Redefining reality's rules

[Braden]

Sorry dude, I was bored.

[old jong]

His answer?...

...It is not what they wear in Brasil to cover their @$!... :confused:

Les paroles s'envolent.
Les écrits restent!...

[Serpent]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Consider the case of quantum entanglement. A subatomic particle can spin clockwise or counterclockwise like a top - but with a quantum twist. As long as it remains isolated from its environment, it lingers in a state of limbo, rotating both clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time. Only when it is measured or otherwise disturbed does it randomly snap into focus, assuming one state or the other. "And" becomes "either/or."
[/quote]

Isn't this just Schroedinger's Cat revisited?

[old jong]

And what about the big crunch?...Don't forget the big crunch! Do you think time will go backward preceding it?...Will we enter butt first in some other universe?

:D

Les paroles s'envolent.
Les écrits restent!...

[dedalus]

I have the Mr Tompkins books that author refers to! I also have "Mr Tompkins Explores the Atom" - I found them on an old bookshelf and have never met anyone else who has read them!

On that quantum entanglement issue, there's a philosopher by the name of Huw Price who argues that non-locality needs to be explained with reference to backwards causation, which in turn necesitates a (surprisingly plausible) model of time that holds the past, present and future to be equally real. He debated the issue with Hawking in a series of Nature issues a few years ago, and the word on the street is that he won!