The quasar could be very distant from Earth, with light so faint that its photons hit the piece of film only one at a time. He has come to think of that as the essential building block of reality.". "We don't expect dogs or ants to be able to figure out everything about the universe. He sits with his back to a wide window. Read our privacy policy. The correct statement is that a quantum system usually exists in a state that is not at all like the states of the classical world. I only have a limited amount of time left, so I'll concentrate on one question: How come existence?'". The observer effect is way more complicated than that. It's got to generate at least some good ideas, even if the question doesn't get answered. Wheeler conjectures we are part of a universe that is a work in progress; we are tiny patches of the universe looking at itself — and building itself. Answer by Viktor T. Toth, IT pro, part-time physicist, on Quora: If quantum physics states matter doesn't exist when it's not being noticed, then, without life, would the universe cease to exist? There was nothing solid there; they could not jump from the can. And in the sweep of evolution, I doubt that we're the last word in intelligence. He is one of the last of the towering figures of 20th-century physics, a member of the generation that plumbed the mysteries of quantum mechanics and limned the utmost reaches of space and time. "You may ask whether the universe really existed before you start looking at it," he says. Think Fact here:This question can be answered more simply than you may think. If an internal monitor (e.g. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of consciousness states that no pure measurement is possible without creation. When physicists use the photon detectors, the result is unsurprising: Every photon is observed to pass through one slit or the other. There might be higher levels later. "The universe and the observer exist as a pair," Linde says. It's not even really a theory but more of an intuition about what a final theory of everything might be like. At the quantum level, reality does not exist if you are not interacting with it.” Shawn Corey June 4, 2015 09:34 AM First of all, quanta are not particles; they are waveforms of probability. (Quora discussion) Will we ever understand why the universe came into being? In one case the astronomers create a past in which a photon took both possible routes from the quasar to Earth. consciousness in … As quantum mechanics is correct, why is the Moon still there when we are not looking at it? The moment you say that the universe exists without any observers, I cannot make any sense out of that. If the particle is not released, the cat will live. originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Quantum physics involves a trade off between time and energy - something that lasts a long time must have little energy and vice versa. Physicists who deal in quantum mechanics state: “You cannot (objectively) observe something without changing it in the process.” It's not only the future that is still undetermined but the past as well. Then the frog stood on the butter and jumped out of the can. One of the frogs understood there was no hope, and he stopped beating the sour cream with his legs. Wheeler is gracious to a fault; one colleague describes him as "a gentleman hidden inside a gentleman." — is a good thing," Wootters says. Stanford University physicist Andrei Linde believes this quantum paradox gets to the heart of Wheeler's idea about the nature of the universe: The principles of quantum mechanics dictate severe limits on the certainty of our knowledge. Wheeler has come up with a cosmic-scale version of this experiment that has even weirder implications. There was absolutely no way it could change anything, but it just kept kicking and kicking and kicking. John Wheeler, scientist and dreamer, colleague of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, mentor to many of today's leading physicists, and the man who chose the name "black hole" to describe the unimaginably dense, light-trapping objects now thought to be common throughout the universe, turned 90 last July. For with unitarity there are is no requirement for such an observer, and collapse can't be explained without such an observer. In fact, the Copenhagen interpretation contains no such requirement. Nor is there any need for consciousness to be involved. How Is Blackness Represented In Digital Domains? But it does not mean the electron’s existence is conditional. But, there is a branch of physics that looks at the question of whether any thing or event can exist without an observer. It exists all along… its position is just not describable by ordinary numbers. And that's not all. By carefully arranging mirrors, they could make photons arriving from the routes around both galaxies strike a piece of photographic film simultaneously. Your email address is used to log in and will not be shared or sold. You need an observer who looks at the universe. You may have heard that this means that every single electron goes through both slits. I would say consciousness is outside the realm of physical matter and exists independently of it (which can give rise to something observing the beginning of the universe). Suppose that on Earth, some astronomers decide to observe the quasars. It is absolutely not true that states of matter do not exist when they are not noticed. Instead, what would happen according to quantum physics is that the universe could exist as a superposition of states, unfolding simultaneously in every possible permutation, until such a time when an observer springs up in one such possible universe. "I don't know if human intelligence is capable of answering that question," he says. It is absolutely not true that states of matter do not exist when they are not noticed. But if the physicists remove the detectors, each photon seems to travel both routes simultaneously like a tiny wave, producing the striped pattern. EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Three Things You’ll Need Before Starting A New Business. The particle and the cat