The Copenhagen Interpretation

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

I want to dwell on this philosophical leap made by the Copenhagen interpretation. So you really say that the job of your physical theory in this case is to simply predict the outcomes of experiments. And they said this, the advocates of Copenhagen as far as I can tell were sometimes more explicit about this than others. But okay, there's a version of it which really says that and it's almost solipsistic, idealistic.

There are many mysteries surrounding quantum mechanics. To me, the biggest mysteries are why physicists haven’t yet agreed on a complete understanding of the theory, and even more why they mostly seem content not to try. This puzzling attitude has historical roots that go back to the Bohr-Einstein debates. Adam Becker, in his book What Is Real?, looks at this history, and discusses how physicists have shied away from the foundations of quantum mechanics in the subsequent years. We discuss why this has been the case, and talk about some of the stubborn iconoclasts who insisted on thinking about it anyway.

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Adam Becker received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Michigan. He is currently a science writer and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Science, Technology, Medicine & Society at UC Berkeley. His book What Is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics comes out in paperback on Sept. 3, 2019.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.