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TOUCH OF THE OBSERVER

by Chongo in collaboration with José

Expect completion by August. See Chapter One below.

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CHAPTER ONE

LIFE AND EXISTENCE

“The Theory of Quantum Mechanics defines observation as an element affecting physical phenomena. The presence or absence of a scientist observing an experiment changes the outcome of the experiment in a precisely predictable, yet inexact manner. The results of experiments vary according to the "way" the experiment is observed, different ways yielding uniquely distinct outcomes. This is readily demonstrated by the well-known two-slot experiment of quantum mechanics, which is explained in detail in Appendix A (page 41).

“In the experiment, when we look at two slots, together, as a whole, we see one thing: bands of light and dark, reflecting a wave-interference pattern between the two slots (see illustration at bottom of page 41). However, when we look at just one slot alone (individually), we see something completely different: a single beam, no wave interference whatsoever between slots, and so, no bands.

“In other words, when we observe something in one way, one thing happens. When we observe exactly the same thing in a different way, something else happens instead, something physically different, altogether. Two distinctly different things occur, depending simply upon whether the information that can be rendered by the outcome of the experiment is detectable (knowable) by a living organism or whether it is not – that is to say, depending upon “how” it is being observed.

“Quantum theory calls this ‘rendering of information’ to an observer the 'collapse of the wave function'. And, among all the amazing phenomena in our universe, it is unquestionably the most remarkable of all, because it is the simplest scientific proof there is of how “one” thing can be in two, indeed in many places together, at precisely the same moment in time. More than that, it shows how “one” thing MUST be in many places together, at once, if, for no other reason, for the sake of life existing in the universe! It is a demonstrable scientific fact.

“Observed, a multiplicity of coexistent potentially possible realities collapse into a “single” actual one; unobserved, this coexistence of possibilities (termed “superimposition” by physics) prevails and there is no collapse, no actual reality, but a ‘virtual’ one, exclusively. How something is observed determines how the wave function collapses. Most importantly, by simply 'being’ observed, the universe operates in a completely different way, than when it isn't being observed. Observation physically affects reality, and does so in a predictable manner, yet not a precise one, since, according to quantum theory, how accurately its effects upon reality can be predicted, cannot be reduced to more than a distribution (a set) of probable – and improbable – outcomes, and NEVER to any more.

“As quantum theory reveals and Appendix B (page 57) explains, we can only 'assume' living awareness beyond our own individual awareness of our own life. So assuming, and assuming further that the universe has no preference whatsoever for the species or occupation of the observer (in the absence of any reason for so inferring), we can assume that an observer need not be a scientist or be human, and that any living observer at all affects physical reality by observing the universe, or, as quantum mechanics calls it, by collapsing the wave function, just as any other observer does.

“With only two distinct outcomes for the experiment, clearly, the wave function does not differentiate between one observer and another; nor does it differentiate with respect to the number of observers observing, either, as only a single observation and hence only a single observer is all that is required. The wave function differentiates simply between the presence of an observer, and the absence of one, alone; and as a consequence of nothing else.

“So the wave function collapses for any observer, regardless of who they are, and as Appendix B further explains, regardless of 'what' they are also, be they a scientist or not, or be they human or not. Being alive is all that matters for being an observer, or for not being one.

“Additionally, no differentiation is made with respect to the observer’s displacement in time, space, or events from the observation, as well, because the wave function collapses for our indirect observations, just as it does for our direct ones. The wave function collapses regardless.

“A scientist need not be at the detector at the very ‘moment’ of detection. Removal in time, space, and events, from the direct observation, just as the scientist observing the experiment 'indirectly' usually is, means that the existential extent of the removal makes no difference, either. This means that the results can be recorded, the recordings sent to what is possibly an ‘unknowing’, ‘unaware’ observer, thousands or even millions of miles away, who can wait years (to be born, if necessary, and then wait years more) to finally examine them, yet the wave function will always collapse appropriately, according to the information ultimately rendered.

“Taking this one step further, life need not even exist in the universe ‘yet’ (with respect to our ‘now’), either, meaning that the wave collapses leading to life, and hence, ultimately leading to observation, if no where else but here on earth alone, occurred, because these wave collapses, these events leading to life, ultimately would, with absolute certainty, do so, or they wouldn’t be actual events in the first place. In plain terms, according to quantum theory, without life, observing nature, there is simply no such thing as reality.

“Regardless of how the observer may be removed from the initial observation, the wave function still collapses into each of the events in the sequence that ultimately leads to a living observer, though that sequence is ‘actualized’ upon rendering the ‘real’ information as energy to the organism, and again, never to anywhere ‘else’. No wave collapse (no real event) ever occurs unless it somehow ultimately leads to a living organism’s awareness of it, regardless of how subtle that awareness might be and irrespective of how simple the life form.

“Predictably, quantum experiments demonstrate that when there is an observer, observing, the wave function collapses, thereby rendering limited (subject to the limitations of the Heinsenburg uncertainty principle, see Glossary) information, and that when there is no observer, the wave function does not collapse, completely, as when it is observed, into a single, actual, definite, determinate history, but instead, exists only virtually, as a set of many coexistent potential possibilities, that is, as many realities together, collectively (Bell’s Theorem).

