Curiosity Killed the Cat but the Apple Brought It Back

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In 1935, Erwin Schrödinger, the Nobel Prize winning quantum physicist, developed a well-known thought experiment. His set-up presents a box that encases a cat, a flask of poison, a radioactive material (that has an equal probability of decaying or not decaying within an hour) and a Geiger counter (an instrument that is able to detect radioactivity) that is hooked up to the flask of poison. If the radioactive material begins to decay within an hour, the Geiger counter will receive a signal and release the poison from its flask, killing the cat, and conversely, if the substance doesn’t decompose within the same hour, the poison will not be released and the cat survives. After the hour is consumed the researcher opens the box to find what results were produced, he either finds that the cat is alive or that he is dead. However, as long as the examiner does not open the box, the cat is both alive and dead, it is in a superposition. By opening the box, he is forcing nature to make a decision; he is forcing it to collapse into one option or the other. As I observe this fruit sitting in front of me, my eyes receive information about the features that define the perception that it creates in my mind. Its familiar red peel with streaks of yellow and green, the deep dimple on its crown, the short, fragile stem that protrudes from the top, like a meerkat peering from its tunnel. These characteristics, in addition to its recognizable smell and identifiable, waxy skin provide me the image that I associate with the apple. This recognition allows me to infer what is contained within it, which is what I always expect to find, the rough, white interior that is saturated with a sticky, fragrant syrup. However, just by observing the outside of the apple, I cannot be completely sure what it contains within its skin. It might hold a labyrinth of worms or it might be packed with stones.

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