There is an old philosophical saying which goes:
If a tree falls over and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound.
The implication behind this message is to question whether reality is actually the way that we see it. Whereas for many years this was just a philosophical question, in the last century science has progressed to answer that question. And the fascinating answer gained is that the act of observation creates reality. Or at the very least alters reality from a range of possibilities into one, fixed reality!
Yet if science has discovered that reality is not how it appears when no one is observing it (if it exists at all) then why is this fact not taught about in schools, etc. And how did science discover that reality is just a stubborn illusion?
Well the reason it is not taught in school or most university courses beyond Quantum Mechanics, is because the evidence for this is relatively new. Even though the experiment which proved this has been debated about in science since the early years of the 20th century, it is only in recent years that technology has enabled the experiment in question to be carried out to the degree that it has proved once and for all that observation creates reality.
The Experiment Which Proved That Observation Creates Reality
So what is this earth-shattering experiment and how does it prove that observation creates reality? Well the experiment is known as the Double Slit Experiment, and was first coined up by physicist Thomas Young way back in 1803.
The idea behind the experiment was to try and answer the question 'does light travel as a wave or a stream of particles?' The following video explains how this experiment actually worked: and what the implications for it actually mean.
Through recent versions of the Double Slit Experiment, physicists have learned that particles of light (photons) don't really move like little balls of matter. Instead they travel as a wave of possibility: where it is only when one actually observes the photon does it turn back into its perceived ball like particle.
The same has also been demonstrated with other subatomic particles as well: quarks, electrons, etc. And the fascinating thing is that all matter, everything that we know, is made up of these tiny subatomic particles.
As such, everything can be said to exist as a wave of possibility, including your body and clothes. It seems that it is only when one is observing reality does reality shift from being a wave of possibility to the actual, physical reality that we all know.
Schrödinger Cat
There is a fascinating thought experiment which was coined up by early Quantum Physicist Erwin Schrödinger. This experiment became known as Schrodinger's Cat. The idea behind this experiment is to determine how reality is really not the same as we think it is when nobody is looking at it. Instead reality exists as in a state of multiple possibilities and it is only when observed that one physical outcome becomes real.
The following video explains how this experiment works.
So from experimental evidence that has been undertaken, it appears that an observer actually creates reality from a vast array of possibilities. So to answer the initial question, if a tree falls down and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The answer from the experiments indicates that the answer is yes and no: it does make a sound and doesn't make a sound.
Likewise the tree also doesn't fall down and does fall down: and falls backwards whilst falling forwards as well. Basically, every possible outcome is happening, and it is only when someone observes the outcome does it finally become a fixed outcome in reality.
The weird thing about all this however is that despite the fact that a conscious observer can be said to be creating reality, you will never actually witness this. Nobody since the start of time has ever seen a probability wave (or superposition as it is known as), due to the fact that the moment you make an observation, the wave function of matter has crashed and reality as we know it appears.
According to Quantum physicists, there are two leading theories as to why reality behaves the way that it does; this being the Copenhagen Interpretation and the Many Worlds Theory? So what are these two interpretations of Quantum Mechanics?
Copenhagen Interpretation — This was the original interpretation of what is happening with regards to reality when no one is observing it. This theory was coined up by Danish physicists Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. According to the Copenhagen Interpretation, reality exists as ghost-like probabilities until someone actually observes it; then reality becomes one fixed outcome.
Many Worlds Theory — This theory was coined by Hugh Everett in the 1950s and basically states that when something is not being observed, it doesn’t really exist in a series of ghost probability realities. Instead every single probable outcome exists in a separate parallel universe. As such, when an observer observes something, what is really happening is the observer is causing one real reality to appear, whereas at the same time another version of you is observing another universe (parallel) one into existence.
Whatever theory turns out to be the correct one (maybe neither of them are) the truth of the matter is that the act of observation causes reality to become the way that it is. This therefore raises the question of ‘what is consciousness and how does conscious observation actually cause reality to become real?’ Unfortunately the answer to this question is probably well beyond our scientific understanding; maybe beyond human comprehension!
Yet either way, the discovery that reality itself changes if someone is observing is in itself a huge scientific discovery. Just a shame that this scientific discovery isn’t common knowledge!
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