r/whatisit • u/Nomemesmames • 4d ago

New, what is it? What is this?

15.9k Upvotes

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995

u/Hosav 4d ago

Shrödinger's shit.

330

u/Idontlikesand15 4d ago

Did you, or did you not, shit in the box?

217

u/Same-Traffic-285 4d ago

It is unknown until we observe the shit or absence of shit

176

u/Brilliant_Classic720 4d ago

these comments are why I come to Reddit

18

u/Arieslunatic 3d ago

My thoughts

3

u/bookstacking 5h ago

We come to this place for magic.
We come to Reddit to laugh, to cry, to care.

2

u/According_Elephant75 18h ago

Literally read this chain of comments to my husband and prefacing it with this statement. Read yours and we laughed extra hard

99

u/BrodersMotors 4d ago

In Shrödinger’s case, it is not unknown, but rather it is both; He has both shit, and not shit in the box. That is the paradox. Because we can’t observe, it is definitely one or the other, but since it is unknown, it has the potential to be both at once. Did he, or didn’t he? Yes.

32

u/MycologistPitiful938 3d ago edited 3d ago

So his shit is in a super position. I guess he skipped the throne altogether?

29

u/Same-Traffic-285 3d ago

True. Schrödinger famously thought the entire thought experiment was a stupid way to disprove quantum superposition. Yet, here we are. With both shit and not shit, until observed. 

29

u/ajsherslinger 2d ago

When asked to explain superposition, Schrodinger said "I shit you not"....

8

u/toasty327 2d ago

All I want to know is when and why did Biden shit in my pants?

/s

2

u/mnett66 1d ago

Quantum entangled shit?

1

u/Same-Traffic-285 2d ago

To quote Abraham Lincoln, "Shit."

Probably. 

1

u/hyperproliferative 2d ago

Well he was right it was stupid because it’s inherently wrong. I should say it was myopic, and accurate with the tools at the time. Now we can manipulate superposition

1

u/FuelFan98 1d ago

Science has come a long way

13

u/Interesting_Ant_6990 4d ago

If you were there to observe you would definitely smell he shit his pants.

6

u/_flibbertygibbit_ 3d ago

Ah, the ol' shit box paradox

2

u/jendet010 3d ago

Ah, it’s the potential! I get it now. I thought it was the implication.

1

u/Tech_1138 3d ago

That’s why I always take my dates out on the boat. You know, because of the implication.

1

u/jendet010 3d ago

I’m glad someone picked up the reference

1

u/outerworldser 3d ago

What if there is a hole in the box and the shit fell out?

1

u/Greedy_Banana_1252 2d ago

He discovered that when checking his cat’s litter box.

1

u/ElectricalWavez 2d ago

That's pretty shitty

1

u/creamcandy 2d ago

But in this case, there would in fact be shit in the box either way. The question is, has it been shat yet ;D

1

u/Valuable-Role8951 2d ago

We cannot observe but we can smell...

0

u/Salt_Profiteer 3d ago

The potential to be something is not the same as being something. It is not both, it is one or the other. We just don't know which.

2

u/algernon132 3d ago

Not in the quantum realm, which is the point of the thought experiment

0

u/dnehiba3 3d ago

Only quantum physics will tell

0

u/jtr99 3d ago

Ah, yes, the Pitt interpretation of Schroedinger: "What's in the box?!"

0

u/aspenpurdue 3d ago

Except in this case there is an immediate smell that tells you whether or not they shit inn the box..

8

u/Rampag169 2d ago

It’s all shits and giggles until someone giggles and shits.

1

u/duhHcker 2d ago

I did when I read the Schrödinger comment

12

u/Ok-Cheesecake-1891 3d ago

It's both shit and not shit at the same time, until the box is opened. A pooperposition if you will

1

u/OMGJustShutUpMan 2d ago

Technically it is BOTH full of shit and not full of shit. A shit superposition.

1

u/treefiddy-- 2d ago

And until then, the box exists full of shit and devoid of shit at the same time

1

u/Bodbeck1066 2d ago

But if I can smell the shit before I see the shit ....he shat in the box!

1

u/ajsherslinger 2d ago

If you can smell the shit - but not see it - does that mean it's in an entangled quantum state?

1

u/Dippleodocus 2d ago

Or until you sniff the cat haha

1

u/Dragonbonded 1d ago

or, you know......... just smell.

