Mystery solved! When I was a sophomore in high school (many,
many, decades ago), I saw a picture that whispered truths to my soul. Since that day, I have collected this image
in every format I came across. It
epitomized the essence of my spirit – a Seeker of Knowledge. And now, I know its name: the Flammarion engraving.
Of all the science I absorb
during the week, quantum physics is the subject that exquisitely fascinates me
and makes my brain cells tingle. You are
all familiar with the whole particle/wave experiment that demonstrates that the
quantum world is altered and changed when it is observed. Well,
let me ask you this, “Is the Universe we observe and document changed because
we are observing it? As our telescopes
reach further and further back into the birth of the universe, is it altered at
that moment of observation? If so, what is the unobserved Universe doing? What is it like? Is it affecting our ‘observed’ Universe? Can
we know if the change is occurring?”
SUCH DELICIOUS WEIRDNESS!
I love, love, love watching
shows about quantum physics. Through
the Wormhole has amazing episodes. One that is particularly fascinating
is: “Is
the Universe Alive?” In this
episode, Seth Lloyd, the MIT quantum physicist who invented the first quantum
computer, posits that the Universe is alive and computing digitally. What does it compute? Information about itself. Dr.
Lloyd hypothesizes that the Universe behaves like a giant quantum computer and
is “more than alive”. Subparticles think
and store information at the microscopic level.
“If it’s processing, then it’s thinking,” he excitedly explains.
I watched a TED talk this morning and although
I knew we are born of the stars, which is totally cool, this speaker’s profound
statement haunted me all day. Basically,
she said, “Humans’ evolution has allowed the Universe to ask questions about
itself.” Whoa! Hydrogen evolved into beings who can ask, “How
did I get here?” We evolved from the elements of the Universe
and now we serve as the physical representation of the Universe’s mind. WTF!
I LOVE SCIENCE!
David Deutsch and Artur
Ekert’s article, “Beyond the Quantum Horizon,” asks another intriguing
question:
“Does science continually
transcend the familiar and reveal new horizons, or does it show us that our
prison is inescapable – teaching us a lesson in bounded knowledge and unbounded
humility?” Hmmm….
Another mind bending
thought comes from Erwin Schrodinger when he explains that “his famous equation describes different
histories of a particle, those are ‘not alternatives but all really happen
simultaneously’.”
What a fascinating world we
live in!
I have a soft spot for the
Leakey family. As a young child, I saw
a TV show about the Leakey’s discoveries in Africa. It rocked my world of right wing religious
dogma. Those few moments of stimulation
cultivated my life long enchantment with anthropology. I must have passed it along – my daughter
studied anthropology at college.
When Richard Leakey joined
David Quamman via the telephone during one of the Honor’s seminars a few years
ago, I acted like a teenage groupie.
Ridiculous. He is a fascinating
man and one who has used his reputation, money, and prestige to make the world a better place. If you have the opportunity to watch any of
his videos, you will come away with a new perspective – changed at your core.
Isn’t it interesting, and completely mind-boggling, to think about the universe and how humans are made up of the same elements as it (minus several of course)? When you think about it, humans are such tiny organisms in the scheme of things. Thinking of the universe as a living organism that has ‘created’ humans to ask questions about itself is kind of like thinking about how the brain named itself (as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, I think naming is a human concept. If I were to name myself I don’t think ‘brain’ would cut it.) There are so many absolutely fascinating things in every level of our world, from the small-scale interactions of bacteria on our planet to the large-scale workings of the solar system. I would love to be able to be knowledgeable about every subject we cover in our readings, but since every subject is so complex this would be near impossible to do. Instead, I get to enjoy reading about the unique knowledge that everyone else has. I love how you add your own experiences into your blog posts - it gives me an entirely different perspective on our readings.
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