Some Basic Qualities of Quantum Physics
“Something Strange is Afoot in The Dusty Corners of Quantum Reality/Non-reality”
(or “What The Hell Is Going On Here?!”)
Something strange seems to be afoot. I'm not a scientist, and although the operations of both physics and quantum physics can be expressed scientifically and mathematically, quantum physics can also be "understood" (somewhat) conceptually, philosophically, and experientially/existentially. Although, it could be stated that no one actually can understand or explain quantum physics beyond certain aspects of it. Most of quantum physics is a mystery beyond science and happens in the metaphysical realms. This is why Quantum Physicists and Neuroscientists often seek out Buddhist monks or Yogis to better understand Quantum Physics and the mind on conceptual levels, since the answers aren't only found in science. You don't need to be a scientific mathematician to understand the physics of throwing a ball or playing music, and you don't need to be a physicist to get a loose idea of the strangeness of quantum physics. I will try to explain in simple terms. As science improves and metaphysics becomes more reasonable the two fields get closer to each other. Of course, putting anything into the limited constructs of words or symbols makes it immediately misunderstood due to the limitations of language (communication and interpretation) which are merely symbols of thought, and thought being a limited process of trying understand (make order of) that which is beyond comprehension (beyond order). The more we know the less we know. In a nutshell, I/we/you/me/us/them/he/she/they/him/her don't know what the hell is really going on.
Deep. Yeah. I know. Actually, I don't know. That's the beauty of it.
Western mindsets are typically conditioned to "is/or" thinking. If something is one way then it must be another, but this isn't true in reality beyond our gross surface level experience. In other words, we think we know what we are talking about, but we don't. Our mentality of certitude makes it harder to grasp concepts beyond true or false, real or not real, right or wrong, black or white, is or isn't, yes or no, good or bad, near or far, etc, etc, etc and we assume one of the two possibilities logically to be right and true. This is called duality, a false pretense itself, as logic isn't always logical and is often clouded by our beliefs, perceptions, understandings, experiences, limitations, certitudes, and judgments. So to better understand reality it is best to step outside of this mentality of absolutes.
Classical Physics, as realized by Isaac Newton, Galileo, and Kepler, explains the mechanical operations of the macroscopic physical world as we experience it though our immediate senses. Quantum Physics explains that all matter is energy, and the operations of standard physics do not apply at the quantum level. The functions that make up reality are quite strange and dependent upon consciousness and observation. The simple act of looking at a flower has a deep and bizarre background of events beyond our ability to fully comprehended. Many ancient people understood the principles of quantum physics, if not mathematically, conceptually. We larger lobed primates have a hard time understanding quantum physics because we are conditioned to understand reality on the macroscopic immediate level in which we experience. Basically, all of experiential reality depends upon your perceptions of it.
Here are some brief simple outlines of some interesting aspects of quantum physics:
UNCERTAINTY, or the opposite of what is known.
Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle states that the location and speed of a particle (electron, photon, etc) can not be precisely known simultaneously. The more that is known of the location of a particle, the less can be known of the speed, and the more that is known of the speed of a particle, the less can be known of its location.
An analogy of this behavior would be like throwing a ball at a target, but once delivered the ball vanishes and is in several possible locations at once with varying probabilities of where or when it may land. Knowing one or the other attribute of its location or speed will lessen the certainty of other attribute.
Electrons can be in multiple places at once. They skip and jump, and they pop in and out of existence.
PROBABILITY, maybe.
Everything is in a state of probability until observed or measured. Nothing actually "is". Then it collapses into an order of existence that consciousness can relate to. Without observation energy/matter can only have a probability of where (1st, 2nd, and 3rd dimensions) or when (4th dimension) it may or may not manifest. Energy exists in probabilities and functions in unknowable action unless observed or experienced.
PARTICLE WAVE FUNCTION, a two for one deal!
