University of Vienna Professor of Physics Anton Zeilinger is working on quantum experiments that demonstrate the influence of observers in shaping reality. He believes physicists have only scratched the surface of something much bigger and says, “Maybe the real breakthrough will come when we start to realise the connections between reality, knowledge and our actions.”
Zeilinger and others working in the field have shown that widely separated particles can somehow have quantum states that are linked: by observing one, the outcome of the other is affected. But as New Scientist magazine says, “No one has yet fathomed how the universe seems to know when it is being watched.”
Read the full account of questions that keep physicists up at night at the New Scientist site.
I think I’m fine with the universe knowing it’s being watched, but anyone suggesting it manifests as a humanoid form full of galaxies is going to get a slap…..
Perhaps this is just a variation of the old philosophical poser inasmuch as does a falling tree make a noise when there is no-one there to witness it?
Or the Sociological dilemma of observers affecting the human interaction of those being observed when what they were seeking was true human activity.
When these 2 thoughts occurred to me I thought I was making a good point but the more I read them I think, yes… so?
The difference here though is that we have empirical evidence suggesting that matter acts differently on a subatomic level when observed. Like we can trace the paths electrons took being fired through tiny holes when not observed and see that they were different from when we were looking. Sort of like people…except they aren’t as smart as electrons so you can sometimes still watch them as they pick their noses while waiting in their cars at the traffic lights.
But after they have crossed the lights…then what?