If we look at the way the universe behaves, quantum mechanics gives us fundamental, unavoidable indeterminacy, so that alternative histories of the universe can be assigned probability.
Murray Gell-MannRead
Just because things get a little dingy at the subatomic level doesn't mean all bets are off.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that despite uncertainty in the micro world of particles, overall understanding remains intact.
Murray Gell-Mann's quote reflects the idea that while the intricacies of quantum mechanics may introduce confusion and complexity at the subatomic level, it does not invalidate the broader principles that govern our understanding of the universe. It highlights the resilience of scientific theories in the face of localized uncertainty.
Themes
SubatomicUncertaintyScienceTheoryQuantum
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on quantum physics to illustrate the nature of scientific inquiry.
More from Murray Gell-Mann
All quotes βSometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties
Murray Gell-MannRead
If someone says that he can think or talk about quantum physics without becoming dizzy, that shows only that he has not understood anything whatever about it.
Murray Gell-MannRead
What is especially striking and remarkable is that in fundamental physics a beautiful or elegant theory is more likely to be right than a theory that is inelegant.
Murray Gell-MannRead
Similar quotes
I have been struck again and again by how important measurement is to improving the human condition.
Bill GatesRead
The fact remains that, if the supply of energy failed, modern civilization would come to an end as abruptly as does the music of an organ deprived of wind.
Frederick SoddyRead
The average ground temperature of the Earth is impossible to measure since most of the Earth is ocean...So this average ground temperature is a fiction.
Freeman DysonRead
The first mission to Mars did not expect to find craters and river valleys, and yet they did. The first mission to Jupiter didn't expect to find ocean worlds and volcano worlds, but they did.
Alan SternRead
Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.
J. G. BallardRead
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
Isaac AsimovRead