Chapter 4 - Quantum Mechanics

Portent

The uncertainty principle is not about measurements disturbing a system, although it is often taught that way. The real situation is much deeper, and more mysterious. The uncertainty principle is a consequence of conjugate bases. Conjugate bases do not have to have the same units. When they do, we find them tolerable, even understandable. When they don’t, when their units are different, our commonsense balks. It is counterintuitive that different things are components of each other.

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Paradigm Discourse:
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Technical Chapter:
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Significance

Understanding is what science is all about, not prediction. Prediction is the validation step; to assume it is the end goal, is to chicken out. Quantum mechanics violates commonsense along almost every dimension. The mystery is high and wide and deep and thick, almost impenetrable - nothing in antiquity anticipated it. It is the only modern theory to suffer from the problem of interpretation. Some useful jargon for later use: discrete, state, superposition, and bases.

The major takeaway: a pure property of one type, can imply a superposition of properties of a different type. The different types are conjugate to each other.