Why Wack-a-Doodle Ramblings on Quantum Theory is Fun!

So, years later I can still see the look on her face. It was in-between, “What???” and “This seems weirdly uncomfortable.” I will set the stage here: We were waiting for hot waffles at Denny’s after the last chairlift of the day and we were headed back to Denver on the heels of a weekend of slaying a massive powder dump in Colorado. Follow this with an open mind.

It was not a significant conversation, and we were NOT on any kind of mind-altering substances. We were just talking, sitting across the table from each other, spilling coffee and chatting about really odd, esoteric concepts. It was almost like we were playfully challenging each other with who had the craziest concept or question of reality. We were just passing time really. And so, I reached into the old “gnosis box” and laid this one on the table:

Looking her squarely in the eyes I said, “What if you, as a person, don’t even physically exist… right now, right here, but are only serving as a character in my own illusion to continue a storyline for me, also as a character, to learn about life?” Insert the above reaction. This one teetered on some Matrix / Truman Show plotlines and was hard to conceive at face value. Thankfully, she allowed me to continue as she said, “Go on…”

“How can you really prove to me, right here, right now, that you are as real as I am and not some sort of programmed character for my own personal experience here on Earth; like a video game character? Or better yet, what if you are not actually existing here at all but are just an avatar hologram of your real self as you really exist in another realm?” Perplexed, she fell silent while the gears were visibly spinning upstairs. In the end we did not stop talking the whole road trip back home.

There is this really interesting concept in modern metaphysics I have stumbled upon since then called “Schrödinger’s cat” and it’s so fascinating I want you, the reader, to know about it in case you’ve never stumbled upon it and are waiting for hot waffles sometime. If you have made it this far, you’re probably interested in some off-the-wall shit like me. So, please allow me to indulge you what I know of this theory and how I like to use it in my everyday spiritual and mystic state of consciousness.

To begin, you are going to have to remain open-minded and willing to challenge the state of reality you already know. It also takes putting your faith into a few super smart dead guys that sat around and theorized and philosophized all day to produce quantum concepts that have led to us landing on the moon, inventing Velcro and having the ability for you to read my wack-a-doodle ramblings on your computer screen through the internet.

Ok, so there is this guy, Erwin Schrödinger who in 1932, along with other well-known household name theorists came up with the theory of quantum physics and even deeper the concept of quantum entanglement and then who later went on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. His further work in engineering, atmospheric studies, energy, and vibrational theory was on par with fellow Nikola Tesla of his day.

Quantum theory says that until a particle is measured and observed, it has the potential to exist in all the states it could possibly be in; simultaneously. Here, we can imagine a single particle being in multiple places in multiple states in any given moment but until those multiple particles existing in all states are observed and measured, only then does it choose which state it wants to exist; in present singularity. Once you as the observer look away and the particle is then unobserved, it goes back into multiple states and locations again. This my friends is known as superposition.

As Erwin studied theoretical physics, his mind became so overwhelmed with the endless possibilities of superposition and other quantum concepts that he eventually had to come up with what is now known as the Schrödinger equation that explores superposition as an observable exercise. I empathize with ol’ boy because I am a dry erase board, visual guy too.

Its premise is The Observer Effect where if you observe something, you change its multiple existing state to a singular state. That is, until you observe it, it remains in a superposition state. Also meaning, if you do not observe something you don’t change it to a single position and yet paradoxically if you don’t observe an object, how do you even know if it’s in one state or the other or that it even exists to begin with? It is so fascinating and here’s how it works as a practical exercise:

We can all agree we live in a world of duality; good & evil, light & dark, up & down, seen or unseen. So, imagine a cat volunteering for an experiment to earn some catnip at the end of the exercise. Our Nobel Prize winner Erwin and his team of scientists set the brave cat, Fluffy, in a large box with a radiation monitor, a radioactive source and a vial of poison. The hypothesis is that if the Geiger counter detects decay of the radioactive material, it will then trigger a switch to crack the vile of poisonous vapor and put the cat inside the box in one of two positions; dead or alive. So, in this hypothetical exercise, before breakage of the vial, there is a 50% chance that the radioactive material will decay and thus determining the 50% survival of Fluffy.

Should this happen, an alarm outside the box alerts the team to turn on the vacuum connected to the box which then draws out the hypothetical poisonous vapors in order to allow the team to then open the box and observe the state of the cat. This is where it gets good! According to superposition theory, after the alarm but while within the closed box, the cat is in two simultaneous states; dead and alive. It isn’t until the physicists’ opens the box that they make the instantaneous observation of Fluffy which allows for superposition collapse; which determines whether the cat is in the state of being either dead or alive.

We can get into entanglement and multiverses in a later article, but what’s even more amazing is the known universe has to have aligned the whole team of physicists to all see the cat in the same state – not three scientists seeing the cat alive and two scientists seeing the cat dead. A consensus of existence has to be agreed upon and observed together in coherence otherwise we have to make the case of the “Many Worlds Theory” which is the simultaneous existence of Fluffy in one universe, both dead and alive; which cannot happen. So, enter the “Multiverse” theory with an existing “alive Fluffy” and a “dead Fluffy” within the same timeline – which is a theory under current debate amongst present day theorists… oh, and Disney of course.

The argument that the cat is naturally made up of multiple particles has to be made but this is answered timely because in that era the team didn’t have modern day instruments to observe subatomic particles like we do now. Therefore, Fluffy the cat was the representation of a single particle and was thus used for this experiment. However, now we do have the technology and this thought experiment renders the same effect; in theory of course. To expand, this now begs the question: “If we used superposition as a means of time travel or teleportation, wouldn’t every single particle have to deconstruct and then reconstruct perfectly under constant observation while recreating the object at the destination from as it was at its origin?” Enter “String Theory” and “Quantum Entanglement.”

So, piggy backing onto my original questions to her while waiting for our waffles to be delivered: If she and I had closed our eyes as the server delivered the waffles and we ate them unobserved, could they just as well have been pancakes? And if so, would I have even written this article? Would you even be here reading this? Can I anticipate, like the team of scientists, that yes, you would? Would any of this even matter? Who is to say that any of this is really even real? And ultimately, am I even a human author or is this article just part of your programmed illusion to serve you your own personal Earthly experience? These are all great questions to keep Joe awake on guard duty!

Living with a newfound perspective on life ushers in awe, wonder, imagination, and curiosity which opens the doors to such strange metaphysical questions and theories. It really makes life fun again; like being a kid. I think that’s why Disney is really onto something lately.

And in the famous words of Freddie Mercury, a pioneer in his own time:

“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide. No escape from reality.”

_________________________________

Robb is a retired active Army veteran of 21 years, primarily serving as a Cavalry Scout. Having accomplished multiple combat tours, diverse global assignments and leadership roles, Robb retired as a First Sergeant of Shadow Troop, 1-33 CAV (Rakassans). From there, Robb went on to attempt his luck in the civilian sector as a Reliability Engineer at an international paper processing company during the pandemic. Not quite satisfied and feeling the draw to serve once again, Robb made his way back behind the gate working with some of the nation’s tip of spear warfighters on Fort Liberty, NC.

It was during this time that he was drawn into an esoteric spiritual journey of self-discovery and began peeling back the onion of how vanquishing spiritual warfare can serve as a personal force multiplier. Dropping all ties to dogmatic religious principles, Robb solely embarked into studies of the mystical and metaphysical for the answers of life. Now forged with this newfound purpose, Robb blends his current path of spiritual ascension along with his past experience of the rigors of military service in order to uplift the future of his brothers and sisters in arms.

“The answers we all seek lie in potential.”

____________________

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.