Comments
King_of_the_Hobos t1_j25l5u0 wrote
I greatly appreciate the scientific correction at the beginning. This is starting to become the new "WhAt iF wE uSeD 100% oF oUr BrAiN?"
HardcoreMandolinist t1_j26w8ze wrote
You're saying that the 100% of your brain thing is bullshit, right?
If you use 100% of your brain at once you're having a seizure.
To clarify it's the fact that we're not using all of our brain at once that gives it any meaning. I would be kind of like finding a meaningful message in a string of 86 Billion ones and not a single zero. There is no meaning, it's just... on.
To be fair this is an oversimplification and I'm not qualified to explain it much better but it is a fallacy that using all of our brain would be beneficial.
King_of_the_Hobos t1_j270d7e wrote
> You're saying that the 100% of your brain thing is bullshit, right?
I'm referring to the "We only use 10 percent of our brains" thing. There was even a movie about it with Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansenn called Lucy where she unlocks the ability to "use 100 percent of her brain" and becomes some kind of god lol
HardcoreMandolinist t1_j27aijq wrote
Yeah, I remember that.
From a scientific stand point the premise was all kinds of flawed. It makes for cool sci-fi but personally I reject the idea of actually using it as sci-fi because too many people believe that it's actually plausible and it just perpetuates bad science ideas.
I just did a search on this subject and this article from psychology today was the first one I clicked on. It just so happens to make reference to Lucy.
Padgriffin t1_j272j37 wrote
There’s an SCP where a bunch of guys managed to use 100% of their brains- and most of them promptly died when their automatic functions shut off. The last guy managed to survive through sheer force of will before they found him and hooked him up to life support, but he’s still basically catatonic due to having to manage stuff like stomach digestion and what not
jflb96 t1_j278992 wrote
There’s a Discworld book where Death gets forcibly retired just before he’s meant to collect an old wizard, who then shocks his colleagues by turning up the day after his wake* and greeting them at breakfast with the words ‘does anyone know what a spleen does?’
*As wizards know when they’re going to die, or at least get enough advance warning to take out some large loans and empty their wine cellars, their wakes tend to take place building up to the event in question.
AJMansfield_ t1_j27hj0n wrote
Did you know your car only ever uses 25% of its engine?
[deleted] t1_j26vusi wrote
[deleted]
gabeheadman t1_j24sjfp wrote
I love the shit you write. Goddamnit.
Surinical t1_j24zh1x wrote
Thanks friend!
The-dude-in-the-bush t1_j25te52 wrote
That was such a crazy read. Totally wasn't expecting the twist at the end. It also expanded my perspective on the prompt. I presumed it to be one sided. Like the universe does it's quantum physics shenanigans as normal and only the MC can see the interesting stuff that scientists would otherwise need equipment for. This however makes the universe sentient. Now what I wanna know, is who is this quantum apparition that the universe itself is communicating a warning?
jackiethewitch t1_j25t59u wrote
Can you explain the ending to me? I don't get the fuzzy coyote thing.
Surinical t1_j25w6y5 wrote
The universe doesn't flag the protagonist as an observer, so the things that always hang just out of sight don't hide from him.
jackiethewitch t1_j25x93q wrote
No, I understand quantum physics and the coin being in a superstate until the wave function collapsed by his friend turning around. (queue Feynman's "Anybody who thinks they understand Quantum Mechanics does not understand Quantum Mechanics.") What I don't get is what the protagonist sees at the end.
That's what is frustrating to me here -- I love your story. I love how you wrote it, and the scientific accuracy of the explanation and the coin. I have no idea what happens at the end. (or perhaps more accurately, what probabilities the protagonist saw before the end.)
Surinical t1_j25xeyg wrote
The coyote is the thing that hangs always out of sight. Not a reference to real science. The message is from some benevolent entity warning him to not let the coyote know he can see it or it will recognize him as an observer.
jackiethewitch t1_j25xvoh wrote
> The coyote is the thing that hangs always out of sight.
Is this a pop culture reference I'm missing? (I live on pop culture references, that embarasses me.)
Surinical t1_j25ym0y wrote
A few horror stories and movies are based around a monster that thinks it's invisible and the characters have to act like they don't see it while hiding how terrified they are, so I thought I would work that concept into this.
