Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe: the best game you’ve never played, or have you?
Tic-tac-toe is a boring game after the first few times, right? We learn it as a kid and later lose interest due to its simplicity. Later in life, we play it with our kids and let them win once in a while. One big problem is that any use of skill or strategy ends up in a tie game.
What if, however, you could play two moves at once? That would make it more interesting and challenging, right?
What if each of these “quantum” moves were actually potential games we were playing simultaneously? The game just became a little more interesting. There are now seemingly more winning strategies. (Actually, it’s the same but it’s harder to keep track of them.)
What if two skilled players each had a chance to actually win a game of tic-tac-toe instead of settling for a tie?
What’s quantum got to do with it?
Quantum physics is one of the most accurate and productive theories that exist in all of science. Yet, it is almost incomprehensible at first glance. And after a second glance and probably a third. Even the great physicist Richard Feynman said “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” This is a man who was once called the smartest person in the world in 1979.
