Schroedinger's Cat as Explained by My Wife

It is very interesting what we can learn from others when we take the time to listen to them. Just last night, as we drove home from town, I started a conversation about Schrodinger's Cat with my wife who had never heard of the idea before. If you've never heard of Schrodinger or his cat, let me explain them to you.

Erwin Schrodinger was a quantum physicist who, in 1935, dreamed up a paradox to explain the potential positions of subatomic particles. This paradox, referred to as "Schrodinger's Cat", places a healthy cat into a steel box. Along with the feline, Schrodinger placed a vile of poison, a Geiger counter, a hammer, and radioactive material. When the radioactive material decays, the Geiger counter triggers the hammer to fall, breaking the vile and releasing the poison, consequently killing the unsuspecting cat.

An important variable in this scenario is the atomic decay of the radioactive material. It happens randomly. So, once the lid is closed on the cat, there is no verifiable way of knowing whether the cat is alive or dead except to open the lid and observe the cat. In this way, Erwin Schrodinger said that the cat would be stuck in a superposition of being alive and dead at the same time.

As we drove home, I explained the paradox of Schrodinger's Cat to my wife, not really expecting her to understand what I was talking about. But when I finished my lecture and asked her what she thought about it, if anything, she created an analogy to simplify the paradox better than I could do.

"So, it's like one of those choose your own adventure books?" she asked. "I mean, there's one book that has alternate plots that exist together. But as we read the book and decide which pages to turn to when given the choice, we create a different story each time. That's what it sounds like to me."

Until that point, I didn't concretely understand what I was condescendingly trying to explain to my wife. But after taking the time to listen to her, a cosmetologist and craft blogger, she taught me about what it was I was trying to make sense out of myself.

The Chase Begins

I'm a very inconsistent blogger, at least, when I'm left to my own devices. When asked to blog for others, I consider it a very serious job and get work done. So, as the New Year is approaching, I've decided that I want to get into the habit of blogging on a daily basis if for nothing more than myself. Why? Many reasons. One is that I enjoy writing and believe in the medium of blogging to transform our ideas into something tangible. Another is that I want something of my own; something that I do for myself out of enjoyment instead of expectation. And a third is that after the loss of my father, my confidante, I've grown to become very introverted and stoic.

So, what is this blog about? It's just as the title reads. This blog is chasing its own tail. Its a place for me to document my thinking, whether that be about education or professional wrestling. Yes, I know that a blog is supposed to have a specific vision, something that will allow readers to have expectations of what they will read about. But, I guess this blog is more for me than for the readers. Oh, you're welcome to read my thoughts as long as you respect them. But I'm not writing for recognition, Tweets, or accolades. I'm simply writing to teach myself how to share my thoughts again.

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