conscious universe? quantum physics? religion and science?

Question

religious/philosophical/scientific question.
id like opinions on the following link - its a link to the ol' double slit experiment for the scientists out there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

im not a physicist but this experiment/ link at first apperance seems to suggest an intelligence permeating the entire universe.
why this is in the religion section - well when electrons start to behave differently simply from being observed by intelligent beings some questions do have to be asked. such as can this level of organisation really be random.
some will say god of the gaps etc etc, fair enough i hear you but you surely see why this IS way weird and conceivably COULD have philosophical implications. anyhooo i hope some others find my question interesting and the link amazing, if you are highly scientifically educated please try to keep it short and simple for the rest of us.

ahhh! thanks bad squirrel, maybe its a misrepresentation, as i understand it may be taken from a film called "what the bleep" which ive read may not be entirely factual... huh.. disappointed now.

Answer 1

Mmmm, this is actually a misrepresentation of what's going on. It's not simply by observing, it's that the observer has to cast some stream of light on to the particles to observe it. But any stream of light (or radiation) is massive enough to interfere with the nature flow of the particle.

I hear a lot about people thinking quantum physics means there is an intelligence to the universe. None of these people are *ever* physicists.

Answer 2

I am not a quantum physicist, so I can not give you an answer. But I do know enough to be able to say that the predictions made by quantum physics are often non-intuitive and seem at odds to our 'common sense'

As soon as you observe the path of the electron/photons then you effect them by the observation. That then will effect the outcome of the experiment.

If I shine a light on a ball bearing, so I can observe it, then I effect it. The effect the light has is negligible, so we do not worry about it. However, it is enough to turn a radiometer:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I056/10324051.aspx?keywords=radiometer

When I get down to something as small as an election or photon then shining a beam of light onto it to observe it would actually blast it total off course. But even the more subtle methods actually used will effect the path.

There is no need for intelligence.

Answer 3

Intelligence is not required for a quantum observation.

Take three electrons, A, B, and C. Entangle A and B. Now have C interact with A. The C will 'observe' various quantum details of A, thus collapsing the A+B entanglement, and A and B will settle into quantum whole numbers.

This is an observation.

Answer 4

I'm not really sure why you think that the double slit experiment implies an intelligence. It's simply the wave nature of light causing interference patterns, predictable and explainable.

I'm also not sure what you mean about electrons behaving differently. When you get down to the quantum mechanical level, we're talking probabilities. Yes, it can arrive naturally. It's weird, sure, but we understand it. They exist in a superposition state of several possible energies, and by the act of measuring, we force it into one of those states - but that state had a distinct probability of being the one we forced it into.

Answer 5

I do think there is intelligence in the universe. I think we are all connected on a molecular level. I think there is much more power and joy and creation in the universe than we imagine.

I was fascinated and enlivened by 'The Turning Point' by Fritjof Capra. His approach to describing quantum mechanics was both fun and mind-blowing.

Do we need to draw a direct line from the double slit experiment and a fundamentalist viewpoint? I certainly hope not. I like to think there is a vast creative spirit in the universe, embodied not only in the way subatomic particles and planets behave but how humans interact as well. I have a problem with naming this creative spirit and attributing one's personal set of fears and prejudices to it.

Answer 6

This is just the tip of the iceberge!
Quantum Physics may just teach us to use the energy of thought to produce what was once call miracles.
The power of the mind has been mastered before, but never quite understood or explained by those who have yet to master it! ; )
Everything in the Universe is made of energy, is it really any wonder that energy can change anything?

Answer 7

Flipping heck, this is way to high for me to understand, But you egg heads, are only stabbing in the dark, Call it what you like, there is order in this universe, even down to little atoms.

Answer 8

gravitation is the observer that collapses the wavefunction