Science question: Is light comprised of waves or particles?

i agree with you.. i made a similar post about actual application and funding and i lets say some ppl bit my head off.. like how dare you!!knowing about the cat being dead and alive will change how we view the world and one day will have real world applications!!

i was like what? and when a thousand yrs from now? maybe when and if we are gods it might matter.. 🤣 😆

i think we should focus on what can be applied here and now and foreseeable future... i rather funding went to applied science then some random think tank who contemplate human existence

I actually don't agree with you on not funding theoretical stuff. It is really short sighted to only fund what will produce results in the immediate term.

Fair enough, national governments might want to focus on medicine and other immediate causes (climate change, etc) but in the long term, it is theoretical stuff that drives applied sciences. Focusing too much on applied science stagnates the knowledge pool.

Originally posted by King Castle
i agree with you.. i made a similar post about actual application and funding and i lets say some ppl bit my head off.. like how tear you!!knowing about the cat being dead and alive will change how we view the world and one day will have real world applications!!

i was like what? and when a thousand yrs from now? maybe when and if we are gods it might matter.. 🤣 😆

A solid understanding of quantum mechanics is the basis of electronic computers.

Physicists playing around with particle accelerators (like the LHC) produced the information that lead to television and X-ray machines.

b/c of electrons, diodes and vacuum tubes and what not?

but that is applied science not theoretical science.

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Originally posted by King Castle
b/c of electrons, diodes and vacuum tubes and what not?

but that is applied science not theoretical science.

yes, but all of those, electrons included, started out as theoretical.

As did quarks and the things that will usher in the next revolution in technology.

Both types of science feed eachother, you can't say one is more important than the other

if it was up to me with infinite resources i fund everybody.... we need the geeks/nerds in all shapes from the layman dude who screws around in his garage to the college professors even to the mom who gets that one bright idea.

even them shrinks

we agree on that

i would be polishing up on my chemistry and workin on my shroom culture and LSD..

also making home made poisons from taters and hemlock..

have to get rid of those pesky laws and having to register my equipment..

chemistry was my passion for some weird reason...

Originally posted by King Castle
b/c of electrons, diodes and vacuum tubes and what not?

Because for decades televisions literally required you to have a particle accelerator in a box. X-ray machines are still built that way.

Originally posted by King Castle
i would be polishing up on my chemistry and workin on my shroom culture and LSD..

actually, there are a couple of legit things I'd love to use hallucinogens to try and study, but even in Canada the government locks that stuff down hardcore. A grad student at the university I got my undergrad at was doing research on a possible "biological gateway-drug" type phenomenon, where cannibis use was hypothesized to increase the desire to use of cocaine. (the results, in mice, were positive btw...)

she was not allowed to use pot, and had to use some other natural cannaboid, meaning that another interpretation of her results would be that being sick makes you want cocaine. That being said, I never asked if she was allowed to use real coke.

Originally posted by King Castle
also making home made poisons from taters and hemlock..

have to get rid of those pesky laws and having to register my equipment..

I don't know, I still think safety and ethics are important...

Originally posted by King Castle
chemistry was my passion for some weird reason...

then seriously man, try to get back into it. seriously if only because, and I know this from experience, it is so nice to tell some aggressive fat pig, to his face, that you are a scientist when he is hasseling you like some G or something.

LOL. I came up with lots of reasons, but I thought that might be best...

Originally posted by inimalist
then seriously man, try to get back into it. seriously if only because, and I know this from experience, it is so nice to tell some aggressive fat pig, to his face, that you are a [b]scientist when he is hasseling you like some G or something.

LOL. I came up with lots of reasons, but I thought that might be best... [/B]

That reminds me of something one of my idols, Robin Lee Powell, wrote on his website:

I was once a student at the University of Waterloo. For most of my school carreer I was working towards an Honours Co-op Computer Science B.Math Degree from the Faculty of Mathematics.

Then a class on Numerical Computation kicked me to the curb, so I opted for the wussy degree, which I have succeeded in getting, so I can now call myself "Robin Lee Powell, B. Math". Amazingly enough, this has actually ended arguments with people:

Me: "So, statistically, that really isn't very likely."

Someone In My Family Or A Friend Or Somthing: "Well, I think it seems perfectly likely to me!"

Me: "Umm, I have a math degree."

SIMFOAFOS: "Oh. Guess you're right then."

I didn't expect that to work at all, and was very surprised the first time it did, and on my family no less! Very nice side effect.

And yes, I keep a list of my idols....I have 6 so far. 😐

Originally posted by inimalist

then seriously man, try to get back into it. seriously if only because, and I know this from experience, it is so nice to tell some aggressive fat pig, to his face, that you are a [b]scientist when he is hasseling you like some G or something.

