PARALLEL UNIVERSES 243
There are several ways to resolve this sticky paradox. The
founders of the quantum theory believed in the Copenhagen School,
which said that once you open the box, you make a measurement and
can determine if the cat is dead or alive. The wave function has "collapsed" into a single state and common sense takes over. The waves
have disappeared, leaving only particles. This means that the cat now
enters a definite state (either dead or alive) and is no longer described
by a wave function.
Thus there is an invisible barrier separating the bizarre world of
the atom and the macroscopic world of humans. For the atomic world,
everything is described by waves of probability, in which atoms can be
in many places at the same time. The larger the wave at some location,
the greater the probability of finding the particle at that point. But for
large objects these waves have collapsed and objects exist in definite
states, and hence common sense prevails.
(When guests would come to Einstein's house, he would point to
the moon and ask, "Does the moon exist because a mouse looks at it?"
In some sense, the answer of the Copenhagen School might be yes.)
Most Ph.D. physics textbooks religiously adhere to the original Copenhagen School, but many research physicists have abandoned it We
now have nanotechnology and can manipulate individual atoms, so
atoms that dart in and out of existence can be manipulated at will, using
our scanning tunneling microscopes. There is no invisible "wall" separating the microscopic and macroscopic world. There is a continuum.
At present there is no consensus on how to resolve this issue,
which strikes at the very heart of modern physics. At conferences,
many theories heatedly compete with others. One minority point of
view is that there must be a "cosmic consciousness" pervading the
universe. Objects spring into being when measurements are made,
and measurements are made by conscious beings. Hence there must
be cosmic consciousness that pervades the universe determining
which state we are in. Some, like Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner, have
argued that this proves the existence of God or some cosmic consciousness. (Wigner wrote, "It was not possible to formulate the laws
[of the quantum theory] in a fully consistent way without reference to
There are several ways to resolve this sticky paradox. The
founders of the quantum theory believed in the Copenhagen School,
which said that once you open the box, you make a measurement and
can determine if the cat is dead or alive. The wave function has "collapsed" into a single state and common sense takes over. The waves
have disappeared, leaving only particles. This means that the cat now
enters a definite state (either dead or alive) and is no longer described
by a wave function.
Thus there is an invisible barrier separating the bizarre world of
the atom and the macroscopic world of humans. For the atomic world,
everything is described by waves of probability, in which atoms can be
in many places at the same time. The larger the wave at some location,
the greater the probability of finding the particle at that point. But for
large objects these waves have collapsed and objects exist in definite
states, and hence common sense prevails.
(When guests would come to Einstein's house, he would point to
the moon and ask, "Does the moon exist because a mouse looks at it?"
In some sense, the answer of the Copenhagen School might be yes.)
Most Ph.D. physics textbooks religiously adhere to the original Copenhagen School, but many research physicists have abandoned it We
now have nanotechnology and can manipulate individual atoms, so
atoms that dart in and out of existence can be manipulated at will, using
our scanning tunneling microscopes. There is no invisible "wall" separating the microscopic and macroscopic world. There is a continuum.
At present there is no consensus on how to resolve this issue,
which strikes at the very heart of modern physics. At conferences,
many theories heatedly compete with others. One minority point of
view is that there must be a "cosmic consciousness" pervading the
universe. Objects spring into being when measurements are made,
and measurements are made by conscious beings. Hence there must
be cosmic consciousness that pervades the universe determining
which state we are in. Some, like Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner, have
argued that this proves the existence of God or some cosmic consciousness. (Wigner wrote, "It was not possible to formulate the laws
[of the quantum theory] in a fully consistent way without reference to