Is The Cat Dead Or Alive?
It can be dead and alive at the same time.
Let’s do a quick thought experiment.
We put a cat into a box 🐱
Along with the cat, we put a radioactive source and a flask of poison.
If radioactivity (atomic decay) is detected, the flask is shattered releasing the poison. This kills the cat.
If there’s no radioactivity, the cat lives.
We don’t know how the cat is doing until we open the box. As soon as we open it, we make an observation and become aware of the cat’s state.
This is the famous Schrödinger’s cat. Sorry about the violence towards the cat. It was Schrödinger’s intention 🤷♀️
The point of the experiment? To demonstrate how quantum mechanics works.
Erwin Schrödinger knew that quantum mechanics is odd. It describes the cat using a wavefunction.
A wavefunction reflects all possible states of the cat.
It tells you that the cat is simultaneously dead and alive. That is, until you observe it by opening the box.
Then, the cat assumes either of the two states. We see the cat (hopefully alive!). This becomes our reality.
The same principle applies to electrons, photons, and any other particles in the quantum world.
Key Message: We observe the world by interacting with it. Once we’ve made an observation, it becomes our reality.
