This is a gross misinterpretation of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment and how the lottery actually works. That said, this is genuinely a shower thought because it's logic evaporates as quickly as you dry off and put your thinking pants on.
Well pardon me sir, my scientific background is entirely made of yt science videos for middle-schoolers!
I suffered from the wrong interpretation myself for a long time, and I think it's worth a brief explanation as to why it is wrong. It's clear why so many people misunderstand it, and I'm incapable of providing a concise, correct explanation to other people myself. But I like to see other people try, and hope one day to come across an elegant explanation that I can plagiarize.
Except that Schrödinger was trying to exemplify how impractical the Copenhagen interpretation was; that trying to apply quantum properties to systems larger than atoms would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
How so?
Well you have both won and not won the lotery as long as you don't check the results = measure the results of the experiment
Hm. I suppose you could see it like that philosophically.
I'd say it more like, you have not won yet until you check and see you've won, but I guess that train of thought works, as well.
Schrödinger was responsible for so much good work in science, but all we remember him for is his cruelty to animals. :(
A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.