7858
@7858.eth
I have been thinking about this a bunch recently and researching it a bit, both without good effect I mean the observer effect, not the towel. I could use a little guidance What counts as observation? How does it play out if you make a cat observe? A fly? A camcorder? Is the effect binary or can some kinds of weak observation create semi-wave-semi-particle behavior? Assume I am clueless on the subject but will be able to carry myself forward with a curated list of articles or search terms
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Nico
@nicom
You are misinterpreting what the term "observer" means in quantum physics. In the double-slit experiment, the observer effect is not about human or animal observation. It doesn't matter if a person, a cat, or even your ficus plant looks at the result. The crucial point is whether there's a measurement or interaction that determines which slit the photon passes through. When the photon travels freely (unmeasured), it behaves as a wave and interferes with itself, creating an interference pattern. However, the moment you introduce a measurement device or sensor at the slits to determine through which slit the photon passes, this interaction collapses its wavefunction. This act of measurement, rather than the presence of the slits or a passive screen, is what is an "observation" in quantum mechanics and causes the loss of the interference pattern.
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7858
@7858.eth
Ok, so consciousness is not the issue. But what does measurement mean? What kinds of non-measurement interactions cause the collapse? How does a particle know it’s being measured?
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