As we have seen, trying to explain the meaning of quantum physics can lead us far afield in many different directions. A lot of it sounds like science fiction, or just wild speculation. As we’ve mentioned, a lack of answers in this area doesn’t stop physicists from doing physics, especially in the microscopic realm. In the last part of this book, we’ll look at several specific examples of technologies that rely on the quantum principles discovered in the last century. If you’re having a hard time figuring out what quantum physics really means, don’t feel bad. Lots of smart people have tried and failed to figure it out. If we don’t need to understand it in order to use it, why should we even try?
It’s possible that understanding quantum physics at a deeper level will lead to more and better applications from which society can benefit in the long run. Even though the current theory works very well in explaining many things, there are still mysteries out there that our current physics does not explain. Arguably, this makes the world a more interesting place to live in. We’ll get a taste of this in the next part of our book, when we describe the so-called Standard Model, and the difficulties presented by incorporating the force of gravity into quantum physics.
QUANTUM QUOTE
My own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
—British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane
But wouldn’t it be great if we could figure it out, just to know what it all means? When Newton showed that the heavens operated under the same physical laws that operate here on Earth, it had a profound effect on society and our civilization. Finally understanding quantum physics could have a similar profound effect on us. There may even be a connection between the mysteries of quantum physics and the mysteries of consciousness. It seems natural for us to want to understand ourselves, and that could explain our curiosity about the natural world.
Traditional science made a big deal out of separating the observer from that which is being observed. On the other hand, we humans are ourselves part of the universe. We are made of chemical elements, molecules, and atoms. If the laws of quantum physics govern how atoms behave, those same laws have produced us. It has taken some billions of years since the Big Bang, but stars and galaxies formed, the chemical elements came to be, our planet condensed around our sun, life took root, and humans evolved. As a species, we have progressed to the point where we have enough leisure time to do science and be fascinated by the weirdness of quantum physics. All of us are part of the same universe. Perhaps we are all just the universe trying to figure itself out.
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