Erwin Schrodinger — "If we were to take the wave function to be a complete description of reality, th…"
If we were to take the wave function to be a complete description of reality, then the living and dead cat would indeed be equally real.
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More from Erwin Schrodinger
"The present quantum mechanics is not a theory in the sense of the old theories, but rather a collection of rules for the calculation of probabilities."
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About Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)
Austrian physicist who shared the 1933 Nobel for the wave equation that bears his name and the famous cat thought-experiment. Closely associated with Werner Heisenberg (matrix-mechanics rival who reached the same physics by different math) and Albert Einstein (his pen-pal on quantum interpretation). For an intellectual contrast, see Niels Bohr, Danish physicist and architect of the Copenhagen interpretation — Schrödinger's cat thought-experiment was specifically designed to ridicule Bohr's 'observer-dependent reality' reading of quantum mechanics — Schrödinger thought the Copenhagen interpretation was absurd; the cat was meant as reductio ad absurdum.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
If quantum mechanics' wave function perfectly describes reality, then a cat sealed in a box with a poison trigger can genuinely exist as both alive and dead at the same time — not metaphorically, but literally. Schrödinger uses this to highlight what he saw as an absurdity: the rules governing tiny particles, if applied without limit, produce impossible scenarios at human-visible scales.
Relevance to Erwin Schrodinger
Schrödinger invented wave mechanics in 1926, giving quantum physics its foundational equation. Ironically, he despised the interpretation that grew from it. His cat paradox, published in 1935, was a deliberate attack on the Copenhagen interpretation championed by Bohr and Heisenberg, arguing their reading of the wave function led to ridiculous physical conclusions. He remained a philosophical dissenter within the field he helped create.
The era
Quantum mechanics had just been formalized in the late 1920s, sparking fierce debates about its meaning. In 1935, Einstein published the EPR paradox questioning whether the theory was complete. Schrödinger's cat thought experiment appeared that same year, joining Einstein's challenge against the Copenhagen interpretation. Physicists were split: was quantum mechanics a final description of nature, or merely a useful but incomplete tool? This foundational crisis defined the era.
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