I found this on a site when I was browsing Meowhoo. Thought I'd post it here.
Everyone has heard of Pavlov's Dogs and many have heard of Schroedingers Cat. But what of Shroedinger's Dog and Pavlov's Cats?
Let's not concern ourselves with Shroedinger's Dog, a creature so stupid it has difficulty being in one state at a time let alone in two states simultaneously. When put into a box with a decaying vial of poison which might or might not release the poison, Shroedinger's Dog chewed the vial thus ensuring it ended up in a dead state every time.
Pavlov's Cats is a far more interesting a subtle experiment into feline-human behaviour. Pavlov was a Welsh behavioural scientist who conducted experiments into ringing bells and cats eating food. Went something along the lines of:
Day 1: Rang bell. Cat buggered off.
Day 2: Rang bell. Cat buggered off.
Day 3: Rang bell, but cat put paw on bell so it only made a 'thunk' sound.
Day 4: Rang bell, cat said he'd eaten earlier.
Day 5: Tried to ring bell, but cat had taken batteries out of bell.
Day 6: Cat rang bell. I ate food.
Everyone has heard of Pavlov's Dogs and many have heard of Schroedingers Cat. But what of Shroedinger's Dog and Pavlov's Cats?
Let's not concern ourselves with Shroedinger's Dog, a creature so stupid it has difficulty being in one state at a time let alone in two states simultaneously. When put into a box with a decaying vial of poison which might or might not release the poison, Shroedinger's Dog chewed the vial thus ensuring it ended up in a dead state every time.
Pavlov's Cats is a far more interesting a subtle experiment into feline-human behaviour. Pavlov was a Welsh behavioural scientist who conducted experiments into ringing bells and cats eating food. Went something along the lines of:
Day 1: Rang bell. Cat buggered off.
Day 2: Rang bell. Cat buggered off.
Day 3: Rang bell, but cat put paw on bell so it only made a 'thunk' sound.
Day 4: Rang bell, cat said he'd eaten earlier.
Day 5: Tried to ring bell, but cat had taken batteries out of bell.
Day 6: Cat rang bell. I ate food.
