Quantum future

[TheSnake]

Einstein just couldn't believe that physics had a statistical nature to it, but I think he eventually came around.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by TheSnake

Einstein just couldn't believe that physics had a statistical nature to it, but I think he eventually came around.

Everything is statistical.

Is joke. I work at SPSS.

[TheSnake]

Originally Posted by dar512

Everything is statistical.

Is joke. I work at SPSS.

I don't quite understand what you said by your incomplete sentences. Look, it's hard to know if the people responding to what I say have a science background or not, but some of what you people say perplex me. Like the post about statistical vs. probabilistic??

This might start a new path of discussion, Einstein was somewhat overrated as a scientist. He had a lot of backup from other prominent scientists at the time. I'm not saying that he didn't have some creative ideas, but much of his historical image has been hyped.

[russotto]

To say that something is probabilistic is to say that it is not deterministic, that it depends on random events. That's what Einstein had a problem with.

He had no problem with physics following statistical laws, provided the individual variations could be explained in a deterministic manner. That is, if half the photons in a particular experiment went one way, and half the other, there must have been something different about those sets of photons in the first place.

As for Einstein being overrated... when I can get my mind around General Relativity for more than a half-second or two, I might consider the possibility. Until then I'm probably not qualified to judge.

[tw]

Originally Posted by TheSnake

Einstein just couldn't believe that physics had a statistical nature to it, but I think he eventually came around.

Einstein had much trouble grappling with the concepts of Quantum Physics. For example, Oppenheimer had to explain Feynman Diagrams to Einstein who for the longest time was not willing to accept them.

Einstein desperately wanted to understand the relationships between electromagnetic and gravity - the unified equation. Much of this still eludes us due to massive ignorance of Quantum Physics. Again, this is why the Haldron particle accelerator in Europe will be so important and why the super collider is TX was even moreso essential to the advancement of mankind. It is why so many robot satellites are necessary to obtain concepts we cannot measure or detect on earth. It is why the redirection of funds for political gain in science (rather than technical accomplishment) is so destructive to mankind advancement.

The point is so much of what we are trying to accomplish - from fuel efficient cars and less pollution, understand the mystery that was once called cold fusion, advanced communication and computing, new supermaterials and super conductors, better application of limited energy reserves, etc all have basic mysteries found in an exotic science called Quantum Physics.

[russotto]

It wasn't the statistical nature of QM which bothered Einstein; it was the probabilistic nature.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by russotto

It wasn't the statistical nature of QM which bothered Einstein; it was the probabilistic nature.

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