Have you made a fool of yourself yet in the new semester?
>in English class
>split into groups to work on philosophical topic of our choosing
>group behind me is doing free will and I'm listening in on their conversation
>one guy says "I'm pretty sure heisenburg's uncertainty principle implies we have free will"
>girl in the group asks "what's that?"
>"imagine you're blind and you have a basketball in front of you but you don't know where. In order to find it's position you have to touch it. But once you touch it you have moved it by a tiny bit, so it's impossible to know where exactly it was because the mere act of observation changes the system. This is also why science can never explain consciousness."
>"oooooh now I get it"
>at this point I can take it no longer and I butt in
>"But why can't you take the force you exerted onto the ball into account and compensate for it in your calculations?"
>"Uhhhh, because that's not how physics works? When you exert force onto the ball it also exerts some force back and there's an infinite feedback loop."
>"Well, not really, but even if that were the case we're perfectly capable of summing up an infinite series as long as it converges."
>guy shrugs: "umm okkaaaay? your point?"
>"Sorry, didn't meant to put you on the spot. My point is that you have conflated the observer effect with the uncertainty principle. Common misconception. In quantum mechanics particles do not simultaneously have well defined position and momentum. It is a fundamental aspect of reality rather than a limitation in our measurement instruments. The classical analogue I like to use is taking the fourier transform of a time domain sig-"
>girl he was explaining this to cuts me off with "Um, are you in this group?"
>"No? but couldn't help overhearing-"
>"Then why are you even talking to us?"
>I say nothing and turn back to my own group
>guy behind me says "thanks"
>girl: "don't mention it, I just don't like assholes who think they know everything"
>in English class
>split into groups to work on philosophical topic of our choosing
>group behind me is doing free will and I'm listening in on their conversation
>one guy says "I'm pretty sure heisenburg's uncertainty principle implies we have free will"
>girl in the group asks "what's that?"
>"imagine you're blind and you have a basketball in front of you but you don't know where. In order to find it's position you have to touch it. But once you touch it you have moved it by a tiny bit, so it's impossible to know where exactly it was because the mere act of observation changes the system. This is also why science can never explain consciousness."
>"oooooh now I get it"
>at this point I can take it no longer and I butt in
>"But why can't you take the force you exerted onto the ball into account and compensate for it in your calculations?"
>"Uhhhh, because that's not how physics works? When you exert force onto the ball it also exerts some force back and there's an infinite feedback loop."
>"Well, not really, but even if that were the case we're perfectly capable of summing up an infinite series as long as it converges."
>guy shrugs: "umm okkaaaay? your point?"
>"Sorry, didn't meant to put you on the spot. My point is that you have conflated the observer effect with the uncertainty principle. Common misconception. In quantum mechanics particles do not simultaneously have well defined position and momentum. It is a fundamental aspect of reality rather than a limitation in our measurement instruments. The classical analogue I like to use is taking the fourier transform of a time domain sig-"
>girl he was explaining this to cuts me off with "Um, are you in this group?"
>"No? but couldn't help overhearing-"
>"Then why are you even talking to us?"
>I say nothing and turn back to my own group
>guy behind me says "thanks"
>girl: "don't mention it, I just don't like assholes who think they know everything"
