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04 JUN 2004
Quantum thought
Ever since Schroedinger half-sacrificed a cat in a brutal thought experiment, we have understood that the quantum world is at base uncertain, a coexistence of true and false, which is sometimes resolved by observation.

Jokes depend on ambiguity. Is this story true or false? Does it lead to A or B? Not until the punch line do the elements fall into place.

Ambiguity itself is a joke. Is this a hoax or for real? If the uncertainty is never resolved, we have a running joke in the coexistence of the two opinions.

Quantum physics and funny thinking seem to be following the same principles. Could the universe be a cosmic joke?
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http://arxiv.org/pdf/quant-ph/0101077 100 Years of the Quantum
by Max Tegmark and John Archibald Wheeler.
A good intro to quantum physics.

Quantum thought >>