Sunday, June 19, 2005
Random notes on random
The British New Scientist mag (the house organ of Gaia-worshipers on that side of the pond) reports on the latest thinking in "action at a distance."
Basic theme: new research in photon-entanglement is leading to new thoughts on the basic nature of causation.
In every test, over more than two decades, quantum theory has come out intact. So relativity's assumption that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light is flawed; or is it? Well, not necessarily: there are two other assumptions that have to be tested first. The first is free will. Bell's analysis only produces his inequality if the two experimenters have genuine freedom to choose how they set their detectors. In an experiment with spins, that means being able to make measurements along axes that they can choose independently. But maybe that isn't possible. 'The idea is that everything could be somehow determined at the beginning,' says Gisin. Perhaps the creation of the particle pairs and the experimenters' choices are fixed by a vast web of cause and effect set up long ago, in which case the 'choices' would be ... beyond anyone's control. Unsurprisingly, not many physicists go for this idea.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... I thought the idea of science was to examine all possibilities without bias?
Oh, now I understand. This assumption is an Occasion Of Sin. Even considering a non-random and preconceived universe is doubleplusunthink, because we know Dragons Be There. So the most obvious assumption is rejected out of hand because mentioning it might give those awful unspeakable Intelligent Design devils a hint of hope; instead, we must take the path that leads to packs of contradictions.
This is religion, not science.
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I've been re-reading the WPA Writers' Project guide to Kansas. Love those WPA books. Full of little stories that illustrate lost ways of life, and some that aren't so lost. For instance, Ethanol is not a new idea at all.
The ATCHISON AGROL PLANT manufactures a blend of alcohol and gasoline for use as motor fuel. Established in 1935 as a research unit of the Chemical Foundation of America, the plant began operating on a commercial basis in 1937, and has a capacity of 10,000 gallons daily.
Similar plants were widespread in Iowa, and an Iowa congressman passed a federal law to encourage the production of Agrol. So what happened in the interim? Especially, why wasn't Agrol pushed hard during WW2? Don't know. ¶ 9:34 PM
Basic theme: new research in photon-entanglement is leading to new thoughts on the basic nature of causation.
In every test, over more than two decades, quantum theory has come out intact. So relativity's assumption that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light is flawed; or is it? Well, not necessarily: there are two other assumptions that have to be tested first. The first is free will. Bell's analysis only produces his inequality if the two experimenters have genuine freedom to choose how they set their detectors. In an experiment with spins, that means being able to make measurements along axes that they can choose independently. But maybe that isn't possible. 'The idea is that everything could be somehow determined at the beginning,' says Gisin. Perhaps the creation of the particle pairs and the experimenters' choices are fixed by a vast web of cause and effect set up long ago, in which case the 'choices' would be ... beyond anyone's control. Unsurprisingly, not many physicists go for this idea.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm.... I thought the idea of science was to examine all possibilities without bias?
Oh, now I understand. This assumption is an Occasion Of Sin. Even considering a non-random and preconceived universe is doubleplusunthink, because we know Dragons Be There. So the most obvious assumption is rejected out of hand because mentioning it might give those awful unspeakable Intelligent Design devils a hint of hope; instead, we must take the path that leads to packs of contradictions.
This is religion, not science.
-----
I've been re-reading the WPA Writers' Project guide to Kansas. Love those WPA books. Full of little stories that illustrate lost ways of life, and some that aren't so lost. For instance, Ethanol is not a new idea at all.
The ATCHISON AGROL PLANT manufactures a blend of alcohol and gasoline for use as motor fuel. Established in 1935 as a research unit of the Chemical Foundation of America, the plant began operating on a commercial basis in 1937, and has a capacity of 10,000 gallons daily.
Similar plants were widespread in Iowa, and an Iowa congressman passed a federal law to encourage the production of Agrol. So what happened in the interim? Especially, why wasn't Agrol pushed hard during WW2? Don't know. ¶ 9:34 PM
