Schrodinger's Cat - your opinions

[xDAW]

Hello everyone,
I'm currently taking the EPQ, a qualification where the student is tasked to form a report of some kind. For mine, I'm writing a 5000 word report about the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment and what significance it holds in physics.
As part of my report, I want to include the views of others to illustrate any conflicting views between individuals and to aid in coming towards an overall conclusion at the end of the said report (of course I will be including my own as well, don't think I'm doing this to lessen my own work load).
So I ask of you just to give me your views on the Schrodinger's Cat thought experiment in physics, saying if you think it holds any significance and why, or any problems with the experiment.
I myself am going to write my own views in the report, referencing to how that answers to the questions posed by Schrodinger's Cat of how long superpositions last and when they collapse, if they even collapse at all, depends on what interpretation of quantum mechanics you are going by. I know that many of interpretations of quantum mechanics have come about after Erwin's time, but surely this could affect the credibility and significance of the experiment in today's time?
Even if you decide not to reply to this, thank you very much for taking the time to read this post and I look forward to any replies.

 

[jtbell]

Tip: Schrödinger's Cat has been discussed here many many times. You might like to try the "Search" link at the top of the page. Use the "Search PF via Google" option.

 

[alex2515]

The Schrodinger's cat experiment makes me wonder where the difference between the macroscopic, and QM worlds meet. I think that it can be called the 'measurment problem'. I think that when wondering as to the outcome of the cat, the ultimate question is instead; At what level do superpositions occur and at what level do they stop. Where is the threshold? And is their one?
I think that more specifcly. The ultimate question could become, "Is QM a complete description of reality?" Spoken by Einstein, in his long debate with Bell. In my mind, this is what the schodinger cat esperment is about, simply clarifying a problem in either QM or GR, or somewhere in between. I hope this helped, but I wouldn't be suprised if you knew all of this already. good luck!

 

[ZapperZ]

As jtbell has stated, this topic has been discussed ad nauseum. Please do a search in this forum, which include several important papers published on this topic.

This also should not verge on a philosophical discussion, because it will be closed if it does. All philosophical discussion on this topic must be done in the Philosophy forum in accordance to the rules of that forum.

Zz.