This Is the Run: Contra - Part 05

Rumor on the street is this is a quality video. Let's see what all the fuss is about.

THIS is the run or this IS the run?

And they all lived happily ever after in a hole.

Oh my gosh, the opening conversation

This is Ryckert at his most Ryckert and I love it.

Amazing.

At least all the crew can agree that the earth is round.

@danryckert Quantum mechanics is one of two branches of modern physics, the other being classical (or Newtonian) mechanics. Quantum mechanics deals with stuff on an atomic and subatomic level, Newtonian mechanics deal with macroscopic movement: projectiles, spaceships, planes, cars, planets, galaxies, ect

I love Vinny so goddamn much.

Papa Vinny just can't help being fatherly

*sigh* I'm starting to skip all the sections where Dan talks about science.

edit: I basically skipped the first 9 minutes.

I admire the GB crew. Such godlike patience.

12:05 is a bit of a revalatory moment for everyone.

This is getting pretty runny.

Dan, if you've got five minutes to spare, watch this video on the double slit experiment. It explains how observation can change something's behaviour, which is broadly the principle behind Schrodinger's cat and how it can be alive and dead at the same time from a quantum perspective.

my power went out during the live stream, just as they got further than ever before so I am confident that this was the run, I look forward to seeing it.

"I don't think photons actually exist" -Dan Ryckert

Remember folks, if you're not at all qualified to talk about something, there's nothing wrong with admitting to that and not voicing your opinion.

Hearing Dan talk about quantum mechanics and how he thinks it has no real purpose or application when he doesn't even understand the basic terms was painful.

OHHHHHHHH my god, as a guy who has read multiple books on quantum mechanics, the opening discussion was so painful. Hilarious, but painful.

Well Vinny definitely solved it with his ruling, y'all

Really fun not knowing which Giant Bomb content will be utterly ruined by Dan question time

This is THE run.

Their reluctance in moving forward is making this game SO MUCH harder for them.

Also, Vinny/Dan: you CAN jump over the boss guy at the end of the energy zone.

A lot of bad science in this one. I'm gonna start with Schrodinger's Cat. Keep in mind, I'm not a scientist, I just have a vested interest in science. Here's how I understand Schrodinger's Cat.

A cat is placed inside of a box along with a radioactive element that will randomly result in the cat's death. Because we cannot observe the cat while it is in the box, by any physical means (be it by sound, sight, smell, or anything else), according to quantum mechanics, the cat is both alive and dead. It isn't until the box is opened, and the cat is observed, that we can determine whether the cat occupies one state or the other.

Okay, sure, but what does that mean? So, when we talk about quantum mechanics, we're talking about things that are really, really small. Like, you remember learning about atoms, right? The protons, neutrons, and electrons that make up matter. Well, it turns out, there's stuff even smaller than protons, neutrons, and electrons! Stuff smaller than atoms are called subatomic particles.

It also turns out that subatomic particles don't behave in ways that we expect. For example, electrons, which are notoriously hard to observe. According to Heisenberg, we can know an electron's velocity, or its position, but never both. Still, we're able to observe their affects.

In one experiment, called a Double Slit experiment, electrons are shot at an observation screen through two empty slits in a blocking plate. When the electrons are observed leaving the electron gun, they do one of three things. They either hit the plate, travel through one slit, or travel through the other. When the electrons are unobserved, they do all three at once. That doesn't make any sense, now does it?

And that's where come into Schrodinger's Cat. See, the thought experiment was a joke. It was meant to ridicule early hypotheses, because, as Dan rightly points out, a cat is either dead or alive, it can't be both! But because Small Things Are Weird, Schrodinger's Cat is actually a really decent thought experiment for demonstrating the idea of superposition, or belonging to more than one state at a time.

The double-slit experiment shows us evidence that electrons exist in superposition. They can be either a wave or a particle, and until observed, they act as both. Small Things Are Weird.

There's a lot more that goes into understanding quantum mechanics, and it's still a pretty new field of study. It requires degrees I've only ever dreamt of, and I'm sure my layman's understanding of how superposition works is deeply, unforgivably flawed. That said, I hope this helps to at least demystify Schrodinger's Cat.

Giant bomb and science make me want to eat my face!

Explain it like I'm five has a good explanation of the thought experiment: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/j4q93/could_you_explain_schr%C3%B6dingers_cat_to_me_li5/

nothin' but net

lol Dan is basically a practice child for Vinny.

Oh Dan....

What a run!

@vinny@danryckert Dan is absolutely right, a theory is not a hypothesis, it's a comprehensive explanation with a preponderance of evidence supporting it. Scientific laws are an outmoded concept, as prior theories can change as our understanding of the universe expands, e.g. Newton's laws. Gravity, like evolution by natural selection, is a theory.

Also a helpful tip about wikipedia, if you add "simple" to the beginning of the URL you get a much more comprehensible version of the article:

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics

I had my own Run with Contra yesterday. And boy, was it sweet!

Daaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

just be fancy pirates already

Next up, scientific theories!

Alright, so, a theory in science is a model that compiles evidence into an understanding of how things work, and a theory must be able to make predictions. Most things that we understand about the world around us are theories! Gravity, for instance, is a theory! We have a pretty good idea that what we think of as "gravity" is pretty accurate, because a theory incorporates all existing evidence.

If new evidence comes out that discredits a theory, scientists run experiments to figure out why. Usually, this means finding out that the original experiment was somehow flawed. If the original evidence holds up, and the theory was wrong, the theory changes to incorporate the new evidence.

