3134: Wavefunction Collapse

2025-08-28T12:10:45Z

38.70.240.202: /* Explanation */ Wavefunction collapse only happens in some quantum mechanics interpretations.

{{comic
| number = 3134
| date = August 27, 2025
| title = Wavefunction Collapse
| image = wavefunction_collapse_2x.png
| imagesize = 656x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Wavefunction collapse is only one interpretation. Under some interpretations, graduate students also have souls.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY AN UNDERGRAD WITHOUT A SOUL. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The 'Bad' option shows Cueball telling his student that everybody has a soul, and their individual consciousness affects reality in some way. The 'good' option shows Cueball telling his student that consciousness doesn't play a role at all, and that it is 'just a physical measurement'. The 'chaotic' option shows Cueball apparently observing that the wave function collapses when only ''he'' looks at it, because he is of a higher rank than the student in some way (in this case, Cueball is a professor while Hairy is the student).

Quantum mechanics is commonly explained by saying that observation can cause change in the system, as in the {{w|Schrödinger's cat}} and {{w|Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester}} thought experiments.
A physical example is the {{w|Double-slit experiment}}, where observing which slit photons go through changes the behavior of the photons, compared to an experiment where this is not observed.
From this, some people can assume that human observation is what causes this, and conclude that humans must be “special”, while “observation” actually refers to detector devices, which are unable to observe particles without affecting them. Alternatively, in the {{w|Many-worlds interpretation}} of quantum mechanics wavefunction collapse never happens.

In both [[660: Sympathy]] and [[803: Airfoil]] there is a situation where there is a given three possible replies. And just like here the first two are wrong and right (although in the other order). The last is Very Wrong as opposed to Chaotic here, but it seems like this comics interpretation called chaotic could also have been labeled very wrong. So this setup for a comic is becoming recuring on xkcd.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Hairy is sitting behind a desk with a hand on the table and Cueball is standing next to him.]
:Hairy: If the wavefunction only collapses when I observe it, does that mean my consciousness affects the universe?

:[A panel with the caption "Bad:" on the top left, zoomed into Cueball's head]
:Cueball: Yes, quantum entanglement proves that we all have souls.

:[The same scene with the caption "Good:"]
:Cueball: No, consciousness plays no role here. Its just physical measurement.

:[The same scene with the caption "Chaotic:"]
:Cueball: No, the wave function collapses when '''''I''''' look at it because I'm a full professor.
:Cueball: It won't collapse for an undergraduate.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:3134: Wavefunction Collapse

2025-08-28T02:23:57Z

38.70.240.202: Multiverse

For crying out loud, the wavefunction collapse has never been observed. [[Special:Contributions/38.70.240.202|38.70.240.202]] 02:23, 28 August 2025 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3134: Wavefunction Collapse

Talk:3134: Wavefunction Collapse