Richard Feynman Quotes that surprised me....

[dr.syntax]

Richard Feynman was the one I thought understood quantum mechanics better than anyone else. My opinion, nothing else. Now here are the quotes that surprised me: 1. " nobody understands quantum theory " 2. " I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics ". POLL: I agree...__ I disagree...__ I am not sure...__ Please feel free to add any comments you care to about this. ...Dr.Syntax .....I must have screwed because the poll appears above this posting. PLEASE SCROLL UP AND REGISTER YOUR VOTE

Edited October 5, 2009 by dr.syntax
confusion re:poll

[ajb]

By "understands" he does not mean "calculate", as he knew many people are proficient in calculations in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

 

I think he is suggesting that it is so counter-intuitive that one cannot really hope to get a "deep feeling" for what is going on nor present very clear analogues or interpretations.

 

Thus, I agree with Feynman's statement.

[dr.syntax]

By "understands" he does not mean "calculate", as he knew many people are proficient in calculations in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

 

I think he is suggesting that it is so counter-intuitive that one cannot really hope to get a "deep feeling" for what is going on nor present very clear analogues or interpretations.

 

Thus, I agree with Feynman's statement.

 

REPLY: I appreciate your comments. MY POLL IS ATOP MY POSTING. Do you know how to get my poll to follow the thead down ? OR ANYONE ELSE ?

[Bob_for_short]

Add: "Nobody understands QM but me", and I will vote for it.

 

Do not worry about POLL position - it is right. All we need is to read your post and vote. Comments can wait.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Bob_for_short

[Severian]

I disagree. I understand Quantum Mechanics, in so much as I understand the formal theory of quantum mechanics. I don't understand the mechanism of wavefuction collapse, but QM doesn't seek to describe that, so it is a separate issue.

[J.C.MacSwell]

In the context Feynman meant it, it is still true today IMO. Why I have that opinion, and didn't vote "not sure", I have no idea.

[liarliarpof]

I think Atom & Organism pretty much nailed it. It's as if there should be an 'a priori' question - Does anyone understand Richard Feynam? His genius was of a rare sort. His sense of words such as 'knowing', 'understanding', and one his classic phrases, "The pleasure of figuring things out", were not always applied in the conventional manner. For example, he wrote of a student who approached him after class with a question on some subject that Feynman believed he knew as well as he did the back of his hand. After several attempts, the student walked away still confused. Feynman reflected upon this and concluded that his failure indicated that he, himself, did not 'understand' it as well as he had thought. Again, as A & O indicated, I also believe that Feynman's use of 'understanding' was of a deep and profound nature indeed!

[CaptainPanic]

I'm clueless on the topic itself, but I like to click.

I want an option where I can just click without really interfering too much with the results. So, thanks for including that last option.

[Bob_for_short]

I think everybody understands QM: the wave function that describes an ensemble of measurements. The problem is in a false impression that these multiple measurements are only necessary in QM and not in CM. This is a huge drawback of educational methodology. I would say: "Nobody understands Classical Mechanics", in particular where determinism comes from. It comes from averaging many measurements.

Edited October 20, 2009 by Bob_for_short