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Wednesday, 22 January 2020

Andy Pandy – a quantum view






Here is an interesting question. In the early days of children's TV, did any child ever enjoy watching Andy Pandy? My guess is no – however there is a deeper question. How do we explain the Andy Pandy phenomenon?

Allow me to suggest an analogy with quantum mechanics. As we know a subatomic particle such as an electron can behave as a wave or as a particle depending on the nature of the observing experiment. In an analogous way, Andy Pandy can be viewed as creepy or daft depending on the nature of the observing child. We may call this the creepy/daft duality by analogy with wave/particle duality in quantum mechanics.

Andy Pandy duality may even be observed by a two children in a manner analogous to the two slit experiment. Seen through one child's eyes Andy Pandy is daft, seen through the other child's eyes he is creepy but try to see him through both children at once and he is inexplicable.

The only other Andy Pandy question we must resolve is an analogy with Schrödinger's cat. Is Andy Pandy in the basket with Looby Loo?

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