Dale shivers as the coyote approaches to show he somewhat can sense it, maybe as a feeling of being watched. So the coyote is what causes that hurry up and close the door feeling we get sometimes when it's dark and quiet.
There's not really much 'to get' that you're missing. I just thought it was an interesting concept.
jackiethewitch t1_j261j5a wrote
> I just thought it was an interesting concept.
It was. Interesting enough that I was very bothered by not understanding it.
So it's supposed to be something of a mystery -- some supernaturalquantum mythological horror being.
Surinical t1_j261peb wrote
Yes, that's what I intended, for the reader to be confused alongside the protagonist
QuinticSpline t1_j26sop5 wrote
>So the coyote is what causes that hurry up and close the door feeling we get sometimes when it's dark and quiet.
... did you just curse us all?
GalaxyTachyon t1_j28gc03 wrote
Sounds like a Tindalos hound, or subconsciously inspired by it. A canine hidden in the depth of spacetime.
bigloser42 t1_j26ulxg wrote
Not a reference to real science that you know of. Those of us that have unlocked the deep mysteries of quantum mechanics know better, and we all turn away to avoid going mad.
GalaxyTachyon t1_j28g6hd wrote
In a way, Lovecraft was right. The true reality of the universe is maddening. Quantum mechanics is just the first glimpse we have into the depth of the truth. Imagine what else we will see later on, and what kind of things lie at the bottom of the abyss.
Right now it almost takes a madman to comprehend and work with QM. I think we literally need a real mad man to go beyond it.
Physix_R_Cool t1_j26spu0 wrote
>and the scientific accuracy of the explanation and the coin.
It's not that accurate though. Even though the coin is in a superposition, all the individual states will still fall, so there's no reason that the coin should be hanging in the air.
jackiethewitch t1_j28t960 wrote
Username checks out!
You're right. The coin should have fallen. On both sides. And its edge.
Physix_R_Cool t1_j28yf1e wrote
In real actuality the coin would just act as a normal classical object, since the environment will act as observer.
Fontaigne t1_j26anih wrote
>Dale looked at me[, ] baffled[, ] then all around.
>Dale stuck a hand through its face as it sniffed him to scratch his beard.
Looks like it's sniffing him to scratch his beard. Perhaps move the reason earlier?
>Dale moved to scratch his beard, and stuck a hand through its face where it was sniffing him.
>Don't show it [that] you can see it.
HardcoreMandolinist t1_j26x4e3 wrote
>Dale scratched his beard, his hand moving through its face as it sniffed him.
Fontaigne t1_j2di1h9 wrote
That's better, yes.
farnsmootys t1_j26rl9f wrote
> "What?" he said. "You're helping me clean this up, you know?"
I had to re-read the end a few times to understand.
Originally I thought Dave was like a Men-In-Black sort of agent whose sidekick is the Coyote Mummy and the twist is that they're here to sus out and "clean up" the anomalous protagonist.
But if I'm reading this correctly, Dave can't actually see the Coyote Mummy and when he says "clean this up", Dave's just talking to the protagonist about the spilled drink.
Surinical t1_j26tnop wrote
Correct
MagicTech547 t1_j25dwa1 wrote
Nice!
MrRedoot55 t1_j25xu8q wrote
Good job.
Horny4theEnvironment t1_j26l5xy wrote
You paint a really good picture! It was like watching a show in my head
Th3Glutt0n t1_j27q3zo wrote
Well I wasn't expecting sci-fi to horror in this, but for some reason it doesn't surprise me
SirPiecemaker t1_j24w32w wrote
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Sorta.
I was born with this... thing. I'm not an active observer in the eyes of the universe. I know, I know - it sounds ridiculous, but here's the brunt of it. Things only happen when there is an active observer of that given event... apparently. The countless scientists that have flocked around me since my birth keep saying things of that nature but I'll be damned if I understand them. Something about quantum physics. And since, for whatever reason, I do not count as an observer, I know what happens when things lie somewhere between happening and not happening. So, what is it?
It's weird. And it's beautiful.
I've flipped a coin when no one was around and called heads, tails, and falling on its edge. I was correct. I've heard Schrödinger's cat meow in that box, knowing it was and was not dead. I have unironically answered something with 'yesn't'. But most importantly, I've seen the cracks.
