Studiot's five minute course in thinking and proof.

[Itoero]

1 hour ago, Strange said:

Nope. The existence of the math is not evidence of anything. The only way you can know if the math describes reality is to test it against reality.

Correct but then what about the Bell's theorem? Doesn't it mathematically disprove hidden variable solutions?

 

[Strange]

4 minutes ago, Itoero said:

Correct but then what about the Bell's theorem? Doesn't it mathematically disprove hidden variable solutions?

Only after being tested. 

IF experiments show that Bell's inequality holds, then there cannot be hidden variables. 

[geordief]

2 minutes ago, Strange said:

Only after being tested. 

IF experiments show that Bell's inequality holds, then there cannot be hidden variables. 

Are there tests that can be done? (is it a case of not being able to prove a negative?)

 

(I haven't  been able to understand  Bell's Theorem ;it was too convoluted for me) 

[Strange]

8 minutes ago, geordief said:

Are there tests that can be done? (is it a case of not being able to prove a negative?)

Yes. It can be tested by looking at how frequently the measured polarisation of a photon math. Classical theory predicts a different result from quantum theory (that difference is Bell's inequality).

This is one of the best descriptions I have seen: http://drchinese.com/David/Bell_Theorem_Easy_Math.htm

(At the end he has links to a simpler and a more detailed explanation)