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What do you think of this film about http://science.tv/watch/e257e44aa9d5bade97ba/liquid-nitrogen-and-superconductor". Is it complete nonsense or based on fact?
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Dimitar said:What do you think of this film about http://science.tv/watch/e257e44aa9d5bade97ba/liquid-nitrogen-and-superconductor" [Broken]. Is it complete nonsense or based on fact?
peter0302 said:I just watched the clip, and I have to strongly disagree with the disparagement of the movie. First off, I think that any film that attempts to generate interest in science, especially for children or other unsophisticated audiences, is a great thing. I understand that the obvious response is "sure, as long as it's accurate."
Well, because something like entanglement is so poorly understood on any level other than mathematical, it is rather impossible to speak of its interpretation in "accurate" terms. Does that mean it should be a topic forbidden for discussion except by physicists with masters degrees? No, because entanglement truly is a wonderous phenoninon and if more people were interested in it as a whole, perhaps more students and physicists would take interest in it and try to unravel the mysteries. I for one, think that it contains the "only mystery" to quote Feynman (even though he was referring to the double slit) and therefore is quite deserving of awe.
The film did take some liberties with interprative and qualitative statements like "the other resonds instantly." The speculation at the end that everything is entangled due to the big bang was probably unnecessary, but because it was presented as obvious wild speculation, also was harmless.
As much as I dislike that clip, the movie it is from is far worse.peter0302 said:I just watched the clip, and I have to strongly disagree with the disparagement of the movie.
The movie is outrageously unscientific--it only serves to generate interest in New Age pseudoscience.First off, I think that any film that attempts to generate interest in science, especially for children or other unsophisticated audiences, is a great thing.
peter0302 said:I just watched the clip, and I have to strongly disagree with the disparagement of the movie. First off, I think that any film that attempts to generate interest in science, especially for children or other unsophisticated audiences, is a great thing. I understand that the obvious response is "sure, as long as it's accurate."
Well, because something like entanglement is so poorly understood on any level other than mathematical, it is rather impossible to speak of its interpretation in "accurate" terms. Does that mean it should be a topic forbidden for discussion except by physicists with masters degrees? No, because entanglement truly is a wonderous phenoninon and if more people were interested in it as a whole, perhaps more students and physicists would take interest in it and try to unravel the mysteries. I for one, think that it contains the "only mystery" to quote Feynman (even though he was referring to the double slit) and therefore is quite deserving of awe.
The film did take some liberties with interprative and qualitative statements like "the other resonds instantly." The speculation at the end that everything is entangled due to the big bang was probably unnecessary, but because it was presented as obvious wild speculation, also was harmless.
Sarah_Heck said:After having watched the film several times since I've started to learn more about quantum physics, I definitely see how it is very poorly edited and does quite a bad job of presenting the real science. However, I do think that the film makes some great overall points. To me, the gist of the film is basically, by changing our thoughts, we can change our behavior, and change our experience of reality. Simply setting an intention, whether we are consciously doing it or not, changes our actions, for better or for worse. The goal of this film, to me, is to get people to be more aware and mindful of their thought patterns, and the effects this has on their lives. This has nothing to do with quantum physics, it's just basic psychology. It's essentially the theoretical basis behind cognitive behavioral therapy, which is widely used to treat depression. I also found the portions of the film dealing with how people become addicted to emotions, and how they unconsciously adapt their behavior to create situations that trigger those emotions, to be equally fascinating and seemingly valid, although admittedly I haven't properly looked into the science of that. However, in my years practicing as an attorney and child advocate in the family law environment, and dealing with people who are in a perpetual state of emotional crisis, these concepts seem quite legitmate.
ZapperZ said:So what you are doing and what the film was doing is applying a valid quantum phenomenon into areas in which it hasn't been proven to work!
Zz.
All I saw was the one Youtube clip on entanglement, and I didn't see anything that could be called "bastardizing." Maybe other parts of it are worse. But I suspect people just don't like it because it doesn't talk about Hamiltonians and Eigenvalues and Wave Functions. Science is not a PhD's only club, you know.ZapperZ said:Fact: the movie bastardizes physics for its own pseudoscience purpose.
That fact alone is enough reason why this movie is ridiculed.
Would you rather prefer someone to not know about you, rather than being told lies about you? Presenting bad physics worse than presenting no physics at all. I'd rather someone be completely ignorant about physics, rather than being fed with such garbage. For those of us who have thought physics, we all can tell you how much effort it is to correct a student's erroneous understanding of physics that they've picked up along the way. It is much simpler when they come in without any of those mistaken understanding.
And what's worse, there ARE people who truly believe that this movie is presenting science.
Zz.
peter0302 said:All I saw was the one Youtube clip on entanglement, and I didn't see anything that could be called "bastardizing." Maybe other parts of it are worse. But I suspect people just don't like it because it doesn't talk about Hamiltonians and Eigenvalues and Wave Functions. Science is not a PhD's only club, you know.
peter0302 said:All I saw was the one Youtube clip on entanglement, and I didn't see anything that could be called "bastardizing." Maybe other parts of it are worse. But I suspect people just don't like it because it doesn't talk about Hamiltonians and Eigenvalues and Wave Functions. Science is not a PhD's only club, you know.
peter0302 said:What in the world are you talking about? Is there more to this movie than the youtube clip? I'd really like to see the parts that you're claiming show a "religious agenda." That just sounds like paranoia.
peter0302 said:I've read speculation like that from legitimate sources and aside from being speculation I really don't think it's that bad. This spirituality / religion aspect you're imparting is not objectively to be found in that single clip.
And by the way, I literally grew up watching Cosmos on PBS and in retrospect, it took a lot of liberties as well.
I'm not comparing this movie to Carl Sagan's movie but you have to admit that any popular depiction of science is going to cut corners. It's inevitable. Doesn't make it bad.
The film follows a team of scientists as they explore the properties of liquid nitrogen and superconductors, and how these materials can potentially revolutionize technology and our understanding of quantum mechanics.
Liquid nitrogen is used as a coolant in the film to demonstrate the superconducting properties of certain materials at extremely low temperatures. It is also used to showcase the potential applications of superconductors in various industries.
Superconductors, which have zero electrical resistance at very low temperatures, can behave in ways that defy our current understanding of quantum mechanics. By studying their properties, scientists hope to gain insight into the fundamental laws of physics.
The film accurately depicts the properties and potential applications of liquid nitrogen and superconductors. However, like any work of science fiction, there may be some creative liberties taken for the sake of storytelling.
The film highlights the importance of continued scientific exploration and the potential for groundbreaking discoveries in the field of quantum mechanics. It also emphasizes the potential for liquid nitrogen and superconductors to revolutionize technology and shape our understanding of the universe.