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Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by srcreigh on Friday January 28, 2022 @03:42AM (#30112191)
Newton and Einstein both seem to be on the side of hidden variables, so I'm not sure if it's unpopular among the elites.

I have a lot of trouble imagining any experiment which could completely rule out every other influencing factor. There are silly thought experiments such as what if the world has been objective for the last x00 years - prior to that and after, the laws we've observed during the period would bend; things will become inconsistent.

It's silly and I don't even believe it, but it does show that science is incapable of completely ruling out everything.

The truth could be endemic mystery. Endemic insanely and terrifyingly simple endless levels of understanding. In a way science is nothing unless that's the reality.

Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by guerrilla on Friday January 28, 2022 @04:37AM (#30112564)
> I have a lot of trouble imagining any experiment which could completely rule out every other influencing factor

It's called Bell's theorem and it can even be tested at home[4]. There are no local hidden variables in quantum mechanics.[1][2][3]

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell%27s_theorem

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPR_paradox

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden-variable_theory

4a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcqZHYo7ONs

4b. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzRCDLre1b4

Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by lulantivaxxers on Friday January 28, 2022 @10:26AM (#30115756)
Thanks for this, hidden variable theories are very seductive but Bell's Theorem is definitive.
Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by naasking on Friday January 28, 2022 @12:20PM (#30117568)
It's definitive that you have to give up locality (Bohmian mechanics), counterfactual definiteness (Copenhagen and others), or statistical independence (Superdeterminism). It's not definitive at all about local hidden variables.
Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by guerrilla on Friday January 28, 2022 @12:41PM (#30117876)
> It's not definitive at all about local hidden variables.

What?

> To date, Bell tests have found that the hypothesis of local hidden variables is inconsistent with the way that physical systems do, in fact, behave.

Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by naasking on Friday January 28, 2022 @12:55PM (#30118068)
Bell's theorem assumes statistical independence in its proof that local hidden variables can't reproduce QM. Superdeterminism violates statistical independence, therefore Bell's theorem does not rule out a superdeterministic local hidden variables theory, like this one:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.01327v5

Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by guerrilla on Friday January 28, 2022 @01:08PM (#30118263)
Oh, thank you. I've been meaning to check her blog on this.
Re:Why Quantum Mechanics? by emptyfile on Friday January 28, 2022 @05:25AM (#30112868)
> Newton and Einstein both seem to be on the side of hidden variables, so I'm not sure if it's unpopular among the elites.

Everyday posters on this website amaze me. I should really stop coming here...