Can watching (or not watching) games impact the result?

[The Cannon of Tesoma]

Let's watch this game of the century.

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Yes, but it probably won't. Unless you believe in a deterministic universe, butterfly effect could certainly end up impacting the game although I'm sure the chances are very low.

Tiny changes in the starting position of a complex system can create drastic changes over time.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Schrodinger's Hockey Game?

Schrodinger's Buffalo Sabres is always dead.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Schrodinger's Buffalo Sabres is always dead.

I like how it’s just a meme at this point. No matter what thread I click on, there’s someone kicking a dead horse. What else are you gonna do with it? Surely I can’t move it, some rich owner is responsible. Where is he? f*** him, that’s the answer.

So to OP’s question- the bastards always win. Blues. Bruins. Doesn’t matter if you watch or not- the arseholes are victorious.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

I like how it’s just a meme at this point. No matter what thread I click on, there’s someone kicking a dead horse. What else are you gonna do with it? Surely I can’t move it, some rich owner is responsible. Where is he? f*** him, that’s the answer.

So to OP’s question- the bastards always win. Blues. Bruins. Doesn’t matter if you watch or not- the arseholes are victorious.

Ah. But if you don't click on the thread, the horse is both dead and alive.

 

[The Cannon of Tesoma]

Ah. But if you don't click on the thread, the horse is both dead and alive.

Another thread is needed to prove entanglement, tho.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

During the Middle Ages, people were superstitious and believed stupid things.

Then people (in the West at least) became more scientific and put much more value in cause and effect than in arbitrary notions.

While the Middle Ages were a dark time for the Europeans, intellectual and scientific curiosity was thriving in the Islamic world and it was essentially the epicenter of scholarly thought prior to the Mongol invasion. Europe didn’t catch up to the Middle East/Far East until the 16th C or so in that regard.

 

[Shark Finn]

And it's not even off-, err- Christmas break.

 

[Rec T]

The short answer is no.

Long answer too...

 

[JPT]

Schrodinger's Hockey Game?

I accidentally turned on my TV and now my favorite hockey team is dead

 

[Ned Bouhalassa]

In their 2011 cup run, the Bruins won every overtime period that I listened to on my car radio, even if it meant leaving the comforts of home after 3 periods, and not seeing the winning goal live! (I’m old, so radio broadcasts are nostalgic to me).
Coincidence? I don’t think so!
Happy holidays!!

 

[Iggys Dome]

OP needs a quantum physicist to answer this question, the many worlds interpretation + double slit experiment suggest that the answer could be yes but I don’t know wtf I’m talking about tbh

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Yes, but it probably won't. Unless you believe in a deterministic universe, butterfly effect could certainly end up impacting the game although I'm sure the chances are very low.

Tiny changes in the starting position of a complex system can create drastic changes over time.

I may be out of my element here but I don’t believe determinism is incompatible with the butterfly effect, complex systems, etc

 

[Ceremony]

Absolutely.

 

[Hennessy]

I need ironic French and a cigarette for this thread.

 

[Lshap]

Watching/not-watching other women most definitely impacts the results of a marriage.

However, my lawyer has advised me not to answer the OP's question.

 

[JoVel]

Of course. The same way your Call of Duty update goes faster if you don't watch the progress bar. This isn't rocket science.

 

[Acallabeth]

'Practical application of observer effect in elite hockey players'.

 

[Ned Bouhalassa]

Wow. Let’s just say I didn’t have HFB-thread-veers-into-quantum-physics on my bingo card!
This means my Bs won the cup against the Blues in another universe!! There gotta be a video of it somewhere…

 

[ijuka]

I mean, imagine your team is losing at the start of the 3rd, and you think about, should you start (or stop) watching the game.

As far as I understand, worlds where you watching and not watching the game are different. But are they different enough to impact the game and change the result?

Sounds like a gross misapplication of quantum entanglement.

If you think that your actions affect the game but the actions of millions of other people who also watch the game do not, then you have some sort of a god complex.

Even if we assume that everyone's actions with regards to watching the game somehow affect the events of said game equivalently, then your individual contribution will not even clear the noise floor.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

On tv no. In theory a crowd can have some small impact on a game. Much less in hockey than a sport like American football or tennis though

 

[ijuka]

Superstition is crazy.

People want to feel in control, and are afraid of having no control.

Superstition allows people to feel like they can do their part to affect events that they in reality have no control over.

What determines whether your superstition is normal or whether it makes you insane is related to how many people share the same superstition(the separation between religion and psychosis is paper thin).

 

[SladeWilson23]

This is a case of quantum tunneling.

 

[Lt Dan]

I mean, imagine your team is losing at the start of the 3rd, and you think about, should you start (or stop) watching the game.

As far as I understand, worlds where you watching and not watching the game are different. But are they different enough to impact the game and change the result?

Absolutely

And I proved this the other day.
This was the game

Los Angeles Kings - Philadelphia Flyers - Dec 19, 2024 | NHL.com

NHL Gamecenter - Los Angeles Kings vs. Philadelphia Flyers, Dec 19, 2024 - summary, stats, boxscore, play by play, recap and more.

www.nhl.com

I was listening in my office, then shut the game off to walk out to my 1986 Yugo GV and the when I turn the game on ,i learned that the Kings had scored on my way to the Yugo 1-0 Kings.

Listening in the way home, I hear the Phlyers score. 1-1.

I get home and walk in to house. I turn the TV on and the Kings had scored during my walk in.. 2-1 Kings.

I sit in my BarcaLounger to finally properly enjoy the game and the Phlyers score.
2-2.

A few minutes later the Phlyers score. 3-2 Phlyers.

At this point I understand that the man doesn't want me to watch the game. I have missed both Kings goals and heard/seen at three Phlyers and I shut the game off. Once again the score was 3-2 Phlyers

I check the score an hour later and the Kings won 7-3

I rest my case. No further questions your honor.

 

[kthx]

I mean, imagine your team is losing at the start of the 3rd, and you think about, should you start (or stop) watching the game.

As far as I understand, worlds where you watching and not watching the game are different. But are they different enough to impact the game and change the result?

Yes you can manifest a victory if you truly believe