User talk:Paulc1001

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Hello, Paulc1001, and

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Have you checked out the Simple English Wikipedia, simple:Main Page? It might be a more appropriate place for a simplified QM article. At least, simple:Quantum mechanics is currently very unsatisfactory. — Laura Scudder | Talk 22:39, 29 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The Simple Wikipedia works just like any other language wikipedia, so you have to add

interlanguage links

, which show up in the sidebar. It'd be kinda nice if there was a mechanism for a closer relationship, but since the interlanguage setup was already in place, that's what got used.

By the way, don't take my suggestion as a deterent to changing the quantum mechanics here. There was recently (a few months ago) quite a wrangling over the introduction, and the result of that was the current compromise, which is supposed to be totally truthful but a bit simplified. These kinds of things can always use re-evaluation though. Check out the Wikipedia:WikiProject Science guidelines to a good science article if you want to see what all the salient points are supposed to be. — Laura Scudder | Talk 23:26, 29 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Logging out is a problem that can be prevented by clicking the "remember me on this computer" check box when signing into Wikipedia. That's what I did and the problem is now gone.

Thanks for the copyediting in the Tuxtla Gutiérrez article! It went through a recent major edit as part of the Wikipedia:Spanish Translation of the Week project, and needed some serious cleanup. Maybe you would be interested in helping us there? You don't need to speak Spanish, you can always copyedit after we've done the rough translating.

Again, welcome to Wikipedia. And feel free to ask me anything in my talk page, I'm glad to help users learn the ropes. Titoxd 17:53, 1 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I feel somewhat responsible for the "heated" discussion by virtue of my bold edits. I do hope that some good may come from the discussion though. Grika Ⓣ 18:57, 13 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Paulc, welcome to wikipedia. Do not be too discouraged; at least some of the drafts of QM simplified looked good, and it is a bit of a shame that the main QM article is so hard to understand. However, do be aware that topics like QM are inherently inflammatory, as they attract beginners, experts, self-styled experts lacking in basic understanding, cranks, kooks, people with magical beliefs and hard-headed debunkers all in one go. Take a look at Talk:Bell's theorem for some flavour. Anyway, stand your ground; I think a simple, direct article on QM would be a great addition to WP. It just might not be easy. linas 22:35, 14 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with your ideas about comprehensible articles on physics. I was a physics major in a major university for a couple years, eventually broadened out to other things, but I can still read Pauli and Reichenbach without feeling that I got caught in the spin cycle of a rug washer. The same isn't true of the Wikipedia physics articles.

I've tried to clear up the philosophy of QM article that is under rfd, but Mr. Ingham has not answered my questions about what he is trying to say in a responsive way. The "simplified" article looks like a better place to start.

My experience in physics at the University level may be relevant. We had a trimester system. The first trimester was mechanics. I did o.k., but calculus was new to me. The second semester was electricity. Since I had shocked myself working on old radios, made crystal radios, etc., etc. for years, I already knew what was going on. In some ways I was ahead of our grad student lab leader, who couldn't understand why putting one probe of a volt meter into the DC outlet on the lab bench did not produce a reading. My grade jumped to A, not because I was any smarter, but because I knew from experience what happens when resistors are wired in series and when they are wired in parallel, and to other students such matters were totally abstract. I think that students should begin with real-world experiences as much as possible. Unfortunately, many students live in very restricted environments. If you live in a high-rise apartment building you might not realize you could just trail the antenna for a crystal radio out the window.

It would be nice if you would put something on your user page indicating background, interests, etc. P0M 13:39, 29 October 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Will clean up

--Blaufish 22:19, 15 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]