When things go unobserved long enough, these breaks start to form, almost as if reality was about to fracture. It's like glass that's been cracked and the rift is slowly expanding as you hear the creaking noise, knowing it can give at any moment. Every time it gets too big, someone or something comes along to observe it and - it was never there. Always wondered what would happen if one of those... broke. Truly and completely. Maybe one already has and I don't know it.
There's one behind your left ear right now, you know?
Oh, don't worry. Someone will come along soon enough. Or just use a mirror. You won't see it there. It will never have been there.
Anyway! I really should get going. Another round of tests back at the lab. Thanks for the coffee.
I'll be seeing you.
Metaphorically speaking.
Inqeuet t1_j28h845 wrote
AUGH that was mean with the crack lmao
GrunkleStanwhich t1_j252yz0 wrote
"The world is as we perceive it." At least, thats what dad always used to say, but then again dad never saw much himself. Cataracts, he had. From a young age I would wind up describing to him how we would both end up perceiving the world. The color of the cars on the freeway. The shape of the milk crates at the store. How the eyes in the walls stared at us, unblinking. How the world shifted and groaned when others looked away. The wires that held us all together, like puppets of flesh. Where my father could see nothing, I saw everything.
And then my father would always say, "You sure it's not you who needs your eyes checked boy?" and laugh. But I was not laughing.
The world was made of mishaped pieces all desperately trying to find a place they fit. I guess that led to plenty of pieces that didn't, and for one reason or another I could see those pieces. One moment the road was road, the next the pavement flowed like a blackened river down stream. My father was my father, then he was just fleshy shapes resembling what the man once was.
I still remember the day I saw a building collapse in on itself. Not because it happened, but because I knew it would. The pieces didn't fit together smoothly. They had decayed into misshapen bits like a game of Jenga long into its lifespan. Others could not see it, but it was so clear to me. Then, poof, the game was lost and the pieces sat piled up on the floor.
Life was different for me, always was. In buildings walls shifted until comfortable, the floors melted, ceilings flew around as birds on a wire. But even those things had become the normal to me.
When that building fell, however, I began to ask: If the world is as we perceive it, then how does it perceive us?
MagicTech547 t1_j25dj3p wrote
Nice!
GrunkleStanwhich t1_j26lcfk wrote
Thanks!
turnaround0101 t1_j24twxj wrote
I have a habit. My habit is perfectly sane, utterly normal, as are all customs a man might have that pertain to lunch. Every day at noon, not 11:59, not 12:01, but directly on the dot of noon, I fold my jacket on my chair, put my overworked computer to sleep, and step out into the street with my lunchbox in my left hand.
Left. Left hand and a left turn and objects fuzzing out into left field as my perfectly sane habit begins to dissolve. At 12:05—what would be 12:05, if the clocks had not stopped—I sit on the edge of a fountain in the nearby square and watch the water as it goes still. And then, only then, after the currents are done eddying, do I unpack my tuna sandwich and look out at what has become of the world.
It is 12:08, and this is what I see:
A thin line of smoke trails through the open window of a food truck selling wood-fired pizzas to haze a couple arguing beneath the window, their faces like hastily sketched lines; a child running too close to a public art exhibit has fallen and scraped his knee, instead of crying he stares down at the torn skin and imagines, very bravely, that he is a soldier; a man seated on a telescoping stool plays the soprano saxophone, his eyes all squeezed up with what I can only assume is love; fat pigeons crowd around an old woman’s frayed skirts; dogs fight; red streetlights gleam like omens; a plane flying far above us has its landing gear stuck only partially retracted, the black specks of tires slung beneath its bole like rotten fruit; men watch women; women eye those same men carefully, and frozen as they are they look like rabbits in a field, standing still in case the stalking cat has not yet seen them.
By 12:42 I have finished my sandwich, crackers, and half a diet coke. The world has narrowed to a pair of slits. I think—I always think—that I have been forgotten. That all this world around me is a product of someone else’s imagination, some dreamer lingering in bed somewhere, a young woman, beautiful, with no imagination left over to finish sketching me, and that this is why it all seems so foreign. Why every little detail makes me feel so shocked.
