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Comment by asterismic

Serious question: Doesn't it seem to be a deep and cutting flaw, that an entire branch of physics attempts to draw conclusions about subatomic behavior based on the macroscopic interference noted when photons pass through polarized sunglasses, or perhaps electrons travel through the diffraction grating of a cathode ray tube?

It seems fundamentally incorrect to show hobbyists and laymen these partial examples, and then cross ones arms and say "that's the way it is" and venture no further.

Polarization experiments and the double slit experiment are continually hauled out onto the stage, again and again, and never enlighten anyone. Taking a relativistic particle, and shooting it through or bouncing it off of a standing wall of atoms (e.g. polarization filters and diffraction gratings), doesn't really introduce an air of mystery into anything, because the wall of atoms operates its own subatomic state, which is selectively ignored. It's basically like setting a murder mystery inside a super max prison.

parent asterismic 8 years ago

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