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Cats and curiosity
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
curiosity killed the cat.
Why did curiosity kill the cat?!
Is there a story behind this?
And why was it a cat that died, why not a badger or something?
Why did curiosity kill the cat?!
Is there a story behind this?
And why was it a cat that died, why not a badger or something?
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Comments
I think the saying stems from the fact that cats are particularly curious creatures.
And I dont think cats a particularly curious, from my experience all they do is eat and sleep.
Now badgers on the other hand are very curious creatures.
So I demand that the saying is changed untill a satisfactory answer is given to me why Cats are more curious than badgers!
There is also another saying;- "You can catch any cat in any trap once, but you'll never catch the same cat in the same trap twice"
Meh, cat's are good, but there's nothing better than a damn great dog that inspires terror in your fellow man.....
Yeah but what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Basically, a single atom of a radioactive element with a known half-life (say, for the sake of argument, 3 hours) is placed in a box. Next to it a radiation detector is placed, which will detect if the atom decays. The detector is connected to a vial of poisonous gas; if the detector is triggered, the phial will shatter. A cat is then placed in the box, and the box is sealed so you cannot see inside.
After 3 hours, there is a 50% chance that the atom will have decayed, releasing the gas and killing the cat. However, we do not know if this has happened or not, because radioactive decay is random. The only way to determine whether it has happened is to observe the system - ie open the box. If we open the box and the cat is dead, we will know that it is dead. However, up until that point we do not know whether it is dead or not, so arguably it exists in two states, both dead and alive simultaneously. It is our curiosity, in opening the box, that confirms the cat's death and effectively "kills the cat".
This corresponds to the idea in physics that certain particles exist in two forms until they are observed, which is when they make up their mind and become one or the other.
Another more practical (and certainly less cruel to cats) example of this is seen when a beam of electrons is fired towards two thin slits, placed extremely close together. The beam diffracts through the slits, and forms a diffraction pattern on a screen behind. If a single electron is fired, it forms a diffraction pattern as if it had passed through both slits simultaneously. If, however, you observe the electron as it passes through, this pattern is not seen; the pattern seen is as if the electron had passed through only one of the slits.
The egg
They also have a tendancy to drill behind your sofa.
Do they Mr Izzard:)
Did you flick that elastic band at me? Found your drilling equiptment the other day...