By 12:50 I’ve settled on a person. The old woman with pigeons. She has kind eyes, and the birds seem to like her—birds have instincts, they know a thing or two.
I approach her at 12:51, and her edges all begin to shimmer. She wavers. Becomes indistinct. It’s like a breeze is passing through the world, fluttering her body and not just her skirts, until she is nothing more than a haze of linear motion.
I touch her face at 12:52 and watch as it erupts into discreet particles. Dissolves away from me. I touch the pigeons and they rupture too. Touch the couple arguing outside the food truck, the fighting dogs, the boy who dreams he is a soldier, and the whole goddamn world erupts.
At 12:55 I walk back to the office.
Put the jacket on. Button up my shirt.
At 1:00, not 12:59, not 1:01, I hit any key to continue, and my perfectly sane lunch hour comes to a sudden end.
Jack walks by, and Miriam. Alexei, Imran, and Kennedy, and none of us say a word.
And I wonder for the thousandth time if any of this shit can possibly be real.
r/TurningtoWords
stealthcake20 t1_j24xoec wrote
This feels like a beautiful and sad meditation. I can relate to it, though I don’t know if what I am getting is what is intended. But personally I think that’s what happens when you create layered, multidimensional art.
tslnox t1_j2898no wrote
It's like a stutter from Quantum Break
karnal_chikara t1_j29gjcb wrote
You really are turning into words
armageddon_20xx t1_j24v2um wrote
"You don't know the capacity of your own imagination until your hallucinations become the only thing you have. It's all too easy when you're in prison, blindfolded, cuffed, and hanging from the air with earmuffs on, to see false images that are as pleasing as they are implausible. I just want to go back to the way it was in the days before I joined the Army. To see what's real instead of my imagination."
"Go on," my therapist said as she started jotting down notes. Her face was relaxed and she was smiling, as if I had just told her I was going to be her friend or something.
"You see, I don't see a street corner, or a jar, or busy passersby. I see a kingdom and I'm a wizard. I'm casting a spell that requires deep concentration, the passersby are my source of mana. When I complete the spell I'll gain another artifact to help me complete my quest."
"And what do you do with these artifacts?" she said inquisitively.
"I consume them in order to gain power. Each time I consume an artifact I gain more."
"I see. And when does the spell break? Like, when do you come back to reality?"
"I tend to come in and out. One minute I'll be stuck in my head and another I'll realize that I'm sitting on a street corner with a jar in my hand. Then I'll try my very hardest to go back because being there, in reality, is just... too painful. When I get in my head, it's kind of like, going to a different universe."
"Hmm," she paused, staring down at the notebook. "Have you considered that these trips into your head are a way to shield your mind from the hurt you endured while in prison?"
"Yeah."
"Have you considered trying hypnotherapy? It's been known to work on cases such as yours, and your sister has already agreed to pay."
"I don't know about that."
"If you want to try to help yourself come to terms with reality it's the best thing. Why not give it a shot?"
I felt a slight pulsing sensation in my head, and a moment later I saw the healer Cassandra in her purple robe, her scepter pointed at my head, telling me repeatedly not to misuse my powers or else I'd face the Tribunal or perhaps the King himself.
"Unfortunately, you must subject yourself to The Silencing," she said, "and only in that way will you wean yourself from the hallucinogenic dragon's blood."
"No!" I screamed, suddenly feeling the tightness of my robe against my skin. It was always weird to look down and see it after I'd been lost in the world where magic was done with electricity instead of mana and it wasn't OK for men to wear robes in public.
"Yes. Your trips have become too much. You've been reduced to nothing more than a common beggar. Please, take the Silencing and go home."
I jolted. "Matt?" the therapist said with concern, uncrossing her legs to make that she was ready to get up to assist me.
"Yeah, maybe hypnotherapy. I don't know."
"Why not? It could only help," she said with a smile again.
"I don't know. Maybe reality is all in my head."
/r/StoriesToThinkAbout
robertroquemore t1_j25d3i6 wrote
It had started out like any other day. I hit snooze on the alarm three times, each time wishing for only 5 more minutes. I decided to hit the bathroom and cleaned up, trying to figure out how to make the day profitable. I knew that each hedge fund I managed would continue to rise, as long as the market was bearish. However, almost half of the NYSE Top 30 were showing signs of meeting goal, which didn't bode well for me!
