Quantum Uncertainty Through Systemic Functional Linguistics [8]

Gribbin (1988: 106):

Heisenberg's relation says that if you multiply the amount of uncertainty in the position of a quantum particle by the amount of uncertainty in its momentum then the product can never be less than Planck's constant divided by 2π.  This is not simply a practical limit, an indication that our measuring techniques are imperfect.  It is a fundamental law of nature, which says that there is no such thing as a particle which has a precisely defined position and a precisely defined momentum at the same time.  We cannot know simultaneously exactly where a particle is and exactly where it is going.  The law is very closely linked to the dual wave/particle nature of things, but it is telling us something at once both more subtle and more profound.

Blogger Comments:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, Heisenberg's relation is about constraints on construals of experience: either the precise position of a quantum particle can be construed, or the precise momentum of an electron can be construed.  It is in this sense that "there is no such thing as a particle which has a precisely defined position and a precisely defined momentum at the same time".