Chapter Content
Okay, so have you ever seen like, a big bird trying to take off? It's, you know, it's running along the ground, flapping its wings, faster and faster, one foot in front of the other, right? And then, BAM! It just, like, lifts off into the air. It’s a pretty cool thing to see.
That’s kind of what happens with us, I think, when we combine our IQ with what I like to call our SQ, our spiritual or soulful intelligence. With our IQ, with logic, we're, like, trotting along, step by step, trying to solve a problem. But with our SQ, that natural cognitive superpower, we kind of flap our wings and suddenly take flight! We can soar to these incredible places that you just can't get to on foot.
SQ, it takes us to places that our IQ can’t even see, can’t prove exist, can’t even, well, imagine, to be honest. It’s really the engine of humanity's curiosity, wouldn't you say?
It kind of reminds me of a song lyric from, like, way back when, after World War I. American soldiers, many of 'em were farm kids, were coming home from overseas. And the song went, "How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree?" You know?
SQ is like that. It opens your eyes to stuff that’s beyond logic. And once you really start using it, there's just no going back to the old Darwinian way of thinking.
I mean, because of our SQ, we're curious about stuff like gravitational waves, and neutrinos, and the quantum vacuum. Things that have absolutely no connection to our survival, you know? And, actually, our pursuit of this stuff has even led to, like, inventions that could, well, wipe us out!
So, why are we wired to be so curious about these really out-there, obscure mysteries? And about what might be beyond this world?
Some people, atheists mostly, they say it’s, like, a flaw. But I think it's actually clear evidence that these exotic realities *do* exist. Realities that are so beyond our ability to see, prove, or even fully imagine.
And nobody knows this better than, well, my fellow physicists.
See, physics, science in general, it’s like, a perpetual teenager. It just never stops growing. Which is both a good and a bad thing, I guess.
It’s good because physicists are constantly learning new and amazing stuff, right? But it also means that scientific theories can kind of expire. New discoveries always come along and shake things up, getting rid of any outdated ideas.
And sometimes, these new discoveries can really change a physicist’s whole worldview. It’s like, a major growth spurt. And there have been some really big ones over the years.
Like, back in the fourth century BC, Aristotle wrote "Physics," the first physics textbook, basically. That's where Aristotelian physics started.
Then, in 1687, Isaac Newton published "Principia Mathematica," which started Newtonian or classical physics.
And then, at the start of the twentieth century, Albert Einstein and a bunch of others came up with ideas about the stuff inside matter and light. And that was the start of quantum physics.
Also at the start of the twentieth century, Einstein developed the theories of special and general relativity. And this was the beginning of relativistic physics.
If I had to compare physics to an animal, it wouldn’t be a snake that sheds its old skin. It’d be a nautilus, which keeps expanding its shell as it grows.
As physics grows, it doesn’t throw away old ideas. It just, you know, adjusts them, adds to them. So, modern physics even has some hints of Aristotelian physics.
For instance, Aristotle brought gods into his explanations of the natural world. He thought these bodies, like the sun, moon, and planets, were gods.
Modern physics, well, we don't really talk about gods anymore. But, especially recently, physicists are using concepts that are kind of metaphysical. In fact, a lot of these concepts are even wilder than anything Aristotle came up with.
In 1905, Einstein published a paper called "On a Heuristic Point of View about the Creation and Conversion of Light." Now, the title sounds boring, right?
But it was a huge deal. It was the biggest change in physics since Aristotle and Newton. It was like, stepping through the Looking-Glass.
It was quantum physics. Someone once said that it was so revolutionary that almost no physicist could accept it.
And, honestly, there’s just no way I could explain all of quantum physics here, even if I understood it perfectly.
And nobody really understands quantum physics. Not even Richard Feynman. He even said, "I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics."
Quantum physics is still being worked on. It's like, a half-baked cake, or, like, a kid that’s still growing up.
It gives us little peeks into the microscopic weirdness, but not the full picture. It gives us equations, but different ways of interpreting them.
It’s like trying to grab a coin between the couch cushions. The more you try, the harder it is to get.