I got to work about 15 minutes early, trying to see if the DJIA and the NASDAQ were actively trading, and in which direction. The algorithm I had relied on recommended more investment in the index funds, and focus on the NASDAQ. Rumors of a breakthrough in the tech industry were seeing more speculation for some of the blue chip companies.
The hedge funds all looked okay right now, but if an announcement in the field of quantum physics came before cose of business, it could throw the entire trading floor into an uproar. The trading may go off the scale, and if massive selloffs from non-tech became viral, I could kiss my bonus and possible my career goodbye!
Although the hedge funds were still okay, I suddenly felt dizzy, as if the whole world were spinning out of control. I closed my eyes and laid my head on my desk. When I looked up, I noticed that the clock was showing 5 PM, and my colleague was patting me on the shoulder. I was shocked to see my hedge funds triple what I had seen!
My boss had called our investors, and told them to consider rollovers, since the likelihood of the value increasing was slim. He waved me into his office, and handed me a huge bonus check. The amount was enough to almost retire, and more than enough to send my son to college.
The next week saw me recognized as hedge fund manager of the year, and the firm manager handed me an award and another bonus, since out clientele had nearly doubled. I sent about half of the bonus to my son, and banked the rest in my annuity. Retirement looked great, and with the investments and annuities bringing in more than enough, I decided to get that colonial in Great Neck.
We moved in the next week, and I made sure the property taxes were handled. My son was very happy to help me move, and we had dinner at the Four Season to celebrate. I took him to JFK to return to school for the next semester. I hugged him, and drove home. One month since the day everything had changed, and my life was now comfortable, and my son had a bright future.
When I awoke, I was not in the colonial, but back in my New Jersey brownstone! My son was yelling for me to get up and not to miss the train to work. He told me to not worry about tuition, that his summer job would cover next semester. When I got to work, my colleague told me to try and pray for a miracle of saving my career!
My boss called me in for a conference about 11 AM. I slunk in, and he told me that if the NASDAQ didn't turn around before close of business, he may have to make me a stock broker, and let a recent graduate take my place as hedge manager. I worked tirelessly to get our dwindling clientele to hold their investments, and luckily some decided to invest more.
The NASDAQ did turn around with more investments by the end of the day, and my boss came by and patted me on the back. For now, my position was secure. The next month saw me slowly make small adjustments to the investments, and the hedge funds were stronger than before this all started.
As I shook my boss's hand, he handed me a bonus check. It was not nearly as big as my previous, but enough to buy another semester for my son. The dream of the colonial could wait another year. I would not have a shot at hedge fund manager of the year, but I got a smaller bonus for being top hedge fund manager for the region.
I woke up after New Year, and I was shocked to find myself in a mansion on Long Island. My son came in and showed me the trading activity and hedge fund activity. I looked at the name of the fund at the top of his laptop, and it was mine and his! He was in his mid-20s, and my partner. He called for the staff, and escorted me to breakfast.
He told me the next partner's meeting would be Monday, January 5th. Until then, we were to complete our company's tax return with the CPA firm. We were to meet with them on the 3rd. We went over our agenda for the month and quarter, and agreed it was timely. Today, we were going to a fund raiser at Carnegie Hall, followed by a presentation of "Rent."
The entire day was great. My son was surprised when I seemed to forget the names of some of out oldest friends. Then, it happened. I was just ready to get used to our new lifestyle when I realized that the constant in all of this was my boss. Somehow, he had not changed, even being one of the hedge fund partners. I decided to confront him, and see if I could catch him messing with my life specifically, and the universe in general!
I slid into his office after the partner's meeting, and snooped around. I noticed nothing of the ordinary. Suddenly, I realized that he had been pushing a new NASDAQ account, and the firm was the same one that was rumored to be on the verge of a breakthrough in quantum physics. I observed that he had received several large checks from this firm, and each check had a footnote of "Project Shuffle".
SEC would probably be interested in his checks from the QP firm, and I spoke with my son. He agreed we were probably looking at insider trading. I talked to legal, and they got the necessary permission to audit his activities. QP popped up on his account at least twice a day for the past year, and he had received a monthly check from them.
