The basic ideas of quantum mechanics

Abstract

For a century, quantum theorists have been reading the mathematical entrails of quantum mechanics (QM) to divine the nature of quantum reality. But to little avail. In this paper a different approach is taken, namely to identify and explain the basic intuitive ideas involved in QM. This does not tell one how those basic `gears' all mesh together in the beautiful mathematics of QM. But this does give one some intuitive (\textit{anschaulich})) ideas about the quantum reality described in the seemingly hard-to-interpret mathematical framework.