Many Worlds

“The world is deep, and deeper than day can comprehend.” 

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

I’ve always been interested in the bizarre, stranger-than-fiction workings of the sub-atomic world. 

It’s been said that the behavior of subatomic particles is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine. 

When an electron (a negatively charged component of an atom) is not observed, it exists in multiple places simultaneously. Its very nature is a spread out cloud of possibilities, that is, until it is observed, at which time it then appears to be in one spot.

This odd state of affairs was experimentally verified a hundred years ago in the famous (at least to physicists) double-slit experiment, which showed that electrons behave as both waves and discrete particles. I’ve read about it many times, but never really understood it.  I asked Claude.ai to provide an explanation:

“Imagine you’re trying to track a friend who’s incredibly indecisive about which coffee shop to visit. They’re somehow at all their favorite coffee shops at once. However, the moment you call, they’re at one specific location. Quantum physics suggests that tiny particles actually behave this way.”

Prior to observation, the electron is said to be in superposition, a state in which it is everywhere at once. But how can that be?

According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the wave function of an electron collapses into a single position when observed. This is a widely accepted view, but alternative views exist, such as the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI).  Here’s Claude.ai again:

“The Many Worlds Interpretation suggests that quantum measurements don’t actually collapse the wave function. Instead, all possible outcomes occur—each in its own separate, branching universe.”

That sounds even crazier. 

Physicists admit that there aren’t any good explanations relating the quantum world to everyday experience. Nevertheless, the mathematical properties of the quantum world gave us the iPhone. 

You may be wondering how any of this is relevant to A Life Well-lived. 

Recently, it occurred to me that the concept of quantum superposition applies to our lives.

A wave function is characterized by repetitive oscillating peaks and troughs, such as illustrated below:

Now, let’s say the peaks of that wave represent happiness, while the troughs represent despair. The life one might live, using quantum theory as a metaphor, is in superposition until one’s perspective collapses the wave function into a particular experience. 

Does that suggest that perspective drives different worlds of experience?

That’s exactly what I’m suggesting!

We tend to believe that reality is defined by the circumstances of our lives. But it’s more complicated than that. Perspective colors awareness and shapes our reality; life comes to us not as it is, but as we are. Furthermore, perspective is something we choose; a choice that dictates the nature of our experience. 

Here’s an example:

Our oldest son was born with a severe physical disability. His health has declined throughout his entire life. He has endured numerous hospitalizations, countless surgeries, and, most recently, devastating strokes. He has spent his life in a wheelchair; he can no longer eat or drink and requires feeding through a G-tube. 

Those are tough circumstances! 

A couple of weeks ago, a social worker came to the house for his annual disability certification. Most of the questions didn’t apply because of the severity of his condition (for example, his goals regarding independent living and employment). After almost an hour of depressing answers to inapplicable questions, the county worker finally asked our son one last question: 

“What is most important to you right now?”

Our son thought for a while and then replied, “My Life.”

I’ve heard people say that they would rather not live if confined to a wheelchair. Others fill out Living Wills expressing their desire to decline medical treatment if their condition deteriorates to a point where they could no longer eat or communicate.  

Do the difficult events of our lives manifest sadness and despair— or can beauty and peace be found in the simple feeling of being alive?

The answer, of course, is both. There are many worlds one might inhabit.

One’s perspective collapses possibility into reality.

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Stay tuned for my new book, The Secret Within, which I expect to be available in March.