And How Do YOU Influence Reality?

Posted on | July 14, 2008 | 11 Comments

I just love this stuff. If you have the slightest bit of interest in quantum physics, then check this out! Be sure to watch it all the way to the end. (5 min.)

It really begs the question of how we, as observers, influence our own reality or reality in general. At least, that’s what I get out of it. You?

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Category: The Stuff

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11 Responses to “And How Do YOU Influence Reality?”

Margaret
July 14th, 2008 @ 6:20 am

Is it real? That is weird about the electrons. I don’t understand how that can happen at all. (maybe I needed to take more science!)

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Pacian
July 14th, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

The double slit experiment is real. Brian Greene explains it in The Elegant Universe in straightforward terms, along with a lot of other aspects of Quantum Mechanics and Relativity.

Strangely, the idea that this allows us to alter the Universe around us is not a consequence that quantum physcists accept, although the guys at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, who ultimately made this film, do – and they think that this is why if you have a hereditary condition, it’s actually your fault.

Seriously, between this and The Secret, I feel the need for a movie about the *dangers* of positive thinking. The Bush administration was confident that everything would just fall into place when it invaded Iraq. Somehow, that reality never materialised.

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Kelvin Kao
July 15th, 2008 @ 6:40 am

Yeah, quantum mechanics is quite strange. I remember not understanding it when taught about it in college chemistry. I think they tried to explain this by introducing the concept of “spins”. And we also talked about photons (which are particles of light) to say that energy can behave like matters too…

I wrote a parody of my lecture notes called “Quantum Theory of Love” but too bad I couldn’t find the page now. My classmates were amused.

Pacian, I like that concept of the dangers of positive thinking (or wishful thinking?). If you can flash out the idea more then maybe someone can make it into a movie?

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Stan
July 15th, 2008 @ 4:01 pm

Yes, quantum physics is strange. I liked it when I was in college. Enough that I got my degree in physics. But at the same time, there’s a danger of reading too much into it. Yes, the fact is that observing can change the outcome on the sub-microscopic level of quantum mechanics. But that says absolutely nothing about us being able to influence reality on the macroscopic level And those guys who claim that we create our own reality with our minds are just spouting BS.
Michelle
July 15th, 2008 @ 8:07 pm

If we are observers, how can we not alter it? On the other hand, I think that there is so much we don’t know (way way more than we currently know), so I don’t believe that we alter it in the ways that people are claiming. I’m definitely not on The Secret bandwagon. Ick.

It makes you think though, right?

As far as Iraq, Bush visualized carnage for the Iraqis and money for his henchmen, so I’d say The Secret worked for him…just not the one we’re familiar with.

I wish I knew enough to have an intelligent conversation about quantum physics. I’m just fascinated. Alas, I took Geology in college…
Kelvin Kao
July 15th, 2008 @ 8:29 pm

Are you kidding me? All sports fans can tell you that they’ve one time or another changed the game outcome just by watching. Now that’s a good example of quantum physics.

The best discussion online about quantum physics, though, is this video:
http://www.indyarocks.com/videos/Jim-Carrey-and-ConanQuantum-Physics-102758

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Michelle
July 16th, 2008 @ 12:37 pm

Okay Kelvin, good point. Really, really good point. But why do people believe so strongly that their thoughts and observations influence outcomes? Could it be that we intuit that there is something there–something that we may not be able to tap into, but something there, nonetheless

And the video is just hilarious. It definitely illustrates that I don’t understand a darn thing about this, and neither do most other people–which is what makes it so hilarious. Thanks for the link!
Pacian
July 16th, 2008 @ 10:35 pm

Why do people believe so strongly that heavy objects fall more quickly, when a simple observation shows that this isn’t the case?

Our intuitions are our instincts, rough rules of thumb that work nicely in the jungle but only lead us astray when we consider more abstract concepts.

Pacian’s last blog post..Another Tiny World, Arbitrarily
Kelvin Kao
July 16th, 2008 @ 11:17 pm

Sports games are good for observing reality because they are broken down into little chucks and they have binary results. In baseball, the game can be broken down into games, and then innings, and then at-bats, and then at-bats. You can make observations at each level that you like, and the results are binary: win-loss, ball-strike, score-not score. In basketball you are also broken down into game, quarter, posession, etc. And then the results are win-loss, make-miss, etc. So it’s a series of short experiments. There are a lot of outcomes. Combine that with a lot of things you do during the game (since you can’t actually influence it in front of a TV), you start producing a lot of false positives looking for the pattern that doesn’t exist.

But heck, I still say that if you are not superstitious about at least something, you aren’t a true sports fan. Fans would like to be able to somehow participate, you know.

As for the speed the objects drop, in a sense it’s also an observation thing. If you compare a metal ball and a feather, the ball will drop faster because the feather will have more air resistance. When we compare things, it’s easier to compare extremes, such as a really light feather and a really heavy ball. Of course, if we were dropping them somewhere without air, we might conclude that they fall the same, so this might still has something to do with how things are observed.

Also another reason I suspect why people thinkg heavy things fall faster is that it hurts more when they hit your feet. Now the force that acted on you is bigger in the case of a heavier object, and since force is the product of mass and acceleration (technically not the same as weight and velocity, but relevent anyway), you might have falsely thought that the acceleration increased with the mass at the same time.

(Okay, just one more paragraph) The other reason that people think heavier stuff falls faster might have something to do with the sound it makes. When you throw the same object at the wall twice at different speed, the faster one will make a bigger sound. When you throw the two different objects at a wall, the heavier one tend to make a bigger sound due to the extra momentum (though acoustics might play a part too, but this discussion is long enough as is). So when we hear a loud impact, both memories about heavy objects and fast moving objects are triggered at the same time, and that caused people to co-relate them though that’s not necessarily true.

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Michelle
July 17th, 2008 @ 2:24 am

Hmm. I can see how people would think that heavy objects would fall more quickly because yeah, if they were in the jungle, you’d better move very quickly if you perceive that a heavy object is falling. Actually, if you were anywhere, maybe in NYC…whereas, light objects would not present a threat and are perceived differently, even if they aren’t feathers or something else affected by air resistance. The argument for sound is a good one…who knows?

Point taken about the sports games.

Intuition, on the other hand, is good not only in the jungle, but in bars. At least if you’re a woman.
Kelvin Kao
July 17th, 2008 @ 2:34 am

So, basically, any place with predators.

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