Measuring is Knowing
 
There are many possible definitions of measurement. Depending on who answers the question, the above picture might qualify as a measurement or not.
The theory of incomplete measurements defines a measurement as:
  1. 1.a valid physical process, which acknowledges that we cannot perform a measurement by going “outside the Matrix”.
  2. 2.with an input and output chosen in advance, meaning that you must know what a voltmeter measures, and where it displays the result.
  3. 3.repeatable, meaning that the measurement must give consistent results for identical or similar inputs.
  4. 4.collecting information about its input, meaning that a voltmeter display must actually change when the input voltage changes.
  5. 5.changing the output state, meaning that if a voltmeter display does not react to changes in input voltage, it is dead, Jim.
  6. 6.with a symbolic interpretation for all display states, meaning that there must be a graduation on the voltmeter display for you to be able to read what is being measured.
These properties are not a statement of how the universe works, but a statement of what we are willing to accept as measurements. We can, however, still make a statement about the universe: there are measurements, there are physical processes with the properties listed above.
More importantly, the main thesis of the theory of incomplete measurements, developed in the initial article, is that these properties, along with a few experimental observations, are sufficient to define many key properties of both general relativity theory and quantum mechanics.
What is a Measurement?
Sunday, November 19, 2006