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From: sdb@shark.UUCP (Steven Den Beste)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: the case against identical universes - (nf)
Message-ID: <1497@shark.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Sep-83 02:02:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: shark.1497
Posted: Tue Sep 20 02:02:36 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Sep-83 07:16:37 EDT
References: uiucdcs.2796
Lines: 20

Firstoff, this discussion doesn't really belong in net.religion.

Second is the answer to the question: "I thought that the Heisenberg
principle meant you couldn't predict what would happen - I didn't think
that it meant that it wasn't predetermined."
These words are paraphrased from Scott McEwan.

The Heisenberg principle is not (as is commonly thought) a statement
about observation, it is rather a statement about the essential characteristics
of the electron. It is not just that we cannot predict the momentum,
the electron truly doesn't HAVE a single momentum - the concept of
momentum doesn't apply to electrons.
It is like trying to applying the terms "greater" or "lesser" to positions
on a map - they don't make sense.
The Heisenberg principle (and subsequent quantum mechanics) says that
it is not just that we aren't smark enough to predict the momentum
of an electron - no being regardless of how omniscient can.

   Steve Den Beste
   Tektronix