The Omnipotence paradox and Schrödinger’s Cat.
Seriously, could he? For Homer Simpson, it’s a good question, but not the first time it has been asked. If you go to wikipedia and search for the omnipotence paradox, it will tell you more, but here’s the gist.
If a given being is omnipotent, or commonly “all powerful”, it must be able to do anything, but it is commonly accepted that it must as well be bound by logic. Hence, a given being could create an object of any weight, as well as lift an object of any weight. But, could it create an object of enough weight that even it could not lift it? If it can create the object, it is not omnipotent because if limited lifting ability. At the same time though, if it cannot be created, it is non-omnipotent due to limited creation ability. Hence, the omnipotence paradox.
Now, it can be argued that, being omnipotent, such a being must not necessarily be bound by logic. By this argument, such a being can create something of such weight that it cannot lift it, but since logic is not a factor, still be able to lift it. Just as easily then, it can kill someone and the person still be alive, and create a circle that is perfectly square. Having logic not apply, however, is not something that is accepted in what I have read. It seems, however, to be the only method of guaranteed omnipotence and thus a purely omnipotent being is illogical. Weird shit.
In the same paradoxical argument, is Schrödinger’s Cat. The cat is within a box, and there is affixed a radioactive particle, a detector, and a poison gas. There is a 50% chance the particle will decay within 1 hour. If it does decay, it will activate the detector and release the gas, killing the cat. There are thus 2 possible outcomes when you open the box in 1 hour, the cat is dead and the particle is decayed, or the cat is alive and the particle not decayed. We assume that the cat will not die for any other reason, or that the detector will malfunction. Next, we have a theory in physics that states that until observed, all objects take a superfluous state as all possible outcomes simultaneously. As such, until we open our box to see our cat, it is both alive and dead, as well as the particle decayed and not, all at the same time. So the question is, when does the cat die, if it is going to?
Well, the first thing I thought of is, wouldn’t the cat notice if it died? For that matter, is consciousness required? Can the box see the particle decay? I don’t know, honestly. I would need to speak to someone who knows more than me.
Anyway, have fun with all that, and let me know what you think in a comment. If you want, you can even remind me of the story I can’t fully remember, but had something to do with milk in your trunk, or any other paradox you may have.