Forgiveness Through the Lens of Quantum Mechanics
“For those of us who believe in physics, the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” — Albert Einstein
Representing the study of subatomic particles, quantum mechanics is a guest rarely invited to a dinner party of the humanities. Understandably, many take the viewpoint that a “hard science” involving theoretical mathematics would have little to offer the study of society and human behavior. This paper attempts to demonstrate that the lens of quantum mechanics can serve as a vehicle that facilitates a deeper understanding of our interconnectedness and how we can apply the lessons of forgiveness to our lives.
Rather than attempting to explain quantum mechanics in and of itself, this paper addresses three elements of quantum mechanics — “time travel”, particles and waves, and quantum entanglement — and relates them to concepts associated with empathy and forgiveness.
Particles, Waves, and Interconnectedness
Millennia ago, Greek philosopher Democritus set the stage for the atomic theory of the universe. “The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space,” Democritus said in the 5th century BC. (Laertius, 1925). Lacking an electron microscope, Democritus proposed his theory of atoms without any scientific evidence. With the passage of a few thousand years, we have become able to view atomic particles and to confirm that they are the building blocks of our universe. Now, however, our understanding has expanded to include subatomic particles — electrons, photons, and neutrons — which all atoms are comprised of.
Subatomic particles do not behave in the same manner that atomic particles do. Upon discovering various anomalies, baffled scientists began to propose new theories as they observed the strange behavior of subatomic or “elementary” particles — theories that now fall under the umbrella of quantum mechanics.
Essentially, “all elementary particles exist as waves until we look at them, at which point they become particles.” (Forbes, 2015). Put another way, the building blocks of our universe are always in one form or another: particles or waves. This has been proven through John Wheeler’s double-slit experiment, which studied how light behaves when it passes through a slit and is then measured. (MacDonald, 2015).
Stepping away from physics for a moment, let’s consider what this tells us about the universe from more of a philosophical point of view. The smallest pieces that makes us all who we are, at any given point, exist in either one form (particles) or another (waves). In other words, quantum physics has proven the duality of existence. If we are not in one form, we are in another.
The duality of existence has been proposed in various philosophies and religions. If something is black, it is not white; if something is good, it is not evil; if something is 0, it is not 1. If you are not “me”, you are “other”. These binary philosophies demonstrate a clear dichotomy that divides concepts and people from one another and ultimately makes it harder to empathize and forgive other people.
In quantum mechanics, though, there is an interesting twist. In another mind-bending statement, quantum mechanics tells us that “space-time is a construct with all probabilities possible at any time.” (Forbes, 2015). To interpret that statement, let’s turn to one of the more famous thought experiments of quantum mechanics: Erwin Schroedinger’s cat. Schroedinger proposed that if a cat were put into a box with a radioactive substance, one would not know if the cat was alive or dead until one observed the cat. Before that moment, the cat was in a state of “quantum superposition” — in other words, it was both alive and dead at the same time.
Through quantum superposition, then, we can glean that while there are two states of existence (i.e. particles and waves, alive and dead, good and evil), the possibility of being both at the same time is, in fact, a natural condition.
Some philosophies openly allude to this condition of being both good and evil at the same time. Consider the yin yang symbol of the Daoist faith:
This symbol, composed of two dichotomous colors — black and white — has, in fact, three elements. Not only is there some of the black within some of the white, and vice versa, there is a circle around the yin yang itself (best visible on the white half). Rather than being black or white, the symbol suggests, we are both at the same time. We are the outer circle that encompasses the duality.
In her recounting of her experience interacting with “Prime Evil” Eugene de Kock, perpetrator and director of human atrocities, Pumla Godobo-Madikizella makes a statement that sounds directly akin to quantum superposition: “…good and evil exist in our lives, and that evil, like good, is always a possibility.” (Godobo-Madikizella, 2003, p. 34). As she realized that she could not isolate de Kock as evil nor herself as good, Godobo-Madikizella noticed her disposition toward him changing. “I was aware of disintegration happening within myself,” she writes (p. 41).
De Kock commented on how we cannot comfortably live in a dualistic or divided state. When two halves exist but are fully separate, de Kock explained it as “apartheid of the mind…. It’s not even an existence. You are in some twilight world of no peace, no rest, no trust, nothing.” (p. 109) In recognizing that the barriers between ourselves and other human beings and between good and evil do not exist in a definite, unchangeable form, we deeply enhance our ability to forgive.
Through quantum mechanics, we are gifted with another element of understanding that enables us to understand how our present affects our past, and how that can affect our future.
“Time Travel”: Influencing the Future by Changing Past Perspectives
What if it were possible to travel back in time and change the outcome of a situation in which you were deeply hurt by someone? Alas, none of us are in possession of a time machine that would enable the actual modification of the past. Through quantum mechanics, however, we can get a glimpse of the malleability of time.
According to quantum mechanics, time is an artificial construct that does not actually exist. As promised, we won’t attempt to plumb too deeply into that potentially daunting premise — instead, let’s return to our example of the double slit experiment, when light stopped being a wave and became a particle as soon as it was observed.
