In a nutshell, it's just the thought of: "We can't be certain of one or the other, so it must simultaneously be both despite that impossibility! What a paradox!"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat
I thought it was underwhelming and lame in high school. I still don't quite get the fascination today. Why is this so popular and necessary for secondary school curriculum?
When Schrödinger coined the thought experiment, he was using it to try to explain quantum mechanics and the concept of superposition. It wasn't supposed to be generalized to every single unknown thing in the world, just to subatomic particles. People just went crazy over the idea because it made them feel smart for knowing it, even though they didn't understand it.
"When Schrödinger coined the thought experiment . . . " "My high school psychology teacher didn't explain that."
There's your problem, it's a science subject, he wouldn't be teaching much of that anyway lol.
And your “nutshell” is the entire reason for the existence of quantum theory.
Yeah, I too was wondering why the fuck a psychology teacher would be talking about it in the first place.
I think the basic premise is like that of a video game. example: in Dark Souls all characters exist unless you don't see them at that location. and none of the characters are rendered unless they aren't dead. So characters at the end of the game exist and don't exist because you have not seen them or been to their location. Therefore, they are Schroedinger cats. Probably just a weird way to explain it but yea.....
