- #1
wuliheron
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I've recently been having a discussion with someone about whether it is accurate and meaningful to describe the random behavior of quanta as "supernatural". The origin of the word comes from "supra-natural" meaning above and beyond the laws of nature which certainly fits the description of the random behavior of quanta. In addition quanta exhibit behavior such as teleportation that traditionally has been ascribed to the supernatural. Stripped of its religious, superstitious, and metaphysical connotations it seems supernatural is a more accurate term then merely describing them as "random" and if science is to distinguish what is natural then it must use the same criteria for what is supernatural if it is promote objectivity.
I'm reminded of Aristotle banning infinity from academia with a flimsy argument for how it was impossible in the real world. After a hundred years of quantum randomness it seems pretty clear the issue is not likely to conveniently disappear anytime soon and perhaps dealing with it directly is the only way forward. Who knows, perhaps like paradoxes and infinities we might even find more real world applications for the concept and, in so doing, lesson the strangle hold of archaic ideas and superstitions.
I'm reminded of Aristotle banning infinity from academia with a flimsy argument for how it was impossible in the real world. After a hundred years of quantum randomness it seems pretty clear the issue is not likely to conveniently disappear anytime soon and perhaps dealing with it directly is the only way forward. Who knows, perhaps like paradoxes and infinities we might even find more real world applications for the concept and, in so doing, lesson the strangle hold of archaic ideas and superstitions.