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Comment by QuantumRoar | Hacker News Reader

The same way you assume you can compute how a ball flies through the air without using quantum field theory. Turns out, the ball isn't noticeably influenced by its atomic structure. But then it turns out, some of biology might be.

The best description is the simplest one being able to describe all related phenomena. So unless you have a very good reason, it wouldn't be helpful to start from the standard model of particle physics.

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That's silly. "Simple" in this context is an entirely human construct. Matter and energy just are. They have no sense of their own complexity. If quantum effects exist, they are equally as accessible as macro-classical effects to biology even if not human understanding.

Of course you're right but we're talking about two different things. I was telling you about how humans cope with complexity in science. You wouldn't get anywhere in science if you would always start from the most detailed theory. Instead, you try simpler models first and if they accurately describe the phenomenon, there's no need to involve quantum mechanics (which often renders problems almost impossible to solve).

On the other hand, if you tried the classical theories and notice that there are things unaccounted for, then you go and look for more detailed theories to apply to your problem. That's the normal way you do research and that's what happened here.

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