Why quantum mechanics is an

embarrassment to science

By Brad Plumer, Published: February 7, 2013 at 2:03 pm Back in 2011, a survey was taken of various physicists and mathematicians at a c onference on Quantum Physics and the Nature of Reality in Austria. Thirty-three of the world s top experts were asked to list their favorite interpretation of quant um mechanics. The result? Not a single one of the interpretations could even garner a simple m ajority vote. Ninety years after the theory was first developed, there s still no consensus on what quantum physics actually means. I ll go out on a limb to suggest that the results of this poll should be very embarrassing to physicists, wrote co smologist Sean Carroll. (On the plus side, the theory turns out to be very, very, very, very accurate in making experimental predictions. So there s that!) In the video below, Carroll breaks down the basics of why scientists can t seem to agree on how to interpret quantum mechanics and explains why it s so critical: Wha t is quantum mechanics, really? I mean, that s like saying what is the Universe? Wha t more important question is there than that?