19th December 2014, 02:13 PM
Marc Berger Wrote:you ever heard of Schrödinger's cat? and you probably don't think that what we do is preservation by copyright.
I am well acquainted with said feline. However, the (fictional) analogy of superposition doesn't actually mean that the cat doesn't exist until you open the box....its actually an expression of the difficulty of 'scaling up' the micro-scopic quantum world and it's weirdness into our macroscopic world. It seems (according to wiki - my physics is way old now) to be accepted that his logic problem was asking the question when does superposition of states end.
The analogy of opening a trench 'producing' archaeology in our macroscopic world therefore doesn't apply.
I think what your inferring is closer to Heisenberg's principle, or the uncertainty principle where pairs of attibutes are linked by quantum effects meaning you can't measure one without altering the other....for instance measuring the position of a particle affects its spin etc.
The only way Heisenberg's principle applies to digging an evaluation trench (What you mean, I think), is that the act of recording changes the archaeology being recorded.
Which is actually something different entirely called 'the observer effect' which does apply to the macro world. As in you change something by measuring it, e.g. measuring the amps in a circuit changes the volts.....etc.
People often misunderstand saying that this means we can't record things (or shouldn't). But what these principles are all about is errors and uncertainty. You know that annoying stuff that comes with all science that archaeologists often ignore: levels of uncertainty.....
(from Wiki)
In metrology, physics, and engineering, the uncertainty or margin of error of a measurement is stated by giving a range of values likely to enclose the true value. This may be denoted by error bars on a graph, or by the following notations:
- measured value ± uncertainty
Hence when we scientifically measure a date we get a statistical date range in which the actual date lies. It doesn't mean the date doesn't exists or that science can't provide the answer. Just that these are the limitations of the measurement technique and any interpretations made from the result should take these into account.
Next you'll be saying there is no air until you breath it. Yawn