Faster than Light

John K Clark (johnkc@well.com)
Wed, 5 Feb 1997 23:03:43 -0800 (PST)


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On Wed, 05 Feb 1997 Eliezer Yudkowsky <sentience@pobox.com> Wrote:

>the experimentally confirmed Bell inequalities

Actually, Bell's inequality has been experimentally proven to be false,
just as quantum mechanics predicted and contrary to what classical physics
or any local theory predicts.

>demonstrate that performing a *particlar* measurement can influence
>the outcome of another measurement performed on the other side of
>the galaxy.

This is true, and it can do it instantly.

>There are various reasons why you can't use Bell to transmit
>information

Also true. If I want to send a message to a receiver 2 things must happen:
1) I must change something in the receiver.
2) The receiver must be able to compare that change with something, such as
the voltage on a wire now compared to what it was a nanosecond ago.

Quantum Mechanics can do #1 but not #2 , so I have just changed one "random"
state in the receiver to another. The results are not really random but it
would sure look that way to the receiver. It's only when the receiver
compared his results with the records of what I did, and that can only be
done at the speed of light or less, would it become obvious that what I did
instantly changed what happened in the distant receiver.

>but any way you look it at, quantum mechanics and relativity are
>having screaming catfights.

Relativity doesn't say that nothing can go faster than light, only that
matter, energy or information can not, and this is none of those things.

John K Clark johnkc@well.com

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