(July 9, 2009 at 12:18 pm)Rhizomorph13 Wrote: What little I know of quantum mechanics leads me to believe that the electron would ... theoretically exist in all places simultaneously ... That is the nothing which "exists" as a placeholder.
Sounds more like, "That is the everything which 'exists' as a placeholder." :o)
(At any rate, this holds only under an epistemological Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, which Einstein felt was problematic and sought to find a 'hidden variables' theory. One such theory, the ontological Bohm interpretation, demonstrates that some features of the Copenhagen interpretation, such as what you allude to, are unique to it but not essential to quantum mechanics; e.g., wave collapse, entanglement, the non-existence of particles while not being observed, etc. Under the Bohm interpretation, Schrödinger's cat does not suffer from self-contradiction while no one's looking.)
Man is a rational animal who always loses his temper when
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
called upon to act in accordance with the dictates of reason.
(Oscar Wilde)
