Saddam's cat
4/01/03 07:18 PM ET
Paul Kedrosky
Am I the only one put in mind of quantum physics and Schrodinger's Cat by the is-he-alive/isn't-he-alive status of Saddam?
To paraprase, imagine you have a living dictator -- let's call him Saddam -- and you place him in a thick, insulated bunker. At this point we seal the bunker, but there is no question that the dictator is alive.
Next, we send in a bunker buster bomb whose effects are semi-random (bomblets spread widely and unpredictably inside the bunker). Practically speaking, there is, therefore, a 50/50 chance the dictator will be killed by a bomblet. Without opening the bunker, however, we do not know whether the dictator is alive or dead.
Since we don't know Saddam's status, he is, in a quantum sense, both dead and alive i.e., he is in a superposition of states. It is only when we open the bunker and learn the condition of the dictator that the superposition goes away, and the quantum dictator becomes one or the other (dead or alive).
So, having stretched my silly analogy this far, what do we now know that we didn't know before? Nothing, but it was a nice and educational trip, wasn't it? |