Energy acts as both waves and as particles depending on the observation. It is both until some measurement or observation causes the particle/wave to "decide" to act as one or the other. How can something be a wave and a particle at the same time? This is the big question. It's like trying to comprehend a light being on and off at the same time. Which is it? It's both! Right?
SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT. No cats were harmed.
Erwin Schrödinger proposed a mental experiment to explain the superposition of wave/particle duality. He said that if you were to put a cat in a box with a poisonous mechanism that offered a 50% of killing the cat or not, the cat, when unobserved, would be in a state of both alive and dead until the box was opened and the cat was observed. Then the condition of the cat would collapse into being either alive or dead. The condition of the cat would be in a state of superposition until observed.
ENTANGLEMENT. Forever touched.
Particles can interact and become entangled. Einstein called this "spooky action at a distance". When particles become entangled, they can become separated by any cosmic distance, and with no connection at all an action on one particle will effect the other particle. The particles are "entangled" and function together instantly regardless of distance or time.
Entanglement is the basis for quantum computation. Quantum computers will operate with qubits (quantum bits) of entangled particles instead of standard bits of our standard computers. A standard bit is an information relay that is either a 1 or a 0. The combinations of these 1s and 0s make up more complex information. The qubit can be a 1 or a 0 or any level between 1 and 0. This makes computation possibilities exponentially faster. A computation that would take standard computers a longer amount of time than known time would take seconds with an advanced quantum computer. As an example, a quantum computer would contain all books ever written, and all books that ever will be written, laying dormant in superposition waiting to be observed.
FRACTALS. Partially and wholly.
Fractals are self-similar repeating patterns that repeat into themselves infinitely and mathematically. Since reality is information, it can be expressed mathematically. In nature there are repeat fractal patterns, but they reach limits because of the imperfection of macroscopic existence. This can create what we perceive as beauty and what we experience as order out of chaos. Fractals aren't directly related to the study of Quantum Physics, but they are a mathematical example of infinity.
THE HIGG'S FIELD. Not a baseball stadium.
The Higg's Field is a field that interacts at varying degrees with subatomic particles to give them mass. Some have no interaction ( no mass) and some have a lot of interaction (lots of mass). Its a bit like drag, some things react with wind with heavy resistance, and some things are more aerodynamic and experience little resistance. It's a bit more complex than this though. The field is made up of bosons that do all of this rather mysteriously.
This field can be known as Akasha in Vedic sciences, as The Great Spirit in Native American cultures, as The Tao on Taoism, as Kami in Shintoism, as The Force in Star Wars, and by many other names in various cultural perspectives. We don't need to go into the multitude of cultural identities to understand that there is a field underlying reality that gives it it's "realness".
NEUTRINOS. Trillions of little cartoon characters that defy the laws of physics.
Right now at this very instant trillions of subatomic particles known as Neutrinos are blasting through your body and the planet with no interaction as if we aren't even there, as if you were invisible; as if you are completely irrelevant. The mass of the atomic structures of your body does not seem to interact at all with the structure of Neutrinos. They are a fundamental particle of the Universe, and we know very little about them.
What's up, Doc? Well, it's not totally certain, but Nature has everything it has for a reason. Nothing is ever out of place, even if it makes no sense to us. Neutrinos are an extreme example that things are going on not only beyond our immediate sensory world, but quite far beyond our immediate sensory world.
One thing is certain about the nature of reality, that something strange is afoot, something far beyond that which we think we know and the level in which we think of (and experience) reality. We continue on thinking in our small immediate limited terms, seeing only a very small fraction of reality that our senses can experience and our minds can comprehend. Just as you can only see a very small spectrum of the wavelengths of light, you also only experience a very small portion of reality. It is an interconnected complexity and deeper than our comprehensions. This is something many physicists, naturalists, transcendentalists, Sufis, mystics, spiritualists, Buddhists, yogis, psychics, acid freaks, and various artists have been able to understand throughout history.
Consciousness is the Universe observing itself, and the observer is never separate from the observed, the experiencer never separate from the experienced, and the self never separate from the external. As soon as you think you know, you don't.
