Schrodinger's cat?

[Zeroththeking]

I got another brain puzzler for the escapist community.

You tell your friend that he has the reflexes of Schrodinger's Cat. Is it an insult (dead cat)? Or a compliment (alive cat)?

Heres the wiki article if people dont know what it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrodinger%27s_cat

 

[ddq5]

No matter what his reflexes, he's not getting out of the box. Insult.

 

[Macgyvercas]

Niether, since the cat being alive or dead is completely depentent on whether or not a poison has been released

 

[delet]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

Edit- Based on what other people have said, I give my answer.

The phrase "Reflexes like a cat" is based upon the idea that cats have fast reflexes, thus a compliment. Because this is a SPECIFIC cat, it depends not upon whether he's in a box or not, but on whether or not this cat has (had) good reflexes to begin with.

 

[lee1287]

im confused. what is the cat?

 

[Inverse Skies]

Memory tells me Schrodinger had something to do with either the atom, quantum physics or both... so I can half see where you're coming from, but an explanation would be great!

 

[ZeroMachine]

Insult. It would mean you weren't sure whether your friend existed or not.

EDIT: It seems I have misunderstood Shrodinger's cat...

 

[Macgyvercas]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

In 1935 Irwin Schrodinger, in an attempt to explain the Coppanhagen interpretation of Quantum physics, proposed an experiment in which a cat is place in a box with a sealed vial of poison that will break open at a random time. Now because nobody knows when or if the poison has been released, until the box is open the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead.

 

[bodyklok]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrödinger's_cat

I'd say context would effect this heavily, for example, if your friend had just fallen over you might say this and then it would be implied that it was an insult.

 

[hypercube]

The cat is a superposition of waveforms - deadcat and livecat.

So he has the reflexes of an uncollapsed waveform. Until the box is opened, part of that waveform has great reflexes.

Just make sure you don't open the box.

 

[grimsprice]

Schrodinger proposed that a radioactive atoms' state can not be determined, it is therefore both decayed and undecayed. If you put a cat in a box with a toxic gas that is activated by radioactive decay, the cat will be both dead and alive.

And its a total bullshit theory.


And wow, its interesting to read all the different explanations of the theoretical experiment. Some are way off, others are bizarrely mixed up... lolz.

 

[lacktheknack]

It depends on whether Schrodinger's Cat is sentient or not.

It probably isn't, so I've solved nothing. Have a good day.

 

[Ibanez887]

It would serve as a compliment, until the box is opened of course

 

[Xero Scythe]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

shcro's cat is a theoretical problem involving string theory and multiple universes theory. here's the layman's terms: there is a cat inside an inescapable box. if an atom hits a vial, it will release a deadly poison into the box, killing the cat. since two outcomes are possible, the theory is that two universes will pop up, one where the atom hits the vial and the cat is killed, and one where the cat lives b/c the atom missed completely. the theory is that from one universe, in that single action has split into two separate realites. the theory also says this happens for every choice, an infinite amount of realities exist. for proof in a manga, see Katekyo's Hitman Reborn! Milleford arc.

insult. the cat has no reflexes. it just stays inside the box. luck might have a better outcome. or maybe capriciousness.

 

[RetroViruses]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

In 1935 Irwin Schrodinger, in an attempt to explain the Coppanhagen interpretation of Quantum physics, proposed an experiment in which a cat is place in a box with a sealed vial of poison that will break open at a random time. Now because nobody knows when or if the poison has been released, until the box is open the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead.

Tsk Tsk, you forgot the oddly useless (as far as I can tell) decaying isotope...
Wikipedia has a long, confusing explanation as well.
OT: Well, average the two. Your friend has half the reflexes of a cat.

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

You aren't getting an answer because there is no answer...

 

[Macgyvercas]

Explain what 'Schrodinger's ' cat is first...

In 1935 Irwin Schrodinger, in an attempt to explain the Coppanhagen interpretation of Quantum physics, proposed an experiment in which a cat is place in a box with a sealed vial of poison that will break open at a random time. Now because nobody knows when or if the poison has been released, until the box is open the cat can be thought of as both alive and dead.

Tsk Tsk, you forgot the oddly useless (as far as I can tell) decaying isotope...
Wikipedia has a long, confusing explanation as well.
OT: Well, average the two. Your friend has half the reflexes of a cat.

I just stole that explanation from "The Big Bang Theory"

 

[Skeletorfw]

The statement is both an insult and a compliment at the same time in an indeterminate state. As soon as you open the box to find out whether the statement is one or the other, the dual waveform will collapse and one state will become predominant.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Insult--A cat in an inescapable box can only bump the box around a little bit, cannot jump out of the way, and has no perception of it's surroundings, and that's if the cat is alive.

There is a slight compliment, though--your friend is an uncollapsed waveform, and will collapse when you observe him, thus giving him a definite happenstance. That could be construed as a compliment, I guess, that he's definite...