“The wave function does not collapse for a rock, nor does it collapse for a mountain. It does not collapse for a bowl of water, or for an ocean of it. It only collapses for a living observer, and ultimately, for each individual one of us (awareness being individual). Assuming the awareness of all other life, science (specifically, physics) therefore defines “observer” as ‘something living’. We can be certain that there exist no scientific observations demonstrating that it ever collapses (again, into a single, definite, determinate history) for anything other than living organisms.

Naturally, this begs the rather obvious question, which is, what, exactly, is it about a living organism that commands such a clear and definite impact upon physical reality? Put another way, what is it about observation, which is so differentiating, that it invokes such a unique response from nature, as to reduce a purely virtual universe into an unambiguous, solitary, actual history of existence, from the numerous many others that were potentially possible and that could have been physically realized instead of the one that was? How, exactly, do an observer collapse the wave function, reducing what are a set of coexistent virtual potentialities into a single, distinct actuality? If 'how' can be explained – and it can, by means of the Heisenburg uncertainty principle, as will be explained – then perhaps 'why' can be explained also.

© 2009 C. Tucker (Chongo)

All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIFE AND EXISTENCE

OBSERVATION IS

INFINITY AND THE MANGO TREE

MAGNITUDES AND MAGNITUDES OF COMPLEXITY

THE ESSENCE OF AWARENESS

THE MACHINE CALLED CONSCIOUSNESS

THE FORTUNE OF FINITENESS

THE INEVITABILITY OF CHANGE

THE INESCAPABILITY OF TIME

TRANDOMNESS AND LIFE

PATTERNS AMID CHAOS

APPENDIX A – THE TWO-SLOT EXPERIMENT

APPENDIX B – THE EDGE OF AWARENESS

GLOSSARY

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José

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memory of a committed thinker, physicist, mathematician, a very conscientious human being, a scientist, a world-class rock climber, a skilled outdoorsman, as well my tutor, collaborator, and best friend, José. His understanding of nature led to my ultimate understanding of it which will hopefully, eventually lead to many other people’s understanding of it too.

We can all thank José.

EXCERPT:

How do we explain physical reality? Where do we start, and with what do we begin, in order to take even the first step toward an explanation? In explaining physical reality, do we really have anything else, except it, with which to initiate that explanation? Is there ever anything else, except physical reality? We might think there is more, perhaps by believing that our thoughts, memories, feelings, or dreams exist, somehow independently from physical reality. In so believing, we ignore that we cannot even ‘imagine’ anything independent of physical reality (though we might, quite mistakenly, believe otherwise), any more than we can think, feel, or dream independently of it, because physical reality includes even the motions of our very thoughts, memories, feelings, and dreams, themselves, which are ALL also, just as physical – every bit as much – as anything in the universe.

“To even consider, legitimately, that our thoughts, memories, feelings, or dreams are somehow nonphysical, one must first identify precisely what it means for them, or for anything, to be so, and how, being nonphysical in character, they nonetheless express themselves in the most overtly physical ways – like speaking, that, so clearly being motion, makes all of our thoughts, memories, feelings, and dreams no less physical than any overt human action is; no less than ANY other kind of physical motion whatsoever in the universe is. Stating matters clearly, anything that we might imagine being nonphysical affecting reality simply does not exist.

So, because physical reality is all that we really have (since, as stated, anything else cannot ever be expressed, described, or manifest in any other way except a physical one), we must choose physical reality’s observation as the first step toward its explanation. If we do not choose observation as a first step, then we must choose either not to explain physical reality, or choose something 'else', though there seems to be nothing else that we can use that isn't its observation, by which to do so. If we choose the latter, that is, choose something ‘else’, besides observation for explaining, we choose something that cannot, of course, ever be observed at all, not even indirectly (though we’re free to ‘believe’ otherwise).

In choosing observation, we choose something that we cannot really even imagine outside of the physical terms of the observations (or any permutations thereof: allegory) that are an outcome of our life experience or rearrangements and distortions of such experiences (as innate interpretive responses to these observations). By choosing observation, as the first step toward explaining physical reality, we implicitly assume that physical reality is 'made' of what we observe, even if what we observe consists (as stated) only of what we think, or remember, or feel emotionally, or dream. We further assume that physical reality, besides being made of all these things we observe ‘within’ ourselves, is made also of all those things that we observe outside of ourselves, through our sensory awareness.

“Thus, we begin, by assuming that physical reality is made of all things observed, be they observed internally or externally, directly (like seeing the print on the page that you are now reading) or indirectly (like seeing the reflection of ourselves [or anything], looking into a mirror). In this way, we can use physical reality as a first step, so that it can explain itself, through our embracing its observation, in the most rigorous way that we can. We will use physical reality, along with that part of it that is our imagination, as precisely as our current understanding allows, for describing our very observations themselves and the relationships existing between these observations (in a predictable and reproducible manner), which is what any meaningful explanation of physical reality must do, for it to explain anything that is genuinely, materially real (i.e. physically existing outside of our imagination).