Re: AI and cognitive psychology rant (getting more and more OT - tell me if I should shut up)

From: Michele Simionato (mis6_at_pitt.edu)
Date: 10/30/03 

Date: 29 Oct 2003 23:26:05 -0800

Stephen Horne <steve@ninereeds.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message news:
<snip some argument I would agree>
> Perhaps cats simply don't have a particle/wave duality issue to worry
> about.

I have got the impression (please correct me if I misread your posts) that
you are invoking the argument "cats are macroscopic objects, so their
ondulatory nature does not matter at all, whereas electrons are
microscopic, so they ondulatory nature does matter a lot."

This kind of arguments are based on the de Broglie wavelenght concept and
are perfectly fine. Nevertheless, I would like to make clear (probably
it is already clear to you) that quantum effects are by no means
confined to the microscopic realm. We cannot say "okay, quantum is
bizarre, but it does not effect me, it affects only a little world
that I will never see". That's not true. We see macroscopic effects of
the quantum nature of reality all the time. Take for instance
conduction theory. When you turn on your computer, electron flow
through a copper cable from the electric power plant to your house.
Any modern theory of conduction is formulated as a
(non-relativistic) quantum field theory of an electron gas
interacting with a lattice of copper atoms. From the microscopic
theory you get macroscopic concepts, for instance you may determine
the resistivity as a function of the temperature. The classical
Drude's model has long past as a good enough explanation of
conductivity. Think also to superconductivity and superfluidity:
these are spectacular examples of microscopic quantum effects
affecting macroscopic quantities.
Finally, the most extreme example: quantum fluctuations
during the inflationary era, when the entire observable universe
has a microscopic size, are finally responsible for the density
fluctuations at the origin of galaxies formation. Moreover, we
observe effects of these fluctuations in the cosmic background
radiation, i.e. from phothons coming from the most extreme
distance in the Universe, phothons that travelled from billions
and billions of light years. Now, that's macroscopic!

                          Michele

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