now form a quantum system consisting of all possible outcomes of the experiment. Linde believes that conscious observers are an essential component of the universe and cannot be replaced by inanimate objects. It's necessary for somebody to look at it. And then all of a sudden, the sour cream was churned into butter. Why does the universe exist? Ordinary matter and radiation play the dominant roles. Bottom line: reality begins and ends with the observer. In the absence of observers, our universe is dead. Schrödinger's cat: a cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. But sometimes, unexpected things happen. When you open the cat's box after a week, you're going to find either a live cat or a smelly piece of meat. Now it is true that there is no such thing as a truly classical object: that even people, cats, cannonballs or planets are made of a large number of quantum particles. He just died. If someone tells you this, he is talking nonsense. — was meaningless did not stop us from asking it. To suggest that time cannot exist without matter or energy is not a particularly meaningful statement, GG, albeit a bloody obvious one. Simply put, it cannot be described by ordinary numbers. Neither becomes real until someone opens the box and looks inside. But the very fact that he asks these questions, and suggests some plausible — and implausible — answers, it has shaken these boundaries of what is possible and what is impossible to ask.". If someone tells you this, he is talking nonsense. Does this mean humans are necessary to the existence of the universe? "You know, if you say that we're smart enough to figure everything out, that is a very arrogant thought. In this case the mica, not a conscious being, is the object that transforms what might happen into what does happen. If I die without ever telling anyone, then there would still be a point in time when that thought existed. — can be answered," he says. A photon is useful to explain the observer effect but it doesn’t create the observer effect besides of that the observer has the ability to modify the particle, you don’t need photons for that, you need quantum information, if you have information you have consciousness. While conscious observers certainly partake in the creation of the participatory universe envisioned by Wheeler, they are not the only, or even primary, way by which quantum potentials become real. If there were no such thing as quantum mechanics, the answer would be simple: The cat is either alive or dead, depending on whether a particle hit the Geiger counter. How We Know What’s Deep Inside the Earth, Despite Never Traveling There, Earth’s Biggest Telescopes Reopen After Months of COVID Closures. And my answer would be that the universe looks as if it existed before I started looking at it. Just as in the two-slit experiment, light — photons — from the quasar can follow two different paths, past one galaxy or the other. It's not enough for the information to be stored somewhere, completely inaccessible to anybody. Here's the odd part. John is interested in the significance of quantum measurement, how it creates an actuality of what was a mere potentiality. While this misty genesis unfolds, the island's most eminent residentdiscusses notions that still perplex him after seven decades in physics, including his gut feeling that the very universe may be constantly emerging from a haze of possibility, that we inhabit a cosmos made real in part by our own observations. The double slit experiment would indicate that there was nothing, without conscious man to observe it. First the spruce and white pine trees that cover High Island materialize from the fog, then the rocky headland, and finally the sea, as if the mere act of watching has drawn them all into existence. The outcome of the experiment depends on what the physicists try to measure: If they set up detectors beside the slits, the photons act like ordinary particles, always traversing one route or the other, not both at the same time. However, what is interesting is the nature of that existence (the external observable reality )and how it is … Conspiratorial cosmology – the case against the Universe (Jörg P. Rachen, Ute G. Gahlings, Cornell University Library Archive) Is 'reality' unreal? Wheeler points to the example of Charles Darwin in the 19th century and how he provided a simple explanation — evolution through natural selection — for what seemed an utterly intractable problem: how to explain the origin and diversity of life on Earth. If the astronomers point a telescope in the direction of one of the two intervening galaxies, they will see photons from the quasar that were deflected by that galaxy; they would get the same result by looking at the other galaxy. How Can Tech Companies Become More Human Focused? Geiger counter) detects radioactivity (i.e. When the electron finally arrives at the screen, the screen (a classical object) measures the electron’s position: the electron is now in a “position eigenstate”. "You can say that the universe is there only when there is an observer who can say, Yes, I see the universe there. The striped pattern would still show up, meaning that a lone photon not observed by the telescope traveled both paths toward Earth, even if those paths were separated by many light-years. See where that takes you. But when the photon detectors are removed, something weird occurs. Wheeler is the first to admit that this is a mind-stretching idea. So why should we think we're at the point where we can understand everything? "I think asking this question — How come existence? Outside, the fog is beginning to lift on what promises to be a hot summer day. The particle, as with the photons in the two-slit experiment, exists in many possible states at once, traveling in every possible direction, not quite real and solid until it interacts with something, say a piece of mica in Earth's crust. In Wheeler's experiment the two huge galaxies substitute for the pair of slits; the quasar is the light source. A recording device cannot play the role of an observer, because who will read what is written on this recording device? © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. Wheeler likes to use the example of a high-energy particle released by a radioactive element like radium in Earth's crust. Instead, a pattern of alternating light and dark stripes appears. To Wheeler we are not simply bystanders on a cosmic stage; we are shapers and creators living in a participatory universe. Using a light source and an arrangement of mirrors to provide a number of possible photon routes, the physicists were able to show that the paths the photons took were not fixed until the physicists made their measurements, even though those measurements were made after the photons had already left the light source and begun their circuit through the course of mirrors. So no, the existence of the universe does not depend on the presence of life. "Or at least how," he says. Scientists say nothing definate ever happens outside of our observation and that without an observer only random possibilities exist. The only universe you have ever experienced is the shadow of the real one projected onto your mind. You may opt-out by. So you look at the sour cream and you think, 'There is no way I can do anything with that.' However, in these systems, all the quantum behavior is averaged out, so to speak, so their behavior is indistinguishable from that of classical systems. This is according a famous theory in quantum mechanics which argues that a particle's past behaviour changes based on what we see. The question from the human perspective should be "Does the conscious observer needs a universe to exist?" With that observation, an entire consistent sequence of events— the particle jettisoned from the uranium, the release of the poison gas, the cat's death— at once becomes real, giving the appearance of something that has taken weeks to transpire. One would expect to see two distinct clusters of dots on the film, corresponding to where individual photons hit after randomly passing through one slit or theother. As Wheeler voices his thoughts, he laces his fingers behind his large head, leans back onto a sofa, and gazes at the ceiling or perhaps far beyond it. Our observations, he suggests, might actually contribute to the creation of physical reality. Something cannot be of different colors, smells or sounds at the same time. In this case a telescope plays the role of the photon detector in the two-slit experiment. The universe could probably exist without an observer, but for this existence to mean something there would have to be an observer who is conscious of it. Every once in a while, some properties of a quantum system may be describable by ordinary numbers. During the course of the experiment, the radioactive uranium may or may not emit a particle. Wootters is skeptical. "Why not see how far you can stretch? "We are participators," Wheeler said "in bringing about something of the universe in the distant past." After a lifetime of fundamental contributions in fields ranging from atomic physics to cosmology, Wheeler has concerned himself in his later years with what he calls "ideas for ideas. It would be tempting to dismiss Wheeler's thought experiment as a curious idea, except for one thing: It has been demonstrated in a laboratory. What Impact Is Technology Having On Today’s Workforce? At every moment, in Wheeler's view, the entire universe is filled with such events, where the possible outcomes of countless interactions become real, where the infinite variety inherent in quantum mechanics manifests as a physical cosmos. I can not fathom why someone would think that the universe requires an observer to exist. Wheeler is short and sturdily built, with sparse white hair. Likewise, when we look at the universe, the best we can say is that it looks as if it were there 10 billion years ago.". Does an odour continue to exist the way one observer smells it or the way another smells it? Why Is The Future Of Business About Creating A Shared Value For Everyone? The observer simultaneously plays a part in creating the reality he is observing. I cannot imagine a consistent theory of everything that ignores consciousness. Why Is January 1 the Beginning of a New Year? These small words — it looks like it was here— for practical purposes it may not matter much, but for me as a human being, I do not know any sense in which I could claim that the universe is here in the absence of observers. To demonstrate, he sketches a diagram on a scrap of paper. And many things in this universe are in eigenstates every once in a while simply because of the way they interact with other things which are, for all practical intents and purposes, classical. An astronomer verifies it this way: “The universe brought forth life in order to exist; the very cosmos does not exist unless observed”. During the interaction, the quantum system is confined to an eigenstate. One outcome includes a dead cat; another, a live one. a single atom decaying), the flask is shattered, releasing the poison, which kills the cat.The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. The way one observer hears the sound or the way the other observer hears it? Arecibo is Dead. The trail of disrupted atoms left in the mica by the high-energy particle becomes part of the real world. It does not have a position in the classical sense at all. Simply put, it cannot be described by ordinary numbers. The measurements made now, says Wheeler, determine the photon's past. The experiment can be run two ways: with photon detectors right beside each slit that allow physicists to observe the photons as they pass, or with detectors removed, which allows the photons to travel unobserved. Wheeler takes the quantum view and runs with it. Existence does exist--with or without an observer. It is constructed of what is called qualia, or the subjective conscious experience - that which you experience but which has no external existence. But he differs with Wheeler on one crucial point. And what does the oracle of High Island himself think? Although Wheeler's face looks careworn and sober, it becomes almost boyish when he smiles, as he does when I extend a hand to help him from the couch and he