gcomeau wrote:cthia wrote:It was a joke gcomeau. And, perhaps I better explain the punch line. Schrodinger's cat is his woman who doesn't want to be caught in the act(observed) and killed.
But you are right, I shouldn't have assumed that everyone was aware of that joke.
Perhaps you should have told the joke. You do realize there is nothing remotely resembling the joke you are describing in the post you made? No cats. No women. No 10 repeats of an experiment. No humorous plays on the ways we can confuse binary and decimal numbering systems when the numbers involved are comprised of only 1s and 0s. No seduction. Nothing. Not a word about any of it.
I agree. The joke needs to be told. I assumed everyone that is discussing physics knows it. It is such a popular joke and it keeps resurfacing. It is one of the most parodied jokes.
But it isn't the type of joke to be told on this forum, and certainly not in this thread. Schrodinger's Cat is descriptive enough. And perhaps I should have restructured the post. Actually the observer effect part was included as an afterthought for those not aware of it.
It is humorous to me in yet another way. When the professor told it, he said afterward, "if you don't get the punch line here get in line for your punch after class."
A punch in those days meaning a recommendation to drop the course without prejudice.
And many didn't get it. But the guys had no problem explaining it to the girls. Well, some of us anyways.
