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Just because things get a little dingy at the subatomic level doesn't mean all bets are off.
Murray Gell-Mann
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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

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.
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Sometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties
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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.
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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.
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