Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken G 1) It assumes there was always a momentum there, which got "changed" by the measurement, when in fact the way science uses momentum is as an answer to a question. When the question is not posed, it is also not answered, at least not by quantum mechanics.

Electrons cannot really be said to have dynamic attributes [position, momentum, etc.] of their own. What attributes they seem to have depends on how we choose to analyze them... the kind of parts a wave seems to have depends on how we cut it up.

"The pragmatist treats his theory like a cookbook full of recipes which are useful for ordering and manipulating the facts. The realist sees theory as a guidebook which lays out for the traveler the highlights of the invisible landscape that lies just beneath the facts."

A visitor to Niels Bohr's country cottage asked him about a horseshoe nailed above the front door. 'Surely, Professor Bohr, you do not really believe that a horseshoe over the entrance to a home brings good luck?' 'No,' answered Bohr, 'I certainly do not believe in this supersition. But you know,' he added, 'they say it brings luck even if you don't believe in it.'"

"Quantum theory is like Bohr's horseshoe: it works no matter what a person believes."