The detectors don’t induce the phenomenon of wave function collapse; conscious observation does. Consciousness is like this giant roving spotlight, collapsing reality wherever it shines—and what isn’t observed remains probability. And it’s not just photons or electrons. It is everything. All matter…A testable, repeatable fault in reality.”

Ted Kosmatka – The Flicker Men

I am reading The Flicker Men, a book that could easily swallow you whole with its mind-bending sci-fi exploration of the implications of quantum physics. It starts with real science, with Feynman’s Double Slit Experiment that proves the duality of light. Light is both wave and particle.  Actually, just one year ago, researchers were able to photograph the first picture of light as particle and wave at the same time. It’s a cool picture.

But then there is also the Observer Effect. The act of observing changes reality on the quantum level, including changing light from waves to particles in the Double Slit Experiment. The Flicker Men considers what that means in terms of understanding consciousness. It leads to our poor researchers being kidnapped, beaten, even killed because the implications of their research threaten our understanding of how the world works. I hope folks think about reading it – not just because the author makes the science pretty easy, but because it should provoke fascinating conversations.
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