The short article by Donald D. Hoffman from the Edge book, This Will Change Everything, has for the first time given me a tangible explanation for an insight I experienced that was triggered by my brother’s death in 1964. I suspect that the idea he raises points to something very real and experienced by everyone, to one degree or another. This excerpt is an abridged version of his article on quantum superposition.
The full power of quantum superposition is unleashed only when you don’t look. This is jarring, as it clashes with our classical notion of intelligence. In the quantum realm, intelligence happens when you don’t look. Insist on looking and you destroy this intelligence. We will be forced to reconsider what we mean by “intelligence” in light of quantum superposition. In the process, we might find new conceptual tools for understanding those creative insights that seem to come from the blue—that is, whose origin and development can’t seem to be traced.
Quantum superposition will make us rethink neuroscience, too. A few decades ago, we peered inside brains and saw complex telephone switchboards. Now we peer inside brains and see complex classical computations, both serial and parallel. What will we see once we have thoroughly absorbed the mindset of quantum superposition? Some say we will still find only classical reality, because the brain and its neurons are too massive for quantum effects to survive. But evolution by natural selection leads to surprising adaptations, and there might in fact be selective pressures toward quantum superposition.
Quantum superposition (1) seems to be telling us that our sensory representations, which carve the world into discrete objects with properties such as position and momentum, are an inadequate description of reality: No definite position or momentum can be ascribed to, say, an electron when it is not being observed. Quantum entanglement (2) seems to be telling us that the very act of carving the world into discrete objects is an inadequate description of reality: Two electrons, billions of light-years apart in our sensory representations, are in fact intimately and instantly linked as a single entity.
This is wei wu wei—doing without doing—is it not?
When I observe myself “doing”, my ability across the board is much lower than when I am ‘flowing in the moment’, so to speak. This may be what’s behind beginner’s luck. This ‘flow’ smacks of a superposition ‘here but not here’ sense of being. A perception of difference is absent for the moment. Schrödinger’s Cat is both dead and alive, i.e., I am doing yet not doing. This is wei wu wei, doing without doing, is it not? Note: The extremely iconic Schrödinger’s Cat thought experiment illustrates the paradox of quantum superposition, where a cat in a sealed box is considered simultaneously alive and dead until the box is opened and its state is observed.
Perhaps this is the main difference between us and other animals. Their consciousness may be largely tuned to quantum superposition—a “this-ness” reality, so to speak. Conversely, humans, due to our mind’s subject / object nature of observation —probably due to language—makes this ‘flow state’ more difficult to appreciate. Put simply, our perception of “I” and “other” constantly opens reality’s “this-ness” box.
One interesting aspect of this is how it offers a tangible explanation for the Zen Koan effect. The Koan challenges one to break through linear, logical thinking to reach intuitive knowing. By intently mulling over a paradoxical idea, a Koan forces the mind to go beyond “normal common sense” rational thought into a direct experience of reality’s ‘this-ness’, so to speak.
Does this quantum ‘this-ness’ sound crazy?
Of course it does. It just defies common sense. Yet, when we take into account that our ‘common sense’ is a result of evolution through natural selection, it is not crazy or surprising at all. There is no benefit for either an individual or a species to be able to objectively perceive quantum superposition; if anything, it would be detrimental. Survival requires perceiving reality at its yin / yang surface, not at its quantum depth. This is why it feels so paradoxical.
That is not to say that it doesn’t directly influence life. It just acts below objective awareness. I assume everyone has moments when consciousness tunes into the ‘this-ness’ reality of quantum superposition, whether they are aware of it or not. I say this because of how everything in the universe is connected at the quantum level. Naturally, this is hard to prove in any common sense way. My faith that all creation is connected at some level is my only “proof”.
So what?
Tuning into this-ness reality is beyond our ability to choose to do this. In fact, trying to do so only blocks the way. Indeed, giving up control actually helps tune in. Either way, this-ness reality is always operating under the hood, so to speak, i.e., in the countless billions of cells in our body. Beyond that, this quantum superposition story offers us a non-sectarian way to interpret God or similar spiritual stories. In fact, our intuitive sense of ‘this-ness’ reality may be the origin of those names for the un-nameable, i.e., The name possible to express runs counter to the constant name.
A Personal Observation
I see my intense inquiry into the nature of life and death was a Koan given to me by my brother’s death. It triggered a breakthrough realization that life and death were essentially ‘one and the same’—a momentary perception of quantum superposition, a life and death ‘this-ness’.
Not surprisingly, this epiphany vanished before I took my next breath, i.e., my subject / object thoughts rushed in to fill the “void”— the ultimate entropy state. Our “normal” subject/object mode of observation collapses the perception of ‘this-ness’ reality. Nonetheless, this flash of insight into life and death left me with an oddly new found and reflexive ability to perceive both sides of every issue in a “super positioned and entangled” sort of way, making me an unrelenting devil’s advocate… to a fault. Fortunately, old age has tempered that social liability somewhat. Sometimes a moment’s insight can change the whole course of one’s life.
(1) Quantum superposition means a particle exists in all its possible states at once. Imagine a spinning coin: it’s neither heads nor tails, but a mix of both possibilities. Only when it lands (is measured) does it resolve to a single outcome (heads or tails). Superposition is similar, but the quantum object truly embodies all possibilities until observed.
(2) Quantum entanglement links two or more particles so their fates are intertwined, meaning measuring one instantly affects the others, no matter the distance.