Schrödinger's cat theory as it might relate to Lost

[Bostonlost]

Ok so this might be out there…..Way out there

But it is a theory I have had since the “Incident” last year.

The idea is Schrödinger's cat and this is pretty basic interpetation and is pretty loose. I could go deep into it but it's late and I would bore the you know what out of you.....Eyes glazed over...haha

Schrödinger's Cat: A cat, along with a flask containing a poison, is placed in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence. If an internal Geiger counter detects radiation, the flask is shattered, releasing the poison that kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when we look in the box, we see the cat either alive or dead, not both alive and dead.

How it relates?
The quantum-mechanical "Schrödinger's cat" paradox according to the many-worlds interpretation. In this interpretation every event is a branch point; the cat is both alive and dead, irrespective of whether the box is opened, but the "alive" and "dead" cats are in different branches of the universe, both of which are equally real, but which cannot interact with each other.

Hugh Everett III (Think Faraday)……Was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics.

Basically the idea is you sit in a chair watching Lost. At some point you might think you need a drink of water.

Now Atoms can split….Humans are made up of atoms…..

Did an alternate version of you go to get that glass of water? Is the other version of you still sitting down watching TV?

Again it’s out there I know but it does relate.

When Juliet (the cat) hits the bomb it changed events in an alternate future.

[JMart]

[Bostonlost]

Great Pic Jmart

[WhatThe]

Ok so this might be out there…..Way out there

But it is a theory I have had since the “Incident” last year.

The idea is Schrödinger's cat and this is pretty basic interpetation and is pretty loose. I could go deep into it but it's late and I would bore the you know what out of you.....Eyes glazed over...haha

Schrödinger's Cat: A cat, along with a flask containing a poison, is placed in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence...

Eyes have now glazed over lol...

[jasond]

I'm on board. Have you ever read "Timeline" by Michael Crichton? It doesn't mention the Cat but it deals with Quantum theory and the same kind of multiple reality stuff. At the quantum level, you could possibly jump between realities. It talks about how the multiple time lines and how they can and do interact with each other. Hence the Desmond time jumping stuff.

I also thinks it presents a possible (and probably frustrating) ending to the show. Maybe one character will be asked to "open the box."

[jamesl]

wait
there was a cat in this episode ?

[Gutterball94]

The idea is Schrödinger's cat and this is pretty basic interpetation and is pretty loose. I could go deep into it but it's late and I would bore the you know what out of you.....Eyes glazed over...haha

How many class credits was that worth?? 

I watch Fringe so this wasn't completely over my head. The most basic interpretation of this is the Futurama episode called "The Farnsworth Parabox" in which they venture to different universes that are created every time someone makes a choice.

In Fringe we've seen glimpses into another universe where different choices have been made, so naturally different consequences have resulted.

I'm on board with this. It's plausible and fits well with the quantum physics that we've been getting accustomed to.

[Luna C]

wait
there was a cat in this episode ?

You didn't notice that Vincent got turned into a cat after the incident?

[Blitz Wing]

I think you're on to something, but I suggest something slightly different.

I'm familiar with Schrödinger's cat experiment, and related experiment called the Double Slit Experiment.

Here's a couple of good video explaining both:
Schrödinger's Cat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrxqTtiWxs4
Double Slit Experiment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

Basically both experiments relates to quantum physics, and says that the outcome is determined when you observe what's going on. In Schrödinger's Cat, you don't know if the cat is dead or alive until you look in the box. In the Double Slit Experiment an electron will behave a certain way but if you look at it, it will behave differently....the act of looking changes things.

So we have two timelines, the one we're familiar with where Jughead didn't go off (Everybody's on the Island), and the one where Jughead did go off (everybody is off the sunken island). So let say it has to be one or the other only. Like Schrödinger's Cat experiment, the state of the timelines is both at the same time because nobody has looked in the box yet. So maybe at some point at the end of the season, somebody will look in the box....and at that time it will be determined which timeline actually exists. Maybe this Box might actually be the Box Ben talks about.

[Gutterball94]

Pulled from Lostpedia:

Put in LOST terms, the lost people are both on the island (plane crashed) and off the island (plane never crashed) (to the viewer (outside the box)), until someone is able to peer inside and actually see what happened...in other words, one of the lost people is going to have to "open the box" (aka, find a way to see what actually happened) in order to reveal the true reality of the effect of the bomb. Therefore, the rest of the season will be showing us, the viewer, both POSSIBLE outcomes of what happened when the bomb went off (off the island vs. on the island) At some point someone (maybe Desmond) will have the ability to 'peer inside the box' and figure out which reality actually happened as a result of the bomb.

[Bostonlost]

Pulled from Lostpedia:

Put in LOST terms, the lost people are both on the island (plane crashed) and off the island (plane never crashed) (to the viewer (outside the box)), until someone is able to peer inside and actually see what happened...in other words, one of the lost people is going to have to "open the box" (aka, find a way to see what actually happened) in order to reveal the true reality of the effect of the bomb. Therefore, the rest of the season will be showing us, the viewer, both POSSIBLE outcomes of what happened when the bomb went off (off the island vs. on the island) At some point someone (maybe Desmond) will have the ability to 'peer inside the box' and figure out which reality actually happened as a result of the bomb.

Agreed ....But that still doesn't mean that both timelines are not happening and will continue on.

Unless they are going to collided

[lostfromthestart]

So we have two timelines, the one we're familiar with where Jughead didn't go off (Everybody's on the Island), and the one where Jughead did go off (everybody is off the sunken island). So let say it has to be one or the other only. Like Schrödinger's Cat experiment, the state of the timelines is both at the same time because nobody has looked in the box yet. So maybe at some point at the end of the season, somebody will look in the box....and at that time it will be determined which timeline actually exists. Maybe this Box might actually be the Box Ben talks about.

But the bomb DID go off in both timelines, just with differing results.  Where they are still on the island they are sent forward to the aftermath of the later date where Locke did not push the button.  The Hatch has long been blown to smithereens, and the seven characters and the VW bus are in their respective prior positions, with Juliet at the position of the shaft bottom.

[Madam P]

This stuff is so far over my head it's ridiculous, but I have to say... JMart, that picture scares the bejesus out of me.  That's the most evil-looking expression we've seen on anyone on Lost yet to date, I think.  Give O'Quinn an Emmy just for that alone.

[JBRam]

I kinda like the Schrodinger explanation... I'm not sure that I agree or not, but I like it.

[jamesl]

So we have two timelines, the one we're familiar with where Jughead didn't go off (Everybody's on the Island), and the one where Jughead did go off (everybody is off the sunken island). So let say it has to be one or the other only. Like Schrödinger's Cat experiment, the state of the timelines is both at the same time because nobody has looked in the box yet. So maybe at some point at the end of the season, somebody will look in the box....and at that time it will be determined which timeline actually exists. Maybe this Box might actually be the Box Ben talks about.

But the bomb DID go off in both timelines, just with differing results.  Where they are still on the island they are sent forward to the aftermath of the later date where Locke did not push the button.  The Hatch has long been blown to smithereens, and the seven characters and the VW bus are in their respective prior positions, with Juliet at the position of the shaft bottom.

we aren't actually sure the bomb went off in both timelines/universes
if it had gone off in the timeline where she eventually ends up dead, then she would have been dead long before Sawyere digs her out

we do know that Juliete, Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Miles and the rest were time shifted,
but maybe they were more than just shifted to a later date
maybe they were shifted to a time/universe where the bomb did not go off
so the hatch was built and later destroyed when Des turned the failsafe key
but Juliete still retains her memories of detonating the bomb in the other timeline/universe