Quantum Mechanics

WiseMan was playing in the German Kubb championships today together with some friends. I was along in the rain and freezing wind for moral support, along with a few others (the team lost in their group, but still had fun playing).

The TeenageGirl, who is so interested in physics that she took a summer school course on it, came over to sit with me and ask if I understood anything about quantum mechanics. "No," I said, "I have a friend who works with bits of it, he tries to explain it to me on occasion, and I had it in college, but I am not sure that I really understand it." We chatted on, she explained the experiment that was troubling her and wondering about whether it could be used to transmit information faster than light. I launched into a short lecture on information vs. data and commutative mapping functions, and we chatted about that for a bit.

One of the team members came over and smiled at us, asking us in a bit of a condescending voice if we girls were bored. The look on his face when I answered - honestly! - that we were discussing quantum mechanics was priceless. He stumbled around trying to find a response to that, finally giving up and going back to the game.

We then had a good giggle together about the incident!