The mind does not exist without time, nor does time exist without mind. Read on the findings and views of a scientist- A physicist in Bangalore answers questions posed by a physicist in Krakow Q: Does mind exist without time? A: The mind does not exist without time, nor does time exist without mind. They coexist for they are different sides of the same coin. Quantum Mechanics (QM) has given us a whole new way to look at the universe. We extensively use QM for the sake of measurements, but when it comes to the viewpoint about universe, we go back to the old mechanistic or Newtonian universe. Newton believed that the external universe is out there, undisturbed by the presence of an observer. But in QM we prove that the very act of measurement changes the outcome. Let’s revisit the Photon Double Slit experiment. If i pass light through double slits, i get interference patterns that confirm to me that i am dealing with waves. But if i allow only one photon at a time to pass through the apparatus, the same interference pattern emerges… they are again waves! Now if i want to know through which slit a given photon went, i will use a photon detector in front of each slit. If i repeat the same experiment, i get a whole new result. Now i see particle nature of photons. Moreover, it has been proved through different versions of double slit experiments that it doesnt matter how we set up the experiment. What matters is the presence of a conscious observer (and his mind). The observers knowledge about the system surely alters something about the outcome of the double slit experiment. According to Copenhagen Interpretation, before an actual observation takes place, the set of all possible outcomes coexist in the form of probability waves. The very act of a conscious observation collapses the probability waves and converts it into a definite outcome. This proves that without the active participation of an observer, so-called matter (moon, sun or the whole universe) lives in a state of probability waves. Q: If I do not look at the moon, does it mean that the moon does not exist? A: Yes, it does not exist in the form of the so-called ‘moon’. Because what we call as ‘moon’ is again a bundle of elementary particles only. So if no one is looking at it, the particles should dwell into a state of indefinite probability waves. Therefore there is no ‘moon’. If we start imagining by using our mind, we invariably place our self in that space, which makes it difficult to believe so. You can never successfully imagine that you are absent in a space and an event is happening so that no one is observing that event. Our basic mind construct wont allow us to do such thought experiments! I’m not saying the moon vanishes if i close my eyes. The information about the moon is still out there. But if there is no conscious observer, the whole information out there will not be interpreted as moon. It is like a video game in a CD. Unless a conscious observer puts that CD into a player and starts playing it, we cant claim we have a video game. All we have is a bunch of information pointing to the video game. Once the conscious observer starts playing the video game, he animates things in the game. Until then, they are just inanimate electronic flips and flops. The writer Shri R Vaitheeswaran is a physicist in Bangalore. Courtsey: The Speaking Tree in TOI, 18 Oct. 2013.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 07:49:11 +0000
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