechanics have to emphasize and clarify in one way or another, it is critically important that one avoids the assumption that even before the measurement, any of the quantities that may be observed later already have some objective, particular values."
Imagine I encountered a forest and decided to count its trees. Is there or isn't there a certain, predetermined number of trees already there? If you say that the number of trees is unknown before they are counted - how do you know someone didn't count them before me? More importantly, to me - how can that be true? Trees grow over many years - they are not a figment of my imagination, right? I feel that I am in danger of totally misinterpreting this basic aspect of quantum theory.
Does this example work any differently?: I draw a line segment on a piece of paper. Does it or does it not have a predetermined length that could be measured? Classical physics says it does, provided you know the velocity of my hand, the resistance of the surface, etc. But does QM disagree? How so? I feel intuitively that I am off track with my questioning - that QM aren't meant to be extrapolated to this type of scenario - but if that's the case, can someone help me get back on track?
Imagine I encountered a forest and decided to count its trees. Is there or isn't there a certain, predetermined number of trees already there? If you say that the number of trees is unknown before they are counted - how do you know someone didn't count them before me? More importantly, to me - how can that be true? Trees grow over many years - they are not a figment of my imagination, right? I feel that I am in danger of totally misinterpreting this basic aspect of quantum theory.
Does this example work any differently?: I draw a line segment on a piece of paper. Does it or does it not have a predetermined length that could be measured? Classical physics says it does, provided you know the velocity of my hand, the resistance of the surface, etc. But does QM disagree? How so? I feel intuitively that I am off track with my questioning - that QM aren't meant to be extrapolated to this type of scenario - but if that's the case, can someone help me get back on track?