Quantum theory is perhaps the most successful scientific idea ever.

PostmodernProphet said:
scientists cannot even agree what the "theory" is.....
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The fact that at the subatomic level, energy comes in discrete, quantized levels and that matter and energy exhibit wave-particle duality is exceedingly well understood and confirmed by decades of experimental results.

The quantum world tends to seem weird and counterintuitive to us because we do not observe quantum properties at the scale of everyday life, and our minds are accustomed to thinking of a deterministic universe.
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Cypress said:
The fact that at the subatomic level, energy comes in discrete, quantized levels and that matter and energy exhibit wave-particle duality is exceedingly well understood and confirmed by decades of experimental results.

The quantum world tends to seem weird and counterintuitive to us because we do not observe quantum properties at the scale of everyday life, and our minds are accustomed to thinking of a deterministic universe.
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Physicists Disagree Over Meaning of Quantum Mechanics, Poll Shows

https://www.livescience.com/26444-quantum-mechanics-physicists-poll.html
 
PostmodernProphet said:
Physicists Disagree Over Meaning of Quantum Mechanics, Poll Shows

https://www.livescience.com/26444-quantum-mechanics-physicists-poll.html
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We don't really know what the Big Bang means either, although we have a good theory for the physics of it, at least to a point.

It's a metaphysical question to ask what it all means, and I already addressed that earlier in the thread....twice

Cypress said:
I would have to see what the definition of the "most successful" theory is. That seems pretty subjective.

Quantum mechanics has been endlessly tested, and we had a very good idea of how it works. We still are somewhat mystified why it works. Quantum entanglement, superposition, and the wave function collapse are counterintuitive and even after 100 years nobody is exactly sure what it means or why they work

The preeminent 20th century physicist Richard Feynman said that nobody really understands quantum mechanics.
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Cypress said:
You're trying to get more mileage out of Feynman's comment than is actually there.

Nothing about Feynman's comment implies quantum mechanics has not been an extraordinarily successful theory.

From the perspective of scientific realism, it makes all the right predictions, and has never been falsified. That is ultimately what counts in a scientific theory.

Science generally is not equipped to answer the metaphysical questions: what causes quantum entanglement, what causes the wave function collapse, why should a body of mass warp spacetime, why is the speed of light the same in all reference frames?
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The Big Bang is supported by multiple lines of evidence including spectral redshift of galaxies, nucleosynthesis of hydrogen and helium, and the cosmic microwave radiation background.
 
Cypress said:
You've never taken a university level physics class, have you?
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no, but I am aware that sclence has abandoned the historical scientific method in favor of one that permits science to "study" that which is outside our universe......I have studied the philosophy behind all the major studies including science at the post graduate level....
 
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