That's quantum physics in a nutshell.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here are five crazy claims that quantum physics makes. Claims that we can't really comprehend. They're beyond words, beyond proof, beyond imagination. And yet, physicists believe them, like Aristotle believed in gods.
First: everything in the quantum world is paradoxical.
Light is paradoxical. It acts like both particles and waves. That's like saying something is black and white at the same time!
Nobody can understand that, not even Einstein.
Back in 1954, he told a friend, "The whole fifty years of conscious brooding have not brought me nearer to the answer to the question, 'What are light quanta?' Nowadays every scalawag believes he knows what they are, but he deceives himself."
And it doesn't stop there.
Electrons, for example. Physicists used to think they were just particles. But now we know that they also act like waves. A French student named Louis-Victor Pierre Raymond de Broglie is the one who figured that out.
And these weird things aren't just in some faraway quantum realm. They're what you and I are made of!
So, deep down, you're a logical contradiction. You're strange, mysterious, and more unimaginable than your own mind can understand.
Second: some things in the quantum world can teleport and communicate instantly.
To get to the twentieth floor of a building, you have to take the stairs or elevator. Even Superman has to fly between floors, right?
But not in the quantum world. Atoms are like skyscrapers. And electrons can go from one floor to another without going in between. They just, like, dematerialize and rematerialize!
And then there's communication. Normally, it takes time to send a message. Even instant messaging takes time.
But not in the quantum world. Electrons spin like tops, clockwise or counterclockwise. If two electrons from the same atom go their separate ways, measuring the spin of one electron will instantly affect the spin of the other. It's like they're telepathic! That's quantum entanglement.
It's been tested many times. In one study, scientists separated twin light quanta by over 700 miles, and they still seemed to be able to communicate instantly.
Third: quantum things can be in many places at once.
I remember my science teacher telling us that an atom is like a mini solar system. With a nucleus made of neutrons and protons, and electrons going around it like planets.
Well, that's not really true.
Quantum physics says that an atom is spread out, like a giant wave. But not like a wave at the beach. It’s like a wave of probability.
The odds of an atom being in one place are pretty high. But, there’s a chance, even if it’s super small, that it's somewhere else. Maybe even across the universe!
So, an atom is probably where we think it should be. But you can't be totally sure because it can be in many places at once.
And this is true for all tiny things in the quantum world.
For example, imagine an electron stuck inside a well, like a marble in a ditch. You'd think it could never get out, right? But it can. Because some of it exists within and outside the walls of the well.
It sounds crazy, but because of this, there's a small chance that it will materialize outside the well, like a ghost going through a wall. That's quantum tunneling.
Fourth: Experiments in the quantum world are never objective.
Scientists try their best to be objective. But quantum physics says that objectivity is kind of a myth.
Because physicists and their equipment always interact with whatever they're observing. And that interaction always affects the observation.
This is especially true when you're looking at tiny things, like light quanta and subatomic particles. But it affects everything.
Think of it this way: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Beauty only exists because someone is there to see it.
In the same way, the quantum world only has meaning because we're here to describe it. We, the observers, are connected to it.
Someone even said that the Universe only came into existence when someone observed it. The Universe exists because we're aware that it exists.
So, objectivity is a myth.
You and I are always part of our descriptions of the quantum world.
And here's an example: Imagine a spinning electron locked in a box. Classical physics says it's spinning either clockwise or counterclockwise. And if you leave it alone, it won't change.
Quantum physics is different. It says the electron is spinning both clockwise and counterclockwise at the same time.
But, when you open the box, when you interact with the electron, you make one of the possibilities become real. The electron you see will be spinning in only one direction.
So, you're not just an observer.
You're helping to decide what happens.
You.
No matter how careful you are, the results of your experiment will always be affected by you.
Someone said that science isn't just observing nature anymore. It's part of the interaction between humans and nature.
Here’s another way to think about it. The behavior of someone you’ve never met is represented by a cloud of many possibilities. But the instant you meet her, she becomes one of those possibilities.
Also, your interaction with her influences the outcome of your meeting. You affect how she behaves.
Someone else could very well experience a different outcome from meeting the same woman. Someone else could elicit from her completely different behavior.
