Wuff

Friday, March 20, 2009

physics: the future is unwritten

Physicists claim to prove The Strong Free Will Theorem
The import of the free will theorem is that it is not only current quantum theory, but the world itself that is non-deterministic, so that no future theory can return us to a clockwork universe.
As always, this conclusion that lay persons and new age touchy-feelies can seize on and argue over is backed by heavyweight theorems, math, and logic. I can almost grasp the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paradox: badly summarized it's generate a pair of electrons, measure the property of one after it's traveled a long way, and you somehow force the same property in the other; Einstein didn't like such "spooky action at a distance." But the SPIN Axiom and the Kochen-Specker Paradox are new to me.

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