 Quote by Gokul43201
In physics, an observable is very well-defined. In QM, for instance, it is associated with a hermitian operator.
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Please don't confuse obvervable with observation. If you report that you saw the cat dead, then you are mistaken, you did not observe the cat at all. If you report that you saw it alive, same problem. If you report that you saw the cat half dead, half alive, then you reported what the theory told you, not what you actually observed.
I would like to get back to what Feynman wrote because even though it has been many years since I read it, and have long forgotten the exact words, yet the meaning that I took away struck me deeply and I have never forgotten that. I recall that he wrote (not in so many words):
1. Electrons are a theory.
2. No one has seen an electron.
3. Electrons are a theory BECAUSE no one has seen one.
You indicated that you have a copy of the book. What did he actually write? What did he write in the surrounding paragraphs that blunted the force of these words? What did he write for scientific audiences that blunted the force of these words?