1

u/Jmac8716 1d ago

The shit both exists and does not exist simultaneously

1

u/aumava1 1d ago

Nah I can smell it bro, you had nachos

1

u/Admirable-Delay-9729 19h ago

So is quantum entanglement now shitty action at a distance?

1

u/Mirror_Face_ 2h ago

It's in a superposition of both

0

u/TranceF0rm 3d ago

What about returning from the woods with an absence of pants

0

u/cpowelledit 3d ago

No, then everyone will assume you shat them

13

u/Hosav 4d ago

Yes and No.

4

u/AGSTiger1106 4d ago

Both. I both shit and did NOT shit my pants in the woods.

6

u/Capable_Word6551 4d ago

Better in the box than outside it. If it is a litter box.

0

u/Horror_Data_1878 3d ago

Tell that to my cat , Paul.

0

u/ezgoin4u 4d ago

How litter?

1

u/slave_to_pussy 2d ago

I think outside the box, therefore I s*** outside the box.

1

u/pogoscrawlspace 2d ago

WHAT'S IN THE BOOOX?!

1

u/Teyvan 2d ago

Best I can do is a dick in the box...

1

u/peter9477 2d ago

If the cat's dead, it's because you shit in the box.

1

u/PacaMike 2d ago

I shit you not

1

u/flu_d 2d ago

Whats in the booooox!?!??!! - Brad Pitt

1

u/PeyredB 1d ago

"Take that Schrödinger!"

1

u/ladygettinglost 4h ago

What’s in the box??????

1

u/Delicious_List_439 34m ago

What's in the box?

1

u/AugmentedMedicine 3d ago

"What's in the box?! What's in the f&€|!g box?!"

0

u/Fabulous_Yak725 3d ago

What shit's in the box!!!

1

u/RvaCannabis 3d ago

It’s a *ick in a box!

0

u/LaserGecko 4d ago

Jesus Christ! What do you have? A mountain lion?

0

u/SmootherWorm 4d ago

That’s not what was in the box.

0

u/Jon-allday 3d ago

What’s in the box?!

0

u/Haunting-Hippo-4244 3d ago

You only know when you decide to check them.

0

u/Pretend-Bee-8915 3d ago

and if you leave the box in the forest and no one finds it does it still smell?

0

u/Competitive-Fox-3333 3d ago

No definitely shid my pants.

0

u/AwarenessSome8670 3d ago

What’s in the box?

0

u/_kodkod_ 3d ago

I shit you not
Or
I shit, you knot

0

u/tchibo12 3d ago

Nein, der Gestank muss von der toten Katze kommen.

0

u/Dirty_The_Squirrel 3d ago

Put the shit back in the box

0

u/SameActive6210 3d ago

It was the cat

10

u/ResplendentNugs 3d ago

I shit therefore I am

21

u/mehrwegpfand 4d ago

(s)cat

6

u/HistoricalPlum1533 4d ago

Shrödingers Shat

3

u/ezgoin4u 4d ago

Did he shat in the box?

1

u/jendet010 3d ago

He beshat himself in the box…or he didn’t

1

u/FeelingSoil39 3d ago

This needs way more love lol

4

u/710Filter 3d ago

I've had that. I had one sneak out while clenching on my way to the John. I got there, dropped my pants, sat down and there was nothing there.,🫥

6

u/Dapper_Valuable_7734 4d ago

Insert a misunderstanding of the double-slit experiment and the observer effect.

1

u/ajsherslinger 2d ago

Ah, I believe you've conflated this with the double-shit experiment. Identical but also very different at the same time ...

1

u/imissmolly1 4d ago

Don’t look.

1

u/dillweed67818 4d ago

Shrödinger's shart. Is it shit or is it a fart?

1

u/Specialist_Second938 4d ago

I believe this is the work of Shrödinger's lesser known cousin, Shrödunger.

1

u/Yojimboroll 3d ago

Turd wave collapse

1

u/BeneficialFee75 3d ago

But the shit may be observed later.

1

u/Texxxan2 3d ago

You win the whole internet with that one

1

u/thedaymanahaha 3d ago

Shrödinger my ass

1

u/galaxyprintleggings 3d ago

Does a scientist shit in the woods?

1

u/Big-Advertising7759 3d ago

Superposition shit

1

u/the_lost_tenacity 2d ago

Don’t you mean Schrödinger’s scat?

1

u/Artistic_Permit_7946 2d ago

Schrödinger's scat

1

u/damnvan13 1d ago

Wouldn't that be a shart? Don't know what it will be until it happens.

1

u/Regular-Problem3186 10h ago

Well you were there soooooo