Legal turned all this over to the SEC, and I led the treasury agents to his office. My son brought our private security force to meet us, and as we entered his office, he was pushing several buttons in his closet. I told him to put his hands on his head. He was sweating, and he began to slowly put his hands up. Suddenly, he hit the enter button on his PC, and I was back at my desk, looking at a normal trading day.
Since the QP firm really did exist, I figured that if his memory carried from one leap to another, he would probably either try to get rid of me, or shift the blame. The only man I knew I could trust was my friend in legal, so I called him and asked him to have tech look into my boss's activities with QP.
At lunch, my boss called me into his office, not aware of the call. He thanked me for a somewhat profitable quarter, and gave me my standard bonus. After the day was over, I arranged to have dinner with Frank from legal. He assured me they had more than enough to call in the SEC. The next day, my boss was being walked out of his office in cuffs, and the CEO thanked me for my diligence, along with Frank and tech.
I was given two weeks vacation for the holidays, and my son asked me how I managed to figure out what was going on. Rather than explaining the whole story, I simply reassured him that I wanted to make sure my son had a future, and that the universe was as it should be!
nukabirdttv t1_j25v5p2 wrote
Poem (also first time posting so hello!)
Quantum Physics
I am filled with a sense of unnerving dread
That at every turn the world is
A bridge forming in front of me
And collapsing behind
Quantum Physics suggests that
All matter exists in its current state
While being observed by the universe
I fear every moment that I wake
That one day the universe will turn its back from me
And I will descend into madness
As the particles of my body begin to misalign
And I will find that I do not have a soul
That I live exclusively within the observable
That I will never see a life incorporeal
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as_a_fake t1_j258j7b wrote
Just in case anyone doesn't know, the reason quantum mechanics phenomena change when observed isn't that it knows something concious is watching, it's because to observe something you have to have a particle bouncing off of it. For example, the reason we can see things is that there are particles of light bouncing off of them.
The problem with this is that all particles, light included, carry some amount of energy/momentum, so when they bounce off of the subatomic particles we want to observe, it changes the state of that subatomic particle the same way a ball bouncing off of another would change the 2nd ball's speed/position. This is why it's called the "uncertainty principle", because to observe something we have to bounce something off of it and extrapolate based on that, so we are "uncertain" what the particle we want to observe was like before the interaction.
All of this is just in case people wanted an explanation for this phenomenon, not because I think anyone actually thought it worked like in the OP.
Edit: clarifying a bit
Ctotheg t1_j25m6a3 wrote
This is an excellent explanation bc the prompt is based on a common misconception (no problem still a good prompt). But specifically your explanation hits all the parts I was nebulous on.
akschurman OP t1_j25phqj wrote
Thanks for the explanation. I'm keeping the prompt as it is, since it's fun, but I actually learned something here. My understanding, even from science videos, was that something's state was "undecided" until it was observed, upon which it instantly "snapped" into one of its possible states (alive or dead). This was also the basis of the "multiverse theory", where it "snapped" into all possible states, with each one being it's own resulting reality.
Your explanation, while less fun, does make more sense.
as_a_fake t1_j25ykli wrote
> I'm keeping the prompt as it is
Oh Absolutely! This was never meant to correct you (writing prompts aren't supposed to be reality or what's the point?), just as an explanation for people who were curious.
Mic_Check_One_Two t1_j26q1q8 wrote
> This was also the basis of the “multiverse theory”, where it “snapped” into all possible states, with each one being it’s own resulting reality.
Not to be that guy, but a fairly recent study in quantum entanglement won a Nobel prize because they proved that the particles do “snap” into the possible state. Or rather, that you can suspend the possibility of it being one result of the other, and predict which it will be. Essentially, researchers discovered that it’s less “Schrödinger’ cat” (where the answer is some combination of “both” and “neither”) and more “this is already a red ball or a blue ball, but this room is too dark to determine what color I just grabbed.”
Basically, the particles are binary; They’re either positive or negative. No in between. So they entangled two particles, which means that they always do the opposite of one another. If one particle measures positive, the other is always negative. It doesn’t matter how far apart those particles move. You could put them on opposite sides of the galaxy, and they’d still always be opposite one another when measured. It has some neat ramifications for things like long distance communication and quantum computing, because if you manipulate a particle on one end, you could potentially send data to the particle on the other end. Like the world’s most complex cups and string.
