Why world looks chaos on atomic scale but it is uniform on higher scale?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the perceived chaos at the atomic scale compared to the uniformity observed at larger scales. Participants consider examples and implications of these observations, touching on concepts from quantum mechanics and the nature of reality as perceived by different scales of existence.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions why the atomic scale appears chaotic while the larger scale seems smooth and uniform.
  • Another participant asks for specific examples of chaos at the atomic scale and uniformity at the macroscale.
  • A participant describes the atomic scale as involving particles that seem to pop into existence and disappear, contrasting this with the stability seen at larger scales.
  • There is a suggestion that the perception of chaos at the atomic level may stem from a lack of familiarity, proposing that if one were an atomic-scale creature, the phenomena observed would seem normal.
  • One participant challenges the interpretation of atomic behavior by comparing it to everyday experiences, suggesting that the macro world might be perceived as more chaotic from a different perspective.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of chaos and uniformity across scales, with no consensus reached on the interpretation of atomic phenomena versus macroscopic observations.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about familiarity with atomic behavior and the subjective nature of perception across different scales, which remain unresolved.

SUROJL
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Hey guys, I am thinking about world at small scale and world at larger scale. Why world is more chaos at smaller scale and why it is more smooth and uniform in larger scale?
 
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What examples are you thinking of re: chaos at the atomic scale and uniformity at the macroscale?
 
Thinking about what we would see if we go on atomic scale. It's like particles popping into existence, electrons coming and going but on larger scale we see nothing going heavily like that.
 
Doesn't atomic scale looks chaos?
 
SUROJL said:
It's like particles popping into existence,
OK. Virtual particles are certainly not something we see in the macro world.

SUROJL said:
electrons coming and going
Don't know what this means. Cars come and go on the highway.
I think what you might want to consider is that, from the time we are sapient, we get used to the way the world works at the macro level. The atomic scale only looks weird because we're not familiar with it.

If we were atomic-scale creatures, then radio-decay and Cherenkov radiation and virtual particles would be perfectly normal and we would be agape at what a single mass of 10^26 atoms could do with a canvas and a paintbrush. From that point of view, it's the macro world where all the really crazy things happen. Like life. And da Vinci.
 

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