What if Awareness is an Interaction?
Quantum physics shows us that there is no such thing as an “electron orbital.” That cute ring around an atomic nucleus they used to teach us about in primary and secondary school simply doesn’t exist. Why? Again, this is because subatomic particles are intrinsically indeterministic. Remember? We said earlier that there is no exact way to know what a subatomic particle is at a given time and what exactly it is doing. In the place of the defunct electron orbital place is the concept of an “electron cloud.” An electron cloud maps out the probable locations of an electron around its nucleus. Our very act of observing an electron is what determines where it is within its electron cloud, and even what exactly it is doing at any given moment. This is supported by Heisenberg’s principle of uncertainty, which tells us that we can never know both a particle’s speed and location at the same time. Observing one parameter changes the other. Think about it. The smallest particle we’d need to observe an electron is a photon. Let’s use that, then. Throwing a proton at an electron however alters the path, location, spin and trajectory of that electron. Very much like one billiard ball striking another would. Observing one parameter changes the other. Proof in the easily observable world? Helium. It is second on the table of elements, being among the simplest of elements. Unlike most gaseous elements, helium never becomes solid, no matter how cold it gets. Were helium to become a solid, it would loose its electron cloud. Were it to become a solid, we could easily predict its’ electrons’ locations. Nature won’t allow that. You just can’t violate the Principle of Uncertainty. You can’t know one bit of information about something without altering other aspects of that object you’ve just observed. In other words, you just can’t observe an event without changing it. The act of observing something changes the event being observed. Guess what? Reality is subjective.
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