LOL. I came up with lots of reasons, but I thought that might be best... [/B]

but i think being a scientist is cool especially if they are women and hot..so long as they are not self absorbed.. thinkin they are all that..

i only have basic chemistry knowledge from high school and a basic college course for my job which was a requirement to get certified, i played around with power, gas, water lines when i was a construction worker.. plus when i was in the military i had to take hazmat courses every few months to maintain my state certification in handling hazardous chemicals..

plus military booklets in making explosives..

i was a geek without being an actual bookworm..

i could probably take a few college courses and get the general idea about what they are talkin about but i be bored and instead ask if i can make jet fuel napalm using centric juice and random every day items.. possibly make some meth and coke or LSD...

i am not allowed to play anymore at home since my birds died last time i was playin mad scientist..

i probably be the guy either would get paid by questionable ppl to use my mediocre knowledge or the one to be seen on the news blown up in a trailer b/c i lit a cigarette next to an acetylene tank

Originally posted by King Castle
a scientist is not an invincible shield it will get you a punch in the face.. 🤣 wack!!

not in canada...

but no, it doesn't stop anything, but it is a moral victory. I went from being really nervous about a pretty big deal, to having to hold back laughter as this idiot reacted to the fact I'm not a gangbanger. By the end his partner, obviously embarassed, was all but appologizing. The partner was actually a nice guy, or really good at "good cop".

Originally posted by King Castle
but i think being a scientist is cool especially if they are women and hot..so long as they are not self absorbed.. thinkin they are all that..

i only have basic chemistry knowledge from high school and a basic college course for my job which was a requirement to get certified, i played around with power, gas, water lines when i was a construction worker.. plus when i was in the military i had to take hazmat courses every few months to maintain my state certification in handling hazardous chemicals..

plus military booklets in making explosives..

i was a geek without being an actual bookworm..

i could probably take a few college courses and get the general idea about what they are talkin about but i be bored and instead ask if i can make jet fuel napalm using centric juice and random every day items.. possibly make some meth and coke or LSD...

well, think about how much easier it would be to explain why you have a huge set of chemistry equipment in your garage if you have an MSc in chemistry.

Originally posted by King Castle
i am not allowed to play anymore at home since my birds died last time i was playin mad scientist..

i probably be the guy either would get paid by questionable ppl to use my mediocre knowledge or the one to be seen on the news blown up in a trailer b/c i lit a cigarette next to an acetylene tank

like I was saying about safety procedure

Originally posted by Bardock42
That reminds me of something one of my idols, Robin Lee Powell, wrote on his website:

And yes, I keep a list of my idols....I have 6 so far. 😐

LOL

unfortunatly you don't win too many arguments with a psychology degree

who are the other 5?

Originally posted by inimalist

LOL

unfortunatly you don't win too many arguments with a psychology degree

who are the other 5?

Excellent question inimalist.

They are Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, an (experimental) comic book writer, Simon Haynes, a programmer and writer, Koichi, a blogger and japanese teacher, Terence Tao, a mathematician and Ben Croshaw, also known as Yahtzee, a game critic.

Impressive list, I know none of them...

I'll check out some of Goodbrey's stuff though

Originally posted by inimalist
Impressive list, I know none of them...

I'll check out some of Goodbrey's stuff though

Yeah, they are not crazily popular. Which makes sense since they all do something I like, but more importantly mostly do things I would like to do (in a magical universe where things don't take grindingly achieved skills) and if there's one thing I can imagine being worse not being known, it's being incredibly popular....

A five figure amount of unconditional fans that want to send you all their money...seem like the perfect amount for a happy life.

Do check out Goodbrey though, he makes some really good stuff, his website is www.e-merl.com

Photon acts like both waves and particle.

Originally posted by inimalist
I don't

I have certain issues with the culture surrounding quantum physics, but it would be hard to argue against the field on a conceptual basis.

For instance, all science requires funding. In Psychology, even if what you want to study has nothing to do with clinical applications, you HAVE to find a way to link it if you want funding. So, the last place I worked at, the prof I worked for was doing low level perceptual stuff, with almost no application to real world stuff, and that was a significant factor in why she lost funding. (Funding agencies often do not have people of relevant fields look over your application)

In physics, especially quantum physics, I think the culture has swung toward "the weird". We run experiments that highlight where our theory becomes "strange", so that we can put out press releases like "Computer turns on before we turn it on". My problem with physics sort of stems from this. There is more interest in finding crazy things that people on the internet will talk about (ie. the observer) than in real theoretical understandings.

This is, of course, my layman opinion. However, I've been to a couple of QM presentations/lectures, and seen first hand, physcists who are much more interested in presenting things, such as well understood perceptual phenomena, in terms of QM because it just sounds so much cooler.

Well, there are some very useful discoveries and quantifications even in QM. For instance, a computing barrier that both fits the "weird" AND the useful would be the casimir effect. I wrote a paper about it and how it fits into nanotechnology. Outside of computers, I really don't know how useful it would be on a knowledgeable level...so don't ask me cause I don't want to look stupid. lol

Edit - Was at work so I almost did not have time to edit. I know that you're not saying that all QP "discoveries" are useless, just wanted to point out a really good one that will be useful.

deleted...dp.

Originally posted by King Castle
even them shrinks

Originally posted by inimalist
unfortunatly you don't win too many arguments with a psychology degree