The Uncertainty Principle | Genius

[bell] Ernst, my good man. Ah. Two tins of the usual, professor? Indeed. And I would like you to meet my good friend, and thorn in my scientific side, Dr. Niels Bohr.

Hello. An honor to meet you, sir. Ernst, are you familiar with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?

I can't say that I am, professor. Well, it states that the more accurately we measure the velocity of a particle, the less accurately we can measure its position in space. So you know exactly how fast the thing is going.

Yes, but if we do, we cannot also know where that thing is. Does that sound logical to you?

No, sir. EINSTEIN: Of course not. And according to my esteemed colleague, the particle does not exist at all until we observe it.

That makes absolutely no sense to me. EINSTEIN: Exactly. Thank you, Ernst. Shall we stop by your butcher's as well? Perhaps he has an opinion on the matter.

Ha ha. Very amusing. Albert, the uncertainty principle works. It functions, and it allows us to make use of the quantum world. The goal of scientific pursuit should not be merely to make use of the world around us.

It should be to understand it fundamentally, no matter what use it might have. Albert, look out. [car horn] Just watch where you're going, please.

Why should I? Why should either of us? According to you, if that automobile was a particle but we didn't see it, it wouldn't have been there at all. We would be perfectly safe.

Automobiles aren't subatomic particles, Albert. EINSTEIN: Niels, it defies common sense that the rules which govern those things we can see do not apply to those we cannot.

[car horn] I will not turn off my brain simply because you've decided the matter is settled.

Well, then, if you don't start using your brain to observe what's right in front of you, you're going to get yourself killed.