Imagine a pair of subatomic particles (electrons, for example) bound together in a state with zero "spin" (rotational momentum). These particles, as it happens, can't possess zero spin themselves; they must spin either "up" or "down." It follows, because of the zero spin of their bound state, that the particles must individually possess different spin states — one must be "up," the other "down."
We release our bound particles, and they shoot away from one another near the speed of light. They lie 600,000 kilometers apart within a second. If we measure the spin of one, we will instantly, across that vast distance, know the spin of its partner.
Bell compares the correlations found between our particles when we measure their spins in different locations, and shows they must communicate on some level. The separated particles not only know that they're opposites. They know about the measurements we perform on their distant partners.
~ from Patterns of The Real: Quantum Nonlocality ~
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