So, going back to that electron. When I open the box, I may or may not experience the same outcome that you would. There’s a fifty-fifty chance I will. And a fifty-fifty chance I’ll get the opposite result.
Same electron. Same box. Opposite result.
If enough people open the box, the outcomes will average out to fifty-fifty. Half of the observers will see the electron spinning clockwise; half, counterclockwise.
We call this intriguing phenomenon the quantum measurement problem. Why problem? Because we don’t really understand how reality can be so subjective.
It’s easy to understand how the world of opinion is subjective. But hard-core physical reality?
“How do you go from the fuzzy, hazy reality of quantum probabilities, where things can be in many locations with different likelihoods, to the single, definite reality we observe when we do a measurement?” Answer? “We don’t know.”
It’s a problem all right.
Fifth: We can never know everything about the quantum world. Never.
Think about all the measurements you take in life. You weigh yourself. You measure your windows for curtains. You measure ingredients when you cook.
For physicists, measurements are everything.
Earth’s temperature. A glacier’s mass. The diameter of a satellite’s orbit. The age of the universe. Physicists need to get their measurements right to get published, get funding, and win awards.
Back in the day, physicists believed there was no limit to how accurate a measurement could be. They thought that one day they could find out everything about the universe with perfect accuracy.
Then came 1927.
Werner Heisenberg published the uncertainty principle. It says that no matter how hard we try, we can never find out everything about the universe.
The uncertainty principle is kind of like Gödel’s incompleteness theorem. They both say there are limits to what we can know.
It says that the deepest secrets of the universe are hidden behind a curtain of uncertainty. A curtain that physics can never pull away.
Here's a more technical way of saying it.
Some measurements are paired in a weird way. Two pairs are momentum and location, and energy and time. Physicists call them conjugate variables.
The more accurately we measure one, the less accurately we can measure the other. We can never know both with perfect accuracy.
If we experiment on fast-moving helium nuclei, like the ones in cosmic rays, the better we measure its momentum, the worse we can measure its position.
It's like a seesaw. The higher the accuracy of one thing, the lower the other one will be.
When you have two subjects, one in the foreground and one in the deep background, and you focus on the front subject, the back subject immediately becomes blurry. And vice versa. You can never get both subjects into perfect focus.
It's not that you're being bad at it. It's just how the quantum world is, for some deep reasons we don't understand. And maybe never will.
In 1905, Einstein published his theory of special relativity. And he led physicists even deeper into the quantum world.
Here are three crazy things that Einstein's theory says about our world. And they all go against the physics of Aristotle and Newton.
First: The quantum world has four dimensions.
Physicists used to think there were only three space dimensions: up/down, right/left, and forward/backward.
But special relativity says that time is also a dimension, even though it acts differently than the other three. It's like saying men and women are both human, even though they act differently.
Physicists call the four dimensions spacetime and label them x, y, z, t.
Second: Some things in the quantum world are relative.
Physicists used to think that things like distances, times, and masses were fixed. They thought that everyone would agree on the length of a foot, the duration of a minute, or the mass of a penny.
But special relativity says that distances, times, and masses are like rubber bands. The length of a foot, the duration of a minute, the mass of a penny all depend on your particular situation. Specifically, on how fast you're moving compared to the thing you're measuring.
You don’t notice it because the weirdness only becomes obvious at really fast speeds.
But, absolute truth *does* exist. For as you’re about to see, even distance, time, and mass, ultimately obey the absolute laws of physics.
So, let’s say you find a ruler, and it’s a foot long.
Now, suppose I drive past you at 60 mph with an identical twelve-inch ruler in hand. To me, your ruler will look shorter than twelve inches. Not by much, mind you. At 60 mph, I’ll reckon your ruler to be just a tiny bit shorter.
Here’s another example.
Use your smartphone’s stopwatch app to measure out a minute. If your stopwatch is working properly, the minute will be exactly sixty seconds long.
Now imagine I zip past you at 60 mph with an identical stopwatch app. To me, your stopwatch will appear to run slower than mine. Compared to my minute, yours will seem a little bit longer.
One final example.
Weigh a penny. According to the US Mint, its mass is exactly 2.500 grams.
