John writes:
The problem is neither. The problem is in the misinterpretation of "is" as a logical connective and the misapplication of logic entailed by the failure to recognize that, "A photon is a particle, not a wave, and a photon is a wave, not a particle" is an abbreviation for "A photon is a particle" explains some observations, "a photon is a wave" explains other observations, what a photon is needs a better explanation.
A better explanation? The wave/particle experiments are conclusive. The photon is a wave. The photon is a particle. There is no doubt about this.
Robert writes:
So, what we seem to have is that in certain experiments light behaves one way and in others another way. The judge, who is entirely disinterested rules that this is not an example of the type wanted, but is rather analogous to the case of Jekyll/Hyde who exhibited one sort of behaviour in certain settings and a different sort in different settings but never both in the same setting.
Two different experiments show that the photon is either a particle or a wave. Logically, it can't be both (wave are waves, not discreet particles, and particles are things, not waves). Yet that is what the experiments show: particles do not observe the laws of logic.
Let's throw a few more pigs into the game. Photons aren't the only ones that skipped Logic 101. There is also the electron shell problem. Electrons are in orbit around the atom's nucleus. The orbits are in several levels. When electrons absorb or releases energy, they hop from one level to another. How long does that hop take? How much time? None. It is instantaneous. That is impossible and it doesn't make sense. Yet it happens.
There is also particle tunneling. A particle can "tunnel" (pass through) an impenetrable barrier. It has insufficient energy and it can't pass the barrier, yet it does.
Plenty of other examples from quantum mechanics show that the universe, at the atomic level, does not behave in a logical or sensible manner. It ignores the classical laws of mechanics, along with laws of logic. Particles can be in two places simultaneously. Entanglement allows a particle to affect another particle at a distance, even light years away, instantly.
Robert's original challenge ("an example of an illogical thing that is nevertheless correct") was devious: Robert said "assume the laws of logic, and then find a counterexample". Well, that's impossible. If one assumes a logical universe, then there can't be illogical examples. Luckily, there is quantum mechanics.
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