What won the Nobel prize was when a team discovered that they do “snap” into place when you observe them. Or more accurately, that if you measure the first particle, the second particle is then hung in suspension until you measure it. When you observe one particle, then later observe the other, the second particle will still read opposite what the first did. Even if time has passed.
Prior to the discovery, it was believed that you had to measure them at the same time, because the states are only known when measured, and it was believed that they were always in flux. But the team proved that isn’t the case; You can wait a while, and predict what the second particle will be based on the old results of the first particle. This also technically means that the first particle is hung in suspension, (rather than being in flux) and we simply don’t know what the result is yet because we haven’t measured it.
akschurman OP t1_j26xfk1 wrote
Thank you, that guy... Have my updoot.
lolmaster1290 t1_j24ldy0 wrote
That is not what that means.
TRU35TR1K3R t1_j24nzhp wrote
Eh, give the op a break, it's an interesting prompt
GrizzlyTrees t1_j256m07 wrote
I agree with you both. As a physics enthusiast it's a really annoying misconception, as a sci-fi lover this is a really cool idea.
Spoon_Elemental t1_j24ogy3 wrote
There's this thing called artistic license. It's really nice to have in works of fiction, AKA things that aren't real.
lolmaster1290 t1_j2cs84d wrote
It could have been an interesting prompt without being tied into quantum physics unnecessarily and incorrectly.
Living_Murphys_Law t1_j24vekt wrote
If this could happen, then you bet I'd be setting up a real-life Schrodinger's Cat to find out what a cat looks like when neither dead nor alive.
this_one_in_boots t1_j259cga wrote
Nice idea for a prompt. Apparently we did recently prove that unobserved particles exist.
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Surinical t1_j24p7jq wrote
“It doesn’t work that way.” Dale looked down at his phone, bored smirk spread on his tanned face. “Observer in physics terms means any system that is capable of measuring or detecting the state of a quantum system. Not to mention macro effects like you’re describing would never be-”
“Then I don’t know how to describe it,” I said. “It's like stuff doesn’t settle if I’m the only one watching. Here.” I took out a coin from my pocket. “Turn around.”
Dale pocketed his phone and stretched as he turned to face the wall. “Alright.”
I flipped the coin, muscles tensed like I was about to start mom’s miter saw. Washington's profile rolled through the air and then hung just above the ground, jittering in the chaotic cloudy mess.
“Okay, it didn’t land. Until you turn around, it's just like a disk of all the different ways it could land.”
“That so?” Dale said. “Assuming you aren’t lying, try and grab it.”
“I’ve tried that. It’s like grabbing it all at once but not at all, feels weird, like pressing my finger into foam.”
“Is one of the probabilities on its edge?” Dale asked. He reached to grab his drink without turning around.
I looked at the swirling zone, quarter face up and face down in a hundred different spots, almost making up a larger coin when viewed all together. My head hurt. I did notice one singular ghost of a quarter balanced up.”Yeah, actually. Just one.”
I reached out to touch it, just as Dale turned around. The coin condensed into the vertical one, just before toppling on its side, tails.
“Pretty convenient your little trick only works when no one’s looking, huh?” Dale said, shivering for a moment despite the warmth of the room.
“Yeah-” I started before I noticed something behind Dale, something inky black resting a snout on his shoulder. Dale didn’t react.
“What the fuck,” I yelled. Dale looked at me baffled then all around. The thing came into better view as he turned. It was surrounded by a miasma of dust and smoke, it looked like the dried mummy of a too big coyote covered in fungal blooms like deformed wings. It had eyes only for Dale.
Dale’s drink fell. I flinched, expecting the chaos, but only a few drops were out of Dale’s sight. I didn’t want to take my eyes off the creature. Dale stuck a hand through its face as it sniffed him to scratch his beard.
"What?" he said. "You're helping me clean this up, you know?"
My eyes were drawn to the few drops along the wall, dancing their quantum jig. They weren’t a mash of every probability like always. Somehow shimmering words lingered in the cloud of potential stains, just legible enough to read. I blinked twice then forced a smile back at Dale, the message rolling through my head. "Yeah, sure." I managed.
Don’t show it you can see it.
/r/surinical