To keep with our example for gravity, the theory of gravity posits a universal gravitational constant: 9.2 meters per second squared, meaning that, with only gravity acting on an object, that object will accelerate at a rate of 9.2m/s per second. Objects on Earth encounter things like air resistance and friction, but even on Earth, we can confirm this speed, and we can use the theory of gravity to predict the forces involved in falling objects. Like, say, airplanes! We know the forces involved in an airplane in free fall, and we can design safety feature with that knowledge in mind.

Other scientific theories include evolution, which helps us deal with infectious diseases and rescuing endangered species of animals, and Einstein's theory of relativity, which is a model for how light works, and tells us all sorts of things I'm not fully prepared to explain.

Asking the question of whether a theory is true or not is a corner stone of doing good science, but for the layman, it's a pretty safe bet to go where the evidence points. And because a scientific theory is an amalgamation of known evidence, they're trustworthy enough for everyday use.

And if you don't believe that, try jumping off a bridge sometime.

These are good and all, but the "this is the run" joke may get old sooner rather than later...

Quantum Mechanics is the study of the very small. So small that standard physics breaks down and requires a new set of rules. You cannot relate to this because you do not exist in a very small state.

Cubits is the measurement. Qubits is a discreet unit of information in Quantum Mechanics.

Math is a universal modeling language. Geometry is the application of that language in physical space. Physics uses math to model movement. Instead of trying to relate to math think of it like the alphabet and grammar. Try relating to Physics or Chemistry or Geometry instead and it will help.

If you truly want to learn how things work consider studying a kind of engineering where you learn to apply math to model anything and everything.

Edit: Oh and photons are a discreet unit of electromagnetic radiation (think light atom) with no mass or electric charge.

@vinny@dan I will not nitpick the science or lack thereof

but one important distinction to make is that the word theory in the context of science means [from Wikipedia]:

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of facts that have been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment. Such fact-supported theories are not "guesses" but reliable accounts of the real world.

Awesome series. Please keep it up!

Omg, guys please, you both sound so absurdly ignorant that it hurts my head. Like I used to think Vinny was smart, but clearly I was wrong!

Schrodinger's Run, this either is the run or it isn't.

People have trouble with Schrodinger's cat because they assume it is supposed to be an explanation of quantum mechanics. It's in fact a criticism of the prevailing model of quantum mechanics in Schrodinger's time.

I feel like this statement could be applied to a great number of Dan Ryckert's conversations.

i like that vinny and dan can admit to not being sure but still try to figure stuff out.

although there's just so much wrong at the start of this video. I love Dan question time.

Yeah I hope they don't keep bringing questions over from video to video, but mostly because that means 2 insufferable comment sections instead of one

Yeah... Dan not knowing stuff but then talking about how he doesn't understand it at length has gotten a little old. I kinda wish he would just say "I don't know about [x]" and then move on.

Not knowing about Quantum Physics is nothing to be ashamed of but hearing about reading a wiki entry and not understanding it is going to get more and more painful.

Does Dan know that the machine he is playing his video games on was designed based on complex physical interactions that he doesn't believe exist

But like..unless the subject is one that has the potential to offend through misunderstanding what's the big deal with just lettin' it all hang out if you're comfortable doing so?

Dan should have probably turned to the Simple English Wikipedia, that might have been at the right level.

Quantum mechanics (QM) is the part of physics that tells us how the things that make up atoms work. QM also tells us how electromagnetic waves like light work.

QM is a mathematical framework (rules written in math) for much of modern physics and chemistry. Quantum mechanics helps us make sense of the smallest things in nature like protons, neutrons and electrons. Complex mathematics is used to study subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves because they act in very strange ways. Quantum mechanics is important to physics and chemistry.

Quantum is a Latin word that means 'how much'. So a quantum of energy is a specific amount of energy. Light sources such as candles or lasers shoot out (or "emit") light in bits called photons. Photons are like packets. Each one has a certain little bit of energy.

Also from the Simple English Wiki:

Utilitarianism is a theory in philosophy about right and wrong actions. It says that the morally best action is the one that makes the most overall happiness or "utility" (usefulness). This is not limited to the happiness caused by a single action but also includes the happiness of all people involved and all future consequences.

The theory essentially states that an action is justifiable if it brings the most amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.

And to follow up on one more scientific point, no, a scientific theory is not a guess. It's an explanation that's backed up by evidence, and can be demonstrated through testing and observation, as well as through the theory's ability to predict (for instance, in 1916 Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted a phenomenon called gravitational waves. These gravitational waves were not actually observed through testing until last year, fully 100 years later.)

This is a different use of the word "theory" than you would imply by using the word in common language, where it would denote a guess or an unsubstantiated explanation that isn't backed up by evidence.

And all of the above is different than "fact". A fact is something that actually occurred or is actually correct. Theories explain and predict facts, both inductively and deductively. For instance, on September 27th, 2007, NASA launched the Dawn orbiter, which flew around Vesta, a giant asteroid, and Ceres, a dwarf planet, both of which are as old as the solar system. They made lots of observations. To what end? Not simply to learn about Vesta and Ceres, which are mostly dead rocks. They are using the facts they observed from that mission to extrapolate on scientific theories of how the solar system formed and evolved (which is obviously something that cannot be observed directly.)

This got deep real fast. I think they need to get a staff scientist.

I once knew this guy that committed quantum suicide in LA. Yeah, he lives in San Diego now. <bah-dum-tch>

Energize those green photons! Extrapolate the Science Fiction out of it!