Bell’s Inequality or much ado about nothing. Much has been said about how quantum mechanics and optical polarizers violate Bell’s Inequality. It’s supposed to be mystical and profound. Well, I have trouble getting excited about this. Bell’s Inequality is about set theory and Venn diagrams. Polarizers are governed by physical theory that predicts how much light gets through any combination of rotated filters. Just because polarizers are round and look like Venn diagrams doesn’t mean that they are a Venn diagram. If polarizers were just empty rings that violate the inequality then I’d worry. But they are glass filters that affect light directly. We should not expect them to obey Bell’s Inequality any more than thin slices of a cannoli.
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