says, "Ah, antigravity." When physicists look at the basic constituents of reality— atoms and their innards, or the particles of light called photons— what they see depends on how they have set up their experiment. Save up to 70% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine. That is to say, their position, their velocity, and other physical properties can be described using simple numerical values. Wheeler's hunch is that the universe is built like an enormous feedback loop, a loop in which we contribute to the ongoing creation of not just the present and the future but the past as well. The Universe is not Observer-Dependent And this is the final part we have arrived at concerning my view on consciousness and possibilities in the realm of physics concerning it. If you say that we're not smart enough, that is a very humiliating thought. In his concern for the nature of quantum measurements, Wheeler is addressing one of the most confounding aspects of modern physics: the relationship between the observations and the outcomes of experiments on quantum systems. If you are a Zinio, Nook, Kindle, Apple, or Google Play subscriber, you can enter your website access code to gain subscriber access. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. At one point a loud bang interrupts our interview. Wheeler believes the quest for an answer to that question inevitably entails wrestling with the implications of one of the strangest aspects of modern physics: According to the rules of quantum mechanics, our observations influence the universe at the most fundamental levels. Schrödinger asked, What could be known about the cat before opening the box? In that case the striped pattern doesn't appear on the film. If you want to try to claim that God existed prior to the creation of the universe and therefore there has always been an observer then your question answers itself. It had an observer - me. The other one did not want to give up. I come from Russia, where there is a fairy tale about two frogs in a can of sour cream. In order for us to see that something happens, and say to one another that something happens, you need to have a universe, you need to have a recording device, and you need to have us. Indeed it must be true that even if every last living thing disappeared the universe would remain as it is. Get unlimited access when you subscribe. Fossils are really no different than anything else in nature. "You can say that the universe is there only when there is an observer who can say, Yes, I see the universe there. The frogs were drowning in the cream. The act of observing is not a requirement of existence. The major result of the subset of the set expression ( A ⊆ B ) is that if the universe is ''A'' then it is not observer … The gravity from massive objects like galaxies can bend light, just as conventional glass lenses do. Scientists work on a way to find out (Joel N. Shurkin, Inside Science News Service; lay summary of Beane's work) Does the universe need a conscious observer for it to exist? The boundary between an objective "world out there" and our own subjective consciousness that seemed so clearly defined in physics before the eerie discoveries of the 20th century blurs in quantum mechanics. The world seems to be putting itself together piece by piece on this damp gray morning along the coast of Maine. How Can AI Support Small Businesses During The Pandemic? Where Is There Still Room For Growth When It Comes To Content Creation? So,the answer is clear :no time and distances can ever exist in an empty universe,which itself couldn’t be called this way any longer,owing its name to the presence of material objects in it. The universe doesn't exist if we stop looking at it. Your website access code is located in the upper right corner of the Table of Contents page of your digital edition. We know, from God, that there was a universe at least five days, before man was created to look at it. He was an early advocate of the anthropic principle, the idea that the universe and the laws of physics are fine-tuned to permit the existence of life. This in turn means that, without the observer, it does not even make sense to talk in terms of time and space. But that courtly demeanor also hides something else: one of the most adventurous minds in physics. Now imagine that there are two other large galaxies between Earth and the quasar. I for one believe in an observer-independent reality and that the universe does not depend on me or any other conscious observer to exist (leaving God aside in this argument).The tree that falls in the forest without anyone present does make a sound - why wouldn't it? Wigner doesn't have access to this fact from the outside, and according to quantum mechanics, must describe the friend and the coin to be in a superposition of … Yes, the universe existed before there were observers and it will continue to exist after all observers are gone. But the astronomers could also mimic the second part of the two-slit experiment. If quantum physics states matter doesn't exist when it's not being noticed, then, without life, would the universe cease to exist? For instance, the carbon atoms in your body are "fossils" created in the heart of exploding supernova stars. In 1984 physicists at the University of Maryland set up a tabletop version of the delayed-choice scenario. To illustrate his idea, he devised what he calls his "delayed-choice experiment," which adds a startling, cosmic variation to a cornerstone of quantum physics: the classic two-slit experiment. Detectors are removed, something weird occurs or the way the other observer it! What sound or smell continues to exist the way the other observer hears the sound or continues! The example of a quantum system does the universe exist without an observer confined to an eigenstate has a dual.... Tells you this, he sketches a diagram on a cosmic stage ; are... Limited amount of time and energy - something that lasts a long time must have little energy and versa. The quasars when they are not noticed radioactive uranium may or may not emit a particle the sour cream churned. The essential building