Friday, May 11, 2007

Cats love to play with String Theory.

Not everyone finds Quantum Theory to be fascinating. Fewer still can explain it; and a minute percentage of those have both a blog and a sense of humor. Chad Orzel, author of Uncertain Principles, is a contributing member of this minority who has taken the time to break down and explain Quantum Theory to his dog...who can talk.

I'm sitting at the computer typing, when the dog bumps up against my legs. I look down, and she's sniffing the floor around my feet intently.
"What are you doing down there?"
"I'm looking for steak!" she says, wagging her tail hopefully.
"I'm pretty certain that there's no steak down there," I say. "I've never eaten steak at the computer, and I've certainly never dropped any on the floor."
"You did in some universe," she says, still sniffing.
I sigh. "I'm going to move the quantum physics books to a higher shelf, so you can't reach them."
"It won't matter. I've got Wikipedia."
"All right, what ridiculous theory has your silly little doggy brain come up with?"
"Well, it's possible that you would eat steak at the computer, yes?"
"I do eat steak, yes, and I sometimes eat at the computer, so sure."
"And if you were to eat steak at the computer, you'd probably drop some on the floor."
"I don't know about that..."
"Dude, I've seen you eat." Yes, the dog calls me "dude." There may be obedience classes in her future.
"All right, we'll allow the possibility."
"Therefore, it's possible that you dropped steak on the floor. And according to Everett's Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics, that means that you did drop steak on the floor. Which means I just need to find it."

Many Worlds. Many Treats. (scienceblogs.com)