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| | {{comic | | {{comic |
| − | | number = 3076 | + | | number = 2 |
| − | | date = April 14, 2025 | + | | date = 2 |
| − | | title = The Roads Both Taken | + | | title = 2 |
| − | | image = the_roads_both_taken_2x.png | + | | image = 2.png |
| − | | imagesize = 361x362px | + | | imagesize = 2x2px |
| | | noexpand = true | | | noexpand = true |
| − | | titletext = When you worry that you're missing out on something by not making both choices simultaneously by quantum superposition, that's called phomo. | + | | titletext = 2. |
| | }} | | }} |
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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | {{incomplete|Simultaneously created by and not created by SCHRÖDINGER'S LYRICIST - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
| + | 2 |
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| − | This comic is a parody of the first and fourth stanzas of {{w|Robert Frost}}'s 1915 poem "{{w|The Road Not Taken}}". The joke is that, while the human narrator of Frost's poem (presumably Frost himself), confronted with two paths, could only take one of them, and is left to [[584: Unsatisfied|contemplate the consequences of his choice]], the photonic narrator of the parody, thanks to {{w|Quantum superposition|quantum physics}}, is not compelled to choose one path over the other, and is left to contemplate the {{w|Wave interference#Quantum interference|consequences of <em>that</em> choice}}.
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| − | The title text humorously conflates FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), the human concern over lost opportunities from choosing one path over another (or choosing neither) with PHOMO (presumably PHOton Missing Out), the photonic concern over lost opportunities from choosing one path only, instead of both.
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| − | This comic was posted on April 14, [https://www.quantum.gov/happy-world-quantum-day-2025 World Quantum Day].
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| − | | |
| − | {| class="wikitable"
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| − | !Original stanza
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| − | !Parody
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| − | !Explanation
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| − | |-
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| − | |Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,<br/>And ''sorry I could not travel'' both<br/>''And'' be one traveler, ''long I stood''<br/>''And looked down one'' as far as I could<br/>''To where it bent'' in the undergrowth;
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| − | |Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,<br/>And ''so of course I traveled'' both<br/>''Though'' be one traveler, ''still I could''<br/>''Explore down both'' as far as I could<br/>''Beyond the bends'' in the undergrowth;
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| − | |In the original, the human narrator, operating at the scale of classical mechanics,<br>contemplates the necessary choice between two mutually exclusive paths.<br>In the parody, the photon, operating at the scale of quantum mechanics,<br>readily explores both paths.<br>At quantum scale, the "roads" and "yellow woods" are metaphorical.
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| − | |-
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| − | |I shall be telling this with a sigh<br/>Somewhere ages and ages hence:<br/>Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—<br/>I took ''the one less travelled by,''<br/>And that has made ''all the difference.''
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| − | |I shall be telling this with a sigh<br/>Somewhere ages and ages hence:<br/>Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,<br/>I took ''them both and recombined,''<br/>And that has made ''interference.''
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| − | |In the original, the human narrator reflects subjectively on the (anticipated?)<br>impact of the choice of road - whether for good or ill is not explicitly stated.<br>In the parody, the photon states objectively the result ({{w|Wave interference#Quantum interference|quantum interference}}) of taking both paths at once.
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| − | |}
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| − | The parody maintains the same rhyme scheme as the original, ABAAB. In the fourth line of the last stanza. "recombined" doesn't {{w|Perfect_and_imperfect_rhymes|perfectly}} rhyme with "sigh" and "I", but it shares the vowel in the last syllable, a form of {{w|assonance}}, and can be considered an {{w|Perfect_and_imperfect_rhymes#Imperfect_rhyme|imperfect rhyme}}.
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| − | | |
| − | ==Transcript==
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| − | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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| − | | |
| − | :[A photon recites a poem:]
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| − | :Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
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| − | :And so of course I traveled both
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| − | :Though be one traveler, still I could
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| − | :Explore down both as far as I could
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| − | :Beyond the bends in the undergrowth...
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| − | | |
| − | :...I shall be telling this with a sigh
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| − | :Somewhere ages and ages hence:
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| − | :Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
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| − | :I took them both and recombined,
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| − | :And that has made interference.
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| − | | |
| − | :[Caption below the panel:]
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| − | :Photon poetry
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| − | {{comic discussion}}
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| − | [[Category:Physics]]
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