Schrödinger's Rumour

What is it about rumours that we love?  Well, who doesn’t love a mystery and rumours are like little clues that might help unravel a great truth. However, like in any good mystery, a clue can also end up being misdirection, intentional or not.

So how do we tell if a rumour is worth following or not?  It’s a question that is easily answered in the eyes of a console/PC fanatic, you just approve or dismiss based on what is best for your system of choice.  Back in the real world, the short answer is, we can’t, however, that’s not to say every rumour should be instantly dismissed because, as we’ve witnessed in the past, a rumour can turn into reality in the blink of an eye.

So, if we have no idea whether or not a rumour is true but it seems plausible can we assume that, like Schrödinger's cat, the rumour is both true and false? (for those not familiar with Schrödinger's cat see:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

We see rumours a lot in the video game industry, even more so in the preceding months before a new console generation.  They can be positive or negative as well as utterly ridiculous, the latter of which we can safely ignore.  The positive rumours tend to see a more favourable reception as apposed to the negative ones, which if you accept that a rumour can be both true and false until proven, seems unreasonable to me.

Let’s take a closer look at a rumour floating around at the moment, the one that says Microsoft will block used games on the next Xbox.  It’s obviously quite a negative rumour, one that most gamers are at odds with.  You can go through any such related article on N4G and see the following:

- Playstation fanat ics making the assumption that it is most definitely true and over exaggerating the consequences of such an action.

- Xbox fanatics making the assumption that it is most definitely false and playing down the consequences of such an action.

- Neutral (or faux-neutral) people jumping on their soapbox to announce it’s too early to even comment on such things.   Side note: This sometimes reads to me like “please press agree and bubble me up”, not always but sometimes, is it just me?

What you rarely see, if ever, is someone who takes into account every possible outcome, which, if the main analogy of this blog rings true, is the only response that seems logical.  Reserving your opinion, in the case of those ‘neutral’ parties, is of course acceptable but given that the rumour could of course be true/false there’s no reason for others not to have an opinion of either outcome.

I usually like to sum up my point at this stage but I don’t really have one here, this is just something to think about next time you comment on rumour and speculation.  Actual ly I would like to highlight one point, which is that dismissing a rumour flat out is just as illogical as assuming its inevitability or claiming you can’t possibly comment either way. Maybe I’ve thought about this far too much, whatever the case I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoy boggling my noodle over the interpretations of quantum mechanics.

[coolbeans]

An interesting way to look at it.

"Side note: This sometimes reads to me like 'please press agree and bubble me up', not always but sometimes, is it just me?"

I'll admit to being ignorant of what the comment section in rumor pieces usually looks like, but I can't imagine the neutral stance winning anyone favors such as that. I would guess onlookers/fans/fanboys like to play dice with the rumor-sphere (<-forced...but I had to try it :P).

[chadboban]

First thing that popped into my head when I read the title was Virtue's Last Reward, lol (great game by the way, if you have a 3DS or a Vita I highly recommend it if you're looking for a game with a great story, also recommend you play 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors for the DS before you play it).

To the topic at hand, I do agree that people sometimes let their inner fanboy decide that a rumor is absolutely true or false before even considering if it is even logical, but as long as there are fanboys, you will always see this happening. There's nothing we can really do about it. I guess the fanboy portion of some folks brains is a lot more swift than the portion that is supposed to think logically.

[EffectO]

"Maybe I’ve thought about this far too much, whatever the case I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoy boggling my noodle over the interpretations of quantum mechanics."

You have :)

Let's say that you are in position to verify whether the rumor is true or false.What would that do to rumor itself or in other words,will your action change the truth?

[Chaostar]

Ooo good question.

I guess being privy to some kind of confirmation of a rumour would be akin to peeking into the box, so to speak. This would collapse the wave function into a specific outcome. In the more philosophical line of thought the rumour would still be in a state of simultaneous fact and fiction to anyone else who wasn't 'in the know'.

[taquito]

silly brittish and your extra u's

its rumor
color

the u is rather FRIVILOS, where, in that case, it is not
frivolous needs the u

[Chaostar]

Hehe

It's called ENGLISH for a reason :D