CronoDAS comments on The Correct Contrarian Cluster - Less Wrong

38 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 21 December 2009 10:01PM

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Comment author: James_Miller 22 December 2009 02:52:52AM 7 points [-]

I have been told by physicists that it is.

But even if I could understand it, do you really think someone with an IQ below 100 could? Trust me, as a college professor I know that you need an above average IQ to have a good understanding of even calculus. So I can't imagine that the math behind quantum physics is accessible to over 50% of humanity.

Comment author: CronoDAS 22 December 2009 03:09:52AM *  8 points [-]

From what I've seen of the actual math, if you can understand the content of a typical Calc 3 course (which covers multivariable calculus), you can understand the math of quantum mechanics. If you can get an engineering degree (which is not an easy feat, but it's something an awful lot of people manage to do), you should be smart enough to do quantum mechanics calculations.

Comment author: jvz 20 October 2013 01:55:28AM 0 points [-]

Electrical engineering occasionally relies on quantum mechanical properties of semiconductors and other materials in their products. Then again, EE is one of the hardest engineering disciplines (or so I hear).

Comment author: CronoDAS 20 October 2013 02:33:10AM 4 points [-]

In many cases, engineers can get by with relatively simple empirical models to describe devices that depend on quantum mechanics to actually work. (Case in point: permanent magnets, which, according to classical electrodynamics, really shouldn't be able to exist.)