None of the physics textbooks I have ever read have required any special qualifications for a system to play the role of measurer, and in many cases use elementary particles as the measurers. There are only three places I recall hearing that claim: Werner Heisenberg, confused non-physicists, and advertising for quantum woo.
In context, the quote is not directed at anyone, and is just a rhetorical question leading straight to “no of course not.” Out of context it quite naturally looks like it’s directed at some group, changing the meaning a bit.
The quotes from Landau and Lifshitz definitely made me “what,” but so did the solutions Bell proposed. 1990 is 20 years ago, I guess.
Fair point—pulling the quote out of context does change the way it comes across. To me, the out-of-context quote seems to target pop sci accounts of QM that talk in a misleading way about observation causing collapse. (The woo account of QM takes this misapprehension and runs with it, so I can see how your original rejoinder came about.)
None of the physics textbooks I have ever read have required any special qualifications for a system to play the role of measurer, and in many cases use elementary particles as the measurers. There are only three places I recall hearing that claim: Werner Heisenberg, confused non-physicists, and advertising for quantum woo.
If you like, PM me an email address and I’ll send the article there.
Too late, I went and found it online elsewhere :P
In context, the quote is not directed at anyone, and is just a rhetorical question leading straight to “no of course not.” Out of context it quite naturally looks like it’s directed at some group, changing the meaning a bit.
The quotes from Landau and Lifshitz definitely made me “what,” but so did the solutions Bell proposed. 1990 is 20 years ago, I guess.
Fair point—pulling the quote out of context does change the way it comes across. To me, the out-of-context quote seems to target pop sci accounts of QM that talk in a misleading way about observation causing collapse. (The woo account of QM takes this misapprehension and runs with it, so I can see how your original rejoinder came about.)
Just remember, 2011 will be 20 years ago in 2031! ;-)
It’s as it is said: we learn new things all the time, so everything we know now is wrong.