Re: How can randomness possibly exist?
Not to insult your friend, but...
Who is this physics major and how the hell is he passing quantum with the thought anywhere near his brain that the randomness discussed in that class has anything to do with a measuring device...
There is uncertainty in every measurement. If I have a ruler with 1mm an acceptable amount of uncertainty in my measurement is .5mm. There is uncertainty inherent in every measuring device. It has to do with how graduated your device is.
This experimental uncertainty is very different from the randomness implied by quantum mechanics. The uncertainty principle is not stated, it is derived. This says that no matter how graduated your instrument is, there is a limit to the precision of an instrument that has nothing to do with the instrument but with the universe in which the instrument exists.
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