The Quantum Biology of the Weeping Angels
What Happens If You Blink?
Today, we’re going to take two topics that I’ve talked about in-depth on this blog and bring them together: Doctor Who and the relationship between consciousness and quantum mechanics. Oh, yes! It’s time to talk about the Weeping Angels. If you’re unfamiliar with these wonderfully terrifying monsters, I’ll let this quote from the Tenth Doctor explain them to you:
The lonely assassins, they used to be called. No one quite knows where they came from, but they’re as old as the universe, or very nearly, and they have survived this long because they have the most perfect defence system ever evolved. They are quantum-locked. They don’t exist when they’re being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature, they freeze into rock. No choice. It’s a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn to stone. And you can’t kill a stone. Of course, a stone can’t kill you either. But then you turn your head away, then you blink, and oh yes it can… That’s why they cover their eyes. They’re not weeping. They can’t risk looking at each other. Their greatest asset is their greatest curse. They can never be seen. The loneliest creatures in the universe.
The Angels are an awesome element of Doctor Who that has puzzled me for years. We already covered…
