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Parent comment is interesting in that it shows the disconnect between the way people get trained in quantum mechanics (or any hard science, for that matter) and what it takes in order to achieve a real understanding of the ways of Nature. Quantum mechanics is a highly mathematized and highly technical subject, and all this math and all these technicalities could be seen as merely a scuffolding; it is still hard to learn about the building by spending years studying the scuffolding. To me, it seems that the arguments about the basics will continue until the final unification with gravity has been found, because this may result in discovery of important constraints on the ways we should be thinking of these things. In the meantime, I think it maybe only people who apply quantum methods in their daily practice - quantum chemists, specialists in solid state physics etc. - will be the ones to have a better understanding of such matters as whether wave functions are real or not. Books about applied aspects of quantum theory could prove tremendously useful in that regard to everybody. One of the best for beginners, I believe, is Quanta by Atkins.



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