I had this short chat with a person on the net. He asked me to help him understand the Schrödinger's cat paradox.

Me:		So what exactly is it about the measurment of the electron that you find problem with?
Him:		OK... it is said that there is a superposition of the spin until the electron is measured, I get that. Just isn't it that the machine that breaks the vile of glass is the one who does the measurement, not the person looking at the cat?
Me:		Yes, this is a bit strange, I admit, and I think that interpretation of QM is questionable. Do you have a URL to a concise text about it?
Him:		Yeah, http://www.qtc.ecs.soton.ac.uk/cat.html
Me:		Well, you can say like this: This way of looking at QM is very "solipsistic", in the sense that it deals with only one observer, an alone observer (solo ipsus = I am alone). And for that single observer, the cat is not dead, until he knows that the cat is dead. Up until that point, there is only a certain probability, for that alone person, that the cat is dead.
Him:		Oh... I understand now... the cat is physically already dead or alive before the person sees it. Just it's neither dead nor alive until a conscious being "sees it", I get it.
Me:		Yes, another person might already know it, and for him the wave function has already collapsed. But that other person lives in another universe so to say, he is also alone :)
Him:		OK...well thanks for the help
Me:		Did it help?
Him:		Yes... I was kind of running in that direction, I just thought there might be more to it.
Me:		OK, well this is how I understand that interpretation, and it makes sense if every observer is alone, which is a funny assumption, but the only way to reason in this situation it seems.
Him:		Yes.
Me:		OK, good luck whith everything :)
Him:		It's like asking that cliche about the tree in the forest that falls when no one is around.
Me:		Yes, it has a lot to do with that, and I usually think about God who is everywhere and perceives everything when that question is asked :)
Him:		Yes... God does have his philosophical advantages!
Me:		He he he, definitely :)