Yep.  I know that if I set a cup of coffee on the table next to my recliner that some cup of coffee isn't also going to show up on the dining room table.  I am confident that if I lock down the safety valve on a boiler that at some time if the heat isn't removed that boiler is going to explode.  I know that if I fire a bullet out of a rifle parallel to the ground that bullet is going to slow down and at some point drop to the earth.  I know that if the engine on my airplane stops we are going to go down.  I know that if I hit the nail on the head with a hammer that nail will be driven into that piece of wood.  I know that if I roll a ball down a hill it will gain speed and momentum until it hits the bottom of the hill and slows down and stops.

These truths have served me well for the past 87 years and I see no reason that I need to know more about energy and particles and quantum mechanics except that once I wrap my mind around a certain theory it will probably change a month from now.

Noel

On 1/2/2021 at 7:46 AM, martin-w said:

Its all about the writing though and that's what seems to be lacking in Kurtzman's shows.

Five years of following J. Michael Straczynski on the B5 Usenet group only enhanced my enjoyment of Babylon 5. One of the most remarkable things is that he was quite willing to actually have discussions with those of us who participated. I had many enjoyable exchanges with Joe over the years. 

While I enjoyed immensely every episode, the final episode Sleeping in Light brought tears to my eyes. JMS certainly has a way with words. Writing as Ivanova, these pearls of wisdom resonated in my soul:

"Babylon 5 was the last of the Babylon stations. There would never be another. It changed the future, and it changed us. It taught us that we have to create the future, or others will do it for us. It showed us that we have to care for one another, because if we don't, who will? And that true strength sometimes comes from the most unlikely places. Mostly, though, I think it gave us hope, that there can always be new beginnings... even for people like us."

43 minutes ago, birdguy said:

 

These truths have served me well for the past 87 years and I see no reason that I need to know more about energy and particles and quantum mechanics except that once I wrap my mind around a certain theory it will probably change a month from now.

Noel

 

And so they should serve you well. Its the way the MACROSCOPIC realm functions. Its just that in the sub atomic realm its a whole new ball game. 

New interpretations do come along, that's because we have no definitive conclusions regarding the fundamentals of quantum mechanics. Copenhagen Interpretation, Bohemian Mechanics  or one of the other ideas, or one yet to come, we don't know. None of the ideas we have been debating are definitive. Don't regard Many Worlds or anything else as the way the universe really functions. It might be and then again in might not be. 

I live in the macroscopic realm.  I'm not a subatomic particle.  Today I am cooking chicken tetrazzini all day in a crock pot.  I know what went into it and how it is being cooked.  When I serve it this evening my wife will only be interested in how it tastes and how good it is.  She will not be interested in the sub-ingredients and cooking time recipe.  I suppose that's how I am with Many Worlds, Bohemian Mechanics, or the Copenhagen Interpretation or how they interact with the world I live in...if they do at all.

I'm not criticizing (how could I criticize o even discuss things I know nothing about?) the studies or theories or the conversations you guys are having about all of it.  I'm just saying I don't understand how it might relate to the world aruond me.

Noel

Edited January 3, 20215 yr by birdguy

This topic HAS CHANGED SO DRAMATICALLY THAT IT DOESN'T RELATE even microscopically to the OP's thoughts.  Time to move on!

Stan

Such is the way with most conversations...except the really boring ones.

Conversations change.  As long as the conversation keeps holding the interest of the participants, or most of the participants, there is no need to move on.   It's a form of recreation for most of us.  Don't deny us of what we like doing.  I don't know much about any of what they are talking about now, but even though it is not the OP's original conversation what it has evolved into is still alive don't kill it.  When the interest is lost it'll die on it's own.

Noel

Edited January 3, 20215 yr by birdguy

15 hours ago, spilok said:

This topic HAS CHANGED SO DRAMATICALLY THAT IT DOESN'T RELATE even microscopically to the OP's thoughts.  Time to move on!

Stan

 

The OP has joined in regarding the physics discussion. If the OP is okay with the conversation being in this direction so am I.

Nothing to stop you discussing the original subject matter in parallel. 

 

17 hours ago, birdguy said:

 I'm just saying I don't understand how it might relate to the world aruond me.

Noel

 

Quantum physics appears to function counter intuitively compared with the larger scale universe we're familiar with. But it underpins the macroscopic realm. Even the PC you are using now depends on quantum physics. Without quantum tunneling no electronic device would function.

At the earliest phase of the universe everything was quantum mechanical. The quantum mechanical ultimately created the largest cosmic structures of all.

Who knows, we may discover that Einstein was right and there are hidden variables at play and that quantum physics isn't so weird and that its  classical in nature.

Edited January 4, 20215 yr by martin-w