Paths Taken

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Israeli physicist, Asher Peres, once said, "Unperformed experiments have no results."

Tests and measures within the quantum realm require huge amplification of the system in order for us to observe anything. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle explains how some variables are difficult to impossible to measure at the same time because of their relationship to one another. I am a quantum infant, but what I can say, with some certainty, is the act of testing or measuring, in and of itself, interferes with and changes the system you are observing. It becomes impossible to go back and test "the same system" again, since any possible results of subsequent experiments in time will have been changed by what you chose to test prior. Consider testing a bomb, once detonated there is very little chance of testing any other characteristic about that bomb.
The same system "state" no longer exists.

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Why bother ourselves with this? I think we should bother because this concept in quantum mechanics and the essence of human experience are strikingly similar, and I am also petrified of being clueless in front of my children. Outcomes of an experiment are impossible without a choice being made of what to test. Experiences in life are impossible without a choice of path taken. Once a decision is made to measure, go down a certain path, turn right verses left in a busy, dynamic mob of people, yell at your kids, roll your eyes, or speak hurtful words , you cannot go back and make the other choice. The individuals and the environments you now encounter are different. The circumstances and state of the universe are changed. The same system "state" no longer exists.

As I review my words I cringe, and all I want to do is say, "I am sorry for the choices I have made, and beg for forgiveness."
Every decision is sacred... Guard your heart.

Never underestimate the power of an experiment observed, a choice made, a path taken, a word spoken, or a thought focused upon, for out of the unseen all that is seen manifests. In quantum mechanics, it is referred to as the uncertainty principle or more descriptively "the principle of indeterminacy."
In the human experience, I suppose we would call it free will.

If this attempt at marriage between coffee table quantum mechanics and the human spirit is at all entertaining to you, please comment and let me know.

Go out and determine your day. Michele

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