This is originally my Medium post.
It’s the era of quantum computing. Time to ditch binary thinking.
I love the story of Schrödinger’s Cat even though I’m so sorry about the poor imaginary cat as an animal lover. Does it mean that I’m able to comprehend quantum mechanics? Hell, no! My college degree is B.A. (Maybe somebody that majored in physics is reaching for his gun to kill me now …)
What fascinates me so much is the “quantum superposition”, an important principle in Copenhagen Interpretation that Schrödinger was actually trying to criticize. Simply put, a thing can exist in multiple states in the quantum superposition. Without the notorious thought experiment involving a cat, I couldn’t have had any clue about the theory. What an irony …
The world is not binary
In many cases, things exist on continuum, not in a binary state. Nevertheless, we are often forced to define anything as 0 or 1. Are you a globalist or a nationalist? Or are you left-wing or right-wing? How often are you asked dichotomous questions like these in life? To label someone as a fence sitter when he or she cannot properly answer those questions is even worse. It’s a kind of mental violence.
I’m a bone-deep globalist who loves my own country. You could be a pro-choice Republican. No middle ground in the digital world? But the era of quantum computing is dawning.
It’s so regretable that dichotomous thinking is still prevailing in this world of the complex system. Why are we stuck with the outdated world views that no longer work in this multi-dimensional universe? Time to fight our way out of the egg.
By the way, view this TED video in case you are interested in quantum computing but poor at physics like me. It’s fun!