Quantum future

russotto · 12-14-2004, 10:12 AM

To say that something is probabilistic is to say that it is not deterministic, that it depends on random events. That's what Einstein had a problem with.

He had no problem with physics following statistical laws, provided the individual variations could be explained in a deterministic manner. That is, if half the photons in a particular experiment went one way, and half the other, there must have been something different about those sets of photons in the first place.

As for Einstein being overrated... when I can get my mind around General Relativity for more than a half-second or two, I might consider the possibility. Until then I'm probably not qualified to judge.

12-14-2004, 10:12 AM	#10
russotto Professor Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 1,788	To say that something is probabilistic is to say that it is not deterministic, that it depends on random events. That's what Einstein had a problem with. He had no problem with physics following statistical laws, provided the individual variations could be explained in a deterministic manner. That is, if half the photons in a particular experiment went one way, and half the other, there must have been something different about those sets of photons in the first place. As for Einstein being overrated... when I can get my mind around General Relativity for more than a half-second or two, I might consider the possibility. Until then I'm probably not qualified to judge.

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