Now you see it, now you don’t

The other day I mentioned parallel universes and how the topic was inspired by a comment I’d read. In the cascade that is my morning thought process – a.k.a. the engine behind my blog topics here, I revisited all I’ve read over the years on quantum mechanics. In that branch of physics, many opinions on the topic of existence can be found.

Picture this one — nothing exists unless you walk into it. How can that be? If you look at that statement with the fork in the road in mind, it’s easier to understand. The potential for this or that comes from making the choice to go this way or that way. Our lives are dictated by the millions upon millions of choices we make, and our existence is dictated by our being present in it.

Here’s a visual– Imagine you have a handful of tiny pebbles and are standing before a pond as still and smooth as glass. Throw the pebbles in and each one creates its own wave to spread and bisect with the others. Consider those pebbles and the points where the waves overlap and change course to be your life of choices. Each has an outcome all its own. Had you made another choice, that wave would go off in another direction and effect everything else it touches, including the choices made by others sharing the same existence. Heavy thought for morning coffee, no? lol

I’m no physicist. I’ve only a smidgeon of understanding of the intricacies and the mathematics behind this science discipline, but I had an outstanding honors-level physics teacher once who should have been working in some scientific brain-trust somewhere instead of a Chicago high school. Back when String Theory and Quantum Mechanics belonged to the likes of Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Niels Bohr, my teacher was explaining other dimensions –specifically layers of space and time.

To continue where that thought took me the other day, I’d like to start off with this philosophical question that brilliant teacher put to my class forty years ago:

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

~George Berkeley, Anglican bishop and philosopher, 1685 -1753

I was the odd student in that class that day for I seemed to understand the nuance of what our teacher was getting at. We had just discussed a study unit on waves the week before. Everyone said yes. And I said no. He asked me to explain. I said if there were no ears present to hear the waves made by the falling tree, then no. Oh the glee on that man’s face at my answer! Sound is only heard if the mechanism to hear it exists. If nothing detects the sound waves, then no. There is no sound. That’s a curious question because it has both a yes and no answer. Yes, I was a super nerdy girl. :D

So the mind-bender I spoke of the other day also involves being present. Not present to hear. Present to see. The following video clip explains it perfectly:

Two different outcomes and it all comes down to whether or not someone is looking. Talk about being present. So does this mean our existence is what it is because we look? What if we all closed our eyes, imagined a better existence, then opened them again?

:D

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

For 100 days, I’ll post something from my chosen topic: Clichés.

There are 38 entries to come.

Here’s a cliché for today:

Now you see it, now you don’t.

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

Today is Author Sharon Hamilton’s blog day.

http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Romance Books ‘4’ Us ~ The September is winding down. So many prizes!

http://www.romancebooks4us.com

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

And speaking of prizes…

I’m participating in Fall Into Romance — a month-long event hosted by The Romance Reviews. Hundreds of authors and industry people are participating and that means hundreds of prizes. Find my bit on my satellite blog: http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

Bake, Love, Write: 105 Authors Share Dessert Recipes and Advice on Love and Writing

The e-version of our cookbook is sold everywhere for 99⊄.

Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NO2DPTY/

iTunes Store

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/bake-love-write/id920146098?mt=11

The Nook Store

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bake-love-write-lois-winston/1120365873?ean=2940150401860

Kobo

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/bake-love-write

And we have Paperback on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Bake-Love-Write-Authors-Dessert /dp/1940795133/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

The internet was created to be a free system with access to knowledge and level opportunity for all. Right now several large telecommunications corporations want to make you pay them for the privilege you’ve had for free since the internet began. Learn how you can help stop the pending internet takeover by these heavy-hitting, well-funded Washington lobbyists. The FCC is taking comments now and wants to know what YOU think. Learn what’s at stake and how you can give your opinion to the FCC.

http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-what-you-need-know-now