Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
Interpretation
Understanding quantum theory is inherently surprising and complex.
Niels Bohrβs quote suggests that if one is not astonished by the intricacies and counterintuitive nature of quantum theory, they have not fully grasped its profound implications. The statement emphasizes the need for a deep engagement with the material, as true comprehension involves confronting the unexpected and often bewildering principles that govern the quantum world.
In practice
In a physics class to illustrate the complexities of quantum mechanics.
When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
In a small lab, if you make a mistake, you can go in the next day and fix it. But here, when you are committed to spending a hundred thousand or a million dollars, you can't fix it later. You need to have a system of checks and balances internally. In particle physics, that's just part of the structure.
Science is the topography of ignorance.
If Providence has created the stars and the planets, man has called the cannonball into existence.
While consumers may be more shocked by pink slime or the feeding of Prozac to poultry, the routine feeding of millions of pounds of human antibiotics to chickens presents a much graver threat.
There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
The ideas which led to the Analytical Engine occurred in a manner wholly independent of any that were connected with the Difference Engine. These ideas are indeed, in their own intrinsic nature, independent of the latter engine and might equally have occurred had it never existed nor even been thought of at all.
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