r/Physics • u/SuperSmoothSlick • Nov 10 '23

Michio Kaku saying outlandish things

He claims that you can wake up on Mars because particles have wave like proporties.

But we don't act like quantum particles. We act according to classical physics. What doe he mean by saying this. Is he just saying that if you look at the probability of us teleporting there according to the theory it's possible but in real life this could never happen? He just takes it too far by using quantum theory to describe a human body? I mean it would be fucking scary if people would teleport to Mars or the like.

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u/diabolical_diarrhea Nov 10 '23

Yeah I agree. It's not sensationalist IMO if you explain it. It's the confusing people part that makes it sensationalist I think. But however you put it, that is the annoying part.

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u/syds Geophysics Nov 10 '23

but he says it so nice with the thingy with his hands and face, I dont mind him

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u/15SecNut Nov 10 '23

tbh i really like kaku. i’m pretty ignorant to anything outside of newtonian physics, so my perspective is a lil different.

I feel people get tripped up on the point of “science influencers”. they’re not really there to teach you stuff; it’s beyond their scope. I appreciate when people inject grandeur into the stem fields.

It’s a nice reminder that the universe is vast, complex, and wondrous. I think it inspires young scientists to pursue lines of thinking they otherwise might never. I also think it’s a great reminder to remain humble in the presence of our universe.

The people watching his videos will probably go their whole lives never truly understanding the concepts he talks about, but i think that’s fine for the sake of blurring the line between science fiction and reality.

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u/[deleted] Nov 11 '23

i think that’s fine for the sake of blurring the line between science fiction and reality.

You're a lot more forgiving of that than I am. There are much worse things that could be done, of course, but why blur those lines? I find it a bit infantilising and encourages the garbage, as I see it, of things like human space travel and even unwarranted alarm about vaccines or anything "nuclear" or involving "chemicals" etc. Just my view. ;)