Now, once again, suppose I drive by at 60 mph. To me, the mass of your penny appears greater than 2.500 grams. Just barely!
One and the same ruler can’t have two different lengths! One and the same minute can’t have two different durations! One and the same penny can’t have two different masses! Right?
Actually, they can.
You just don’t realize it.
You and I can’t both be right! It’s impossible!
Welcome to Wonderland.
Welcome to the world you inhabit.
In our strange, strange world, the length of a foot, the duration of a minute, the mass of a penny, are not absolute truths. They’re optical illusions.
Third: Light is special in the quantum world.
We've talked about this before. But I'll go into a little more detail.
Remember that speed is relative. If you're driving on the freeway and a cop clocks you going 60 mph, someone driving alongside you at 60 mph will see you as standing still.
So who's right? Both! Because speed is relative.
But here's the one exception.
According to special relativity, the speed of light is not relative. It's the same for everyone, no matter what.
Suppose a light particle goes across your room. Standing at the door, you clock it going, as expected.
Now, what about someone driving by at a million miles an hour? Here's the shocker: The light particle will still seem to be traveling at the same speed!
The speed of light doesn't depend on your point of view. It's an absolute truth, the only speed in the universe with that status.
And one more thing about light: You and I can never go as fast as light, no matter how hard we try.
The harder we try, the more massive we get, making it even harder to speed up.
That actually happens with subatomic particles. They get more massive as they go faster. But we don't know why.
Think of gravity as a mysterious lover. You live with it every day, yet you know nothing about it.
Even Isaac Newton didn't know why gravity existed.
Centuries later, Einstein said that gravity is caused by dimples in the fabric of spacetime.
Yes, dimples.
The sun makes a huge dimple, like an elephant on a trampoline. Earth makes a smaller dimple. You and I make tiny dimples.
When you travel across a spacetime dimple, you'll naturally follow its contours. Because the dimple is invisible, you'll think it's an unseen force: gravity.
If you travel across a really deep dimple, you'll fall in and never get out. Those dimples are black holes.
To explain all this, Einstein needed to use a geometry that was way more complicated than what you learn in school. He asked his mathematician friends for help.
With their help, Einstein found the right geometry. And he came up with a law of gravity that was better than Newton's.
You might hate math, but just look at this equation as a work of art.
It shows the beauty of a quantum world full of dimples that we can't see, prove, or imagine.
Do you remember Joe, the split-brain patient?
When a photo of a frying pan was shown to him, he couldn't see it or name it. The photo was something invisible and beyond words.
But when Joe closed his eyes, he drew a frying pan. It wasn't IQ that told his hand what to draw. It was an inner awareness.
Einstein's equation is like Joe's sketch. It's the creation of something that opens our eyes to truths we can't say.
So, mathematics is more of an art than a language. It's like filmmaking, acting, music, or dancing. It helps us see and share realities that we can't explain in words.
Leonardo da Vinci, filled notebooks with drawings and equations that talked about the natural and supernatural.
Leonardo was the quintessential scientist. He saw the quantum world in all its strangeness. He once said that since no intellect can understand nature and no language can explain its wonders, human thought is led to contemplate the divine.
The discoveries of modern physics are fascinating, but they're also way out there. So, why should you care?
Why should it matter to you whether the mass of a penny is fixed or elastic? Whether the universe has three dimensions or four? Whether gravity is an invisible force or a dimple? None of that will help you lose weight, deal with your boss, or deal with aging and death.
Maybe it won't. But it does matter.
Have you ever seen the movie "The Truman Show?" It's about a guy whose entire life is a reality TV show, but he doesn't know it. His world seems normal. But one day, he starts to notice weird things. And he finds out that his world is just a soundstage. It’s, like, a bubble surrounded by a much bigger Wonderland that he never knew existed.
You are Truman.
Your everyday world is a bubble. A bubble of mundane reality that makes you feel bored or depressed.
But, if you know the discoveries of modern physics, they are freeing. You realize that there's more to life than your everyday bubble.
You realize that you're part of a quantum world that's all around you and even inside you. A crazy Wonderland that nobody could have ever imagined.