Would it not be a good idea to begin introducing some of the concepts of quantum mechanics in high school, or perhaps even in middle school, since that's when students begin learning about the atom and its parts? There wouldn't be any need for the more complicated math involved, as that would come at the university level, but just an introduction to the basic concepts; probability waves, heisenberg's uncertainty principle, indistinguishability, etc. Although it is just theory, it is experimentally sound (mostly). For almost a century important concepts in the field, which carry profound implications for the world and its inhabitants, have been left to the domain of theoretical physicist. People need to at least be aware of the image of reality that QM depicts.
The show Through the Wormhole (which frequently goes over a few of the concepts of QM, albeit not in-depth) appears to be pretty popular even amongst younger kids, so the basics can't be too difficult to comprehend. Understandably, the show does not introduce some of QM's more sensitive areas (at least not to my knowledge) such as the anthropic principles or the many worlds theory, but these are still important concepts that are crucial to our much needed restructuring of reality. I've seen a few users here reference the show by saying something like, "well according to the show through wormhole something can come from nothing, so maybe thats how the universe started", and therein lies the problem. Shows like through the wormhole will oversimplify the concepts, so if QM is going to be made available to the public through the media, why not introduce it during high school, where the scope of the material covered can be greater.
My point is this: quantum theory curently presents more questions than answers. If it were to be introduced earlier on in school, might that not increase the likelihood that more students will develop an interest in solving the problems the science faces?
The show Through the Wormhole (which frequently goes over a few of the concepts of QM, albeit not in-depth) appears to be pretty popular even amongst younger kids, so the basics can't be too difficult to comprehend. Understandably, the show does not introduce some of QM's more sensitive areas (at least not to my knowledge) such as the anthropic principles or the many worlds theory, but these are still important concepts that are crucial to our much needed restructuring of reality. I've seen a few users here reference the show by saying something like, "well according to the show through wormhole something can come from nothing, so maybe thats how the universe started", and therein lies the problem. Shows like through the wormhole will oversimplify the concepts, so if QM is going to be made available to the public through the media, why not introduce it during high school, where the scope of the material covered can be greater.
My point is this: quantum theory curently presents more questions than answers. If it were to be introduced earlier on in school, might that not increase the likelihood that more students will develop an interest in solving the problems the science faces?
