Quantum physics - do things change when you look at them?

Question

Ok, this question was sparked from the Doctor Who book Im reading at the minute 'Only Human'. Basically a Neanderthal is calling humans idoits for not understanding that things change when you look at them, which according to him is obvious. I dont like being called an idiot (especially by a Neanderthal) and so if someone out there can give me bit of an insight and understanding into this I would be very grateful! Just a casual answer not going into too much detail is what Im looking for.

Many thanks!

Answer 1

In quantum physics, there is no such thing as an act of observation that's totally separate from the thing being observed. No matter how it's done, the thing being observed is affected by the act of observing it. To give a very crude analogy, it's like asking people what they are thinking about. The moment you ask them that, their thoughts are presently about making an answer to your question, like how I am putting this answer
together for you this morning.

Answer 2

The Neanderthal is out of date (I suppose that's no surprise). Physicists have fully appreciated this for many decades.

Yes things are invariably perturbed when you look at them. The basic principle predates quantum mechanics, though. To observe something, you have to interact with it. Interaction requires energy, which results in the subject being perturbed. For example, in order to see something with our eyes, an external light source must scatter photons off its surface. That, in turn, heats the object, etc. The new wrinkle provided by QM is that it establishes a fundamental lower bound on the uncertainty of what can be learned of the state prior to measurement. In classical mechanics, it was arbitrarily small, but finite; when you weigh a bunch of apples you get finger prints on them.

Answer 3

The first answer (above) is correct and is a basic explanation of the uncertainty principle developed by Werner Heisenberg in 1927. Follow the link below for a more detailed explanation.

Answer 4

OK,look at any item,keep looking,is it moving?.why yes,in the time you have looked at it the earth has rotated so the object has moved.is the object changed,yes as you are looking at it the light hitting it is coming from a different angle[again earths rotation]are you seeing it in present time.no your seeing the past in the time light hits an object hits your retina scrambled by your brain nanoseconds have passed so your seeing what was not is.

Answer 5

Yes, may be because our eyes can see only the objects in the frequency of the visible light.Before we look at it the object in this frequency is seen to us.
Different waves are,
1)Radio waves
2)Micro waves
3)Ultraviolet waves
4)Visible light
5)X rays
6)Gamma rays
7)Cosmic rays

Answer 6

in my opinion, i think of you have way too plenty time on your palms to fantasize approximately those issues. IF such issues could desire to ever exist interior of a military placing, the international could end its lifestyles. greater useful to spend it sluggish pondering greater present day, weighty, concerns. Have a precise-wing day.

Answer 7

Things can change if you percieve them differently than they really are. "If you change what you look at, what you're looking at will change."

If you really intend for something to look differently when you look at it, I think it's entirely possible. If you can think it's possible, it is. :D