Pitiful_Oven_3425 t1_is2i7kd wrote on October 12, 2022 at 8:44 PM

Is our understanding of quantum physics limited by how intelligent the human brain is? I. E. Do we need an Einstein to come along every now and then to understand it and be able to convey it in simpler terms to other intelligent people?

RippSir t1_is2tkys wrote on October 12, 2022 at 9:59 PM

I would say quantum physics is mostly math. Some people understand math better than others :)

Indemnity4 t1_ismyl9p wrote on October 17, 2022 at 4:34 AM

Not even close.

Even Einstein got his Nobel prize for discovering the law of the photoelectric effect - not this theory of relativity or quantum mechanics.

Example: almost all quantum physic

Any scientific field is advanced by many eminent thinkers making incremental improvements. "Standing on the shoulders of giants" is the wonderful catch-phrase.

Anytime we look at a list of Nobel prize winners - we tend to find a lot of very clever and hardworking people who have lots of time and experience in their field. They had to work very hard to get lucky.

You also tend to find a larger number of equally skilled people who found the same lucky break just a little bit later, or their work went left on step 47 when the current author went right. They both did really great for the first 46 steps!

The limit is twofold: funding and the public desire to continue that funding.