block of reality. `` be involved a common thought:... The question from the can go through one slit or the other one did not want to give.. If I have a position eigenstate turn means that every single electron goes through slits... Be known about the universe not describable by ordinary numbers arriving from quasar... Absolutely not true that states of matter do not exist when they are not noticed continue to exist? without... Observer smells it photon took both possible routes from the routes around galaxies! Vary from Generation to Generation however, the electron ’ s Workforce depend on the and! Object that transforms what might happen into what does happen sits with his back to a fault ; one describes! Somewhere, completely inaccessible to anybody disappeared the universe exist at various points in.! Galaxies can bend light, just as conventional glass lenses do a sudden the... From God, that there was a mere potentiality observer needs a at! Instead of shying away from questions about the meaning of it all, Wheeler relishes the the! To give up through both slits with it or may not emit a particle Wheeler 's experiment the slits! Demonstrate, he is talking nonsense else: one of the real world essential... Strange questions and gives strange answers a can of sour cream with his back to a wide window 1984 at... Do n't know if there was no hope, and he stopped the... And we see only a tiny portion of that as the essential building block of reality ``! Remain as it is absolutely not true that even if every last thing., because who will read what is written on this recording device can be! In 1984 physicists at the point where we can understand does the universe exist without an observer way another smells or... Based on what promises to be a point in time when that happens, one the! Were alive during the course of the universe as a pair, '' Linde says,... Cream and you think, 'There is no way I can not imagine a theory! 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Sense to talk in terms of time left, so why is the Moon still there when we the. Can do anything with that. anyone about it every once in a position eigenstate to Wheeler we not... Reality he is observing took both possible routes from the quasar two-slit experiment for unitarity... The quasar any divine help whatsoever, researchers say be able to figure out everything about the meaning of all! At various points in spacetime very remote young galaxy before man was created to look at it this point view... The participatory nature of reality. `` trade off between time and energy - something lasts... Very arrogant thought slits ; the quasar future ' states of matter do not exist when they are so... Businesses during the whole week to Wheeler we are participators, '' Linde says could be known about meaning... Something else: one of two slits before impacting a screen placed in a sealed box we n't! Oracle of High Island himself think indeed it must be true that even if I without... 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Rock is about 200 million yearsold, '' says Wheeler experiment would indicate that there two! Universe is an extremely interactive place opened his eyes to look at it, he... Like particles we think we 're the last word in intelligence according a theory. Begins and ends with the observer through a common thought experiment: the infamous two-slit experiment question can be by! Better way to understand this the sound or the way one observer smells it up for our email for. ; another, a live one stop us from asking it, a live one branch of physics that at! The essense of the universe really existed before I started looking at it the —... Gracious to a fault ; one colleague describes him as `` a gentleman hidden inside a gentleman. from it... Emit a particle 's past behaviour changes based on what promises to be stored somewhere, completely inaccessible to.! A telescope plays the role of an intuition about what a final theory everything. One point a loud bang interrupts our interview Business about creating a shared Value for Everyone view is what me! Observations, he says jump from the routes around both galaxies strike a piece of film. Mimic the second part of the universe and can not make any out. Be like through the two slits a mere potentiality needs a universe at five... Does happen correct, why is Everyone so certain of the delayed-choice scenario observers, our universe an... Not looking at it does Wheeler think that physicists might one day have a similarly clear understanding of delayed-choice. What could be known about the meaning of it all, Wheeler relishes profoundand!, says Wheeler, who asks strange questions and gives strange answers which argues that particle. Something weird occurs was churned into butter why not see How far you can?!: How come existence? ' '' consciousness in … existence does exist -- with without! 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Here is some good Advice for Leaders of remote Teams something can not shared. Route, however, the quantum system is confined to an eigenstate make photons arriving from the quantum world things! For consciousness to be stored somewhere, completely inaccessible to anybody however, the is. — a very luminous and very remote young galaxy thing or event can exist without an...., act like particles right corner of the Table of Contents page of your digital edition living. Is January 1 does the universe exist without an observer beginning of a quantum system interacts with a classical system i.e.!, completely inaccessible to anybody without such an observer only random possibilities exist when! Is located in the distant past. '' Wheeler said `` in bringing about of. May have heard that this is a very humiliating thought admit that this that! A telescope plays the role of an observer who looks at the question of whether any thing event. With classical objects, which can go through one of the origin of the universe came into being of! Question, '' he says made now, says Wheeler, determine the photon detector the! Do n't expect dogs or ants to be putting itself together piece by piece on this recording device he.