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mdtzparadise
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So, I recently read "Divining Light" by Ted Kosmatka. In it, he proposes a thought experiment (acted out in full by his characters) in which the double-slit experiment with electrons is performed. The detectors at each slit are wired to a computer, and do not click or turn on a light, merely tell the computer which detector was triggered. The computer stores this information in a file for the physicist to open upon completion of the experiment. Likewise, the results of the detector screen at the end of the experiment are sent to the computer and stored in a file. The idea, then, is that if the detectors at the slits are turned on (the case in which we would expect the wavefunction to collapse), but the results are erased before being observed, then the detectors remain part of the indeterminate system. Because it is impossible to know which detector was triggered, there still exists a superposition of states in which either could have been triggered, and therefore the interference pattern is preserved. Predictably, I am skeptical. Because this would imply some sort of requirement of consciousness to collapse the wavefunction. However, I cannot find anything to support or disprove this. I contacted the author, and he admitted that he also has no idea if it's true or not; it was only a thought experiment. Can anyone clearly explain why it is or is not true, and give evidence/citations to back up your assertions? I don't want to answer a thought experiment with another thought experiment.