iNow

I'm a layman, so I'll offer some layman's terms. Apologies to those well versed should I misspeak. Please correct my interpretation as needed. The wave function describes all possible states of an object. This is really the heart of the whole "Schroedinger's Cat" issue. Let's say you put a cat into a box. In that box is a poison in a glass vile, and the box gets dropped (I've changed the real thing a bit, but this is close). So, cat in box, glass vile of poison in box with cat, box gets dropped. This is where we are. So, the wave function which describes this discusses all possibilities. The vile didn't break, and the cat is alive. The vile did break, but the cat survived. The vile didn't break, but the cat died (maybe he had really bad vertigo . The vile did break, and the cat died. Before you open the box, according to QM, the cat is actually all of these things at the same time. Since you don't know, all you have is a wave function which describes the probabilities of each state. Here's where it gets weird though. The cat is also anything else, just at a lower probability. The cat is a dog. The cat is your grandmother. The cat is elvis. The cat is George Washington. The cat is a pterodactyl pulling a meerkat out of a blackhole... According to probability, it's actually all of those things until it's observed, and the wave function is used to calculate the probability of each potential state... Most are just so very unlikely that they can be disregarded, and although still possible, we tend to look at the "cat is alive/cat is dead" only split. So, once you've opened the box and you look in, you actually learn the state of the cat. You know if it's dead or alive, you know if the vile of poison broke or did not, you know if Ben Franklin wearing a ball gag was in there the whole time... and "the wave function collapses." All of the possibilities that made up the wave function go away (hence the collapse), because you've observed the system and only one possibility was realized. Just wait until you read about double slits. Check common sense at the door and prepare to enter the rabbit's hole.

Hi Mag, Here is a link to the study you reference. It was conducted in 1974 by Dutton and Aron. http://www.fpce.uc.pt/nucleos/niips/novoplano/ps1/documentos/dutton&aron1974.pdf You can also google the term "Misattribution of arousal." Also, look up the work of Cindy Meston from the University of Texas at Austin. She did similar work to the bridge study, but expanded it to include general exercise, and also rollercoasters! I was a research assistant for her while I was still in college, and we got to go to Six Flags all of the time to collect data. Loads of fun. The same principle holds when taking your date to a scary movie, or driving fast. It gets their heartrate up and adrenaline pumping, so unconsciously they attribute that arousal to you.

Terrorism is not something you control, it's something you prevent. An ounce of prevention equals...

Are you familiar with Hawking Radiation? If you want more specific answers on QM and the impossibility of a perfect vacuum, consider the impossibility of certainty implied by QM. Was that Heisenberg over there? I like his hat.