A Boost For Quantum Reality

Eponymous Hero sends this excerpt from Nature: "The philosophical status of the wavefunction — the entity that determines the probability of different outcomes of measurements on quantum-mechanical particles — would seem to be an unlikely subject for emotional debate. Yet online discussion of a paper claiming to show mathematically that the wavefunction is real has ranged from ardently star-struck to downright vitriolic since the article was first released as a preprint in November 2011. ... [The authors] say that the mathematics leaves no doubt that the wavefunction is not just a statistical tool, but rather, a real, objective state of a quantum system."

well, actually...

[notgm]

it is, and it isn't.

Hegel was half-right

[For a Free Internet]

Marx and Engels rescued the revolutionary, materialist core from the idealistic mysticism of Hegel's dialectic! Communism is our last best hope! Smash U.S. imperialism! Forge a revolutionary Leninist-Trotskyist workers party! Pizza!

Elephants!

[Black Parrot]

the mathematics leaves no doubt that the wavefunction is not just a statistical tool, but rather, a real, objective state of a quantum system.

If that's the case, I would suppose that wavefunctions have wavefunctions.

Re:Elephants!

[snowsmann]

It's turtles all the way down!

Re:well, actually...

[jd]

If you apply fuzzy logic, then it uniformly half-is.

Re:Heh

[johanatan]

Not if it's running on the 'cloud'. Come on man, get with the times.

Re:If the internet has taught us anything

[wonkey_monkey]

You take that back, you scruffy-lookin' nerfherder!