In one of the most confounding twists of the double slit experiment, scientists were stunned when they realized that not only did light change in its form when it passed through a sensor, it was also capable of retroactively changing how it passed through the sensor when it was viewed after the fact. “At the moment of decision of observation, the waves become particles and changed the record of how they passed through the detectors, too.” (Forbes, 2015). In other words, the experiment proved that time is not a constant — instead, how we choose to observe the light in the present determines how it behaved in the past.
Extrapolations of this theory have led to some fairly astonishing claims based around the concept that how we perceive something affects how it existed in the past. Scientist James Gates has identified a type of computer code — originally written by Claude Shannon in the 1940s — in a string theory formula that explains physical reality. Put another way, our universe seems to have been built using computer code.
While some make the case that Gates’s findings prove we are living in a computer simulation, if we apply what quantum mechanics tells us about time being malleable and the past being affected by how we perceive the present, we arrive at a different conclusion: because we now understand computer code, that formula is now present in our understanding of the universe.
How can this help us better understand forgiveness? Consider this statement from Rabbi Harold Kushner: “If we feel that our past behavior was wrong, being forgiven means erasing that message, liberating ourselves from the idea that we are still who we used to be, and freeing ourselves to become a new person.” (Wiesenthal, 1970, p. 184).
How we respond to the past affects how we respond to the future. So, if we plug in the “formula” of forgiveness into our present while we view the past, it becomes ingrained in our future understanding. Thus, as quantum mechanics implies, though we cannot directly change what has happened to us in the past, we can change how we perceive it in the present. In so doing, we are liberated to change the effect of the outcome on us.
Finally, let’s look at one of the most fascinating elements of quantum mechanics — quantum entanglement — and see how it can enable us to further dissolve barriers between ourselves.
Quantum Entanglement and the Illusion of Separation
Just as quantum mechanics challenges the existence of time, so, too, does it challenge the existence of distance and separation. The proven theory of quantum entanglement demonstrates that actions performed on one particle — or even a large, macro-object — can be monitored on a separate, mirrored object regardless of the distance between them. Einstein labeled this uncanny behavior as “spooky” action.
In recent years, scientists have been able to prove quantum entanglement. In one experiment, conducted by researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, scientists analyzed two diamonds separated by a distance of 1.3 kilometers. Both diamonds had a gap in their atomic matrix that trapped a single electron. As the scientists watched, the trapped electrons began behaving in a mirrored fashion, demonstrating entanglement that could not be explained by hidden variables. Other experiments have separated test particles by 143 kilometers and achieved the same result. (Starr, 2015).
Scientists have expanded on the theory of quantum entanglement to hypothesis that for every subatomic particle, there is a mirrored, entangled particle somewhere in the universe. As humans, we are composed of a vast number of subatomic particles. According to one calculation, the average human body has 2.3*1028 protons, 1.8*1028 neutrons, and 2.3*1028 electrons. What this implies to us as humans is that some part of us is intrinsically entangled with literally everything in the universe.
Quantum mechanics thus handily illustrates the interconnectedness that spiritual individuals have long recognized. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s spoke to this when he said, “In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly… This is the inter-related structure of reality.” (King, 1963).
In terms of forgiveness, we can apply this reasoning to understand that when we forgive someone else, we are offering forgiveness to ourselves. When we take the time and effort to reconcile the differences that have been put between us, we are contributing to the harmony of existence. When we fail to do so, we are insisting on a disconnection that — as quantum mechanics demonstrates — does not exist.
Conclusion
Though some assert that the studying of theoretical physics and mathematics is an unusual way to gain a better understanding of our interrelations as humans, quantum mechanics builds a bridge between science and spirituality to effectively demonstrate the interconnectedness of our existence. Furthermore, when we embrace the tenets of quantum mechanics, we can utilize its teachings to recognize the importance of forgiveness as we move forward through the illusion of time.
References:
Forbes, K. (Director). (2015). The Simulation Hypothesis. USA: Fair Wind Films. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqULEE7eY8M
Janssen, M. and Lehner, C. (2014). The Cambridge Companion to Einstein, Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge: UK.
King, M. (1963). Letter from Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from https://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/documents/Letter_Birmingham_Jail.pdf.
Laertius, D. (1925). Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume 2. [R.D. Hicks, trans]. Today in Science History. Retrieved from https://todayinsci.com/D/Democritus/Democritus-Quotations.htm. (Original work published in unknown year.)
MacDonald, F. (2015 June 1). Reality Doesn’t Exist Until We Measure It, Quantum Experiment Confirms. Science Alert. Retrieved from http://www.sciencealert.com/reality-doesn-t-exist-until-we-measure-it-quantum-experiment-confirms.
Starr, M. (2015 Nov 19). Physicists prove Einstein’s ‘spooky’ quantum entanglement. CNet. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/physicists-prove-einsteins-spooky-quantum-entanglement/.
Wiesenthal, S. (1970). The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness. Schocken. United States.
