Anyone ever notice that when you are sitting at home, or at a bus stop, coffee shop, etc, time seems to drag on. You look at the clock/watch and you say to yourself "Where is my frackin' bus/freind/coffee?". Yet in the reverse of that situation, say were headed to work and you woke up late so you are really pushing it on time, which seems to be flying out the window faster than your stream of curses? That is what is known as Space-Time. The Quantum realm is all about what happens behind the scenes of these scenarios. Basically to attempt to understand Quantum physics in general you have to accept that any particle is not only matter but a wave as well. Each particle vibrates at a certian rate which can be influenced by it's surroundings such as "Black body Radiation" http://galileo.phys.virginia.edu/classes/252/black_body_radiation.html
This all seems great but what does it mean? It means that nothing is impossible for anyone. Motivation and encouragement are all that is required.
This all seems great but what does it mean? It means that nothing is impossible for anyone. Motivation and encouragement are all that is required.
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@Nicholas - Initial double slit experiments with particle detectors led to the assumption that observation in itself can alter the state of the particle being observed which brought forward the theory of Quantum Perception. However this was partially refuted in the last two decades by using passive mechanisms of observation where the interference pattern remains unaffected irrespective of observation. This development challenges the validity of quantum perception. contd...
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Moreover our perception of time is highly susceptible to cognitive and observational bias which is the reason we experience slow and scooting moments in life. When we are not focusing on any particular activity we tend to observe more events and are not burdened with analysing them which is in contrast to those moments we spend working on something. In general perception of progression of time is highly dependent on the number of events we observe around us in a given period. Try it :-)
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@Praveen- Could you provide me with some evidence of the Passive Mechanisms, I'm not entirely familiar with what you are referring to. However what I relate the experiment in question with is on the Physical breakdown we perceive, Classical Physics, is that the Observer is in control of everything about the Reality it experiences. Simply by making the will to change our Reality, we can. It is not easy, just simple. contd
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There is a theory about being able to program your brain, based off of the structure we know it to have and basic function of Left vs Right Brain, that the Right Brain is basically a video camera that functions on intuition. If you are looking at a false tiled ceiling with the 1 foot by 1 foot standard measurement tiles with seemingly billions of dots, you will start to see random patterns in the dots, it's your Right Brain connecting them. The Right Brain relays visual information to... contd
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...the Left Brain via the bundle of nerves in the Occipital lobe(s). The Left Brain is like a tape recorder, it records the day's input, then at the end of the day, as you are laying down to sleep, it then decides what to throw away and what to keep. In theory you can program your Left Brain to exhibit different characteristics. Say you wanted to think analytically, simply repeat to yourself "I want to think analytically" or something along those lines... contd
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Over the course of a month or so, you would notice a change in both your thinking and your Perception of Reality.
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Here are some references to experiments that contradict the observer effect - http://goo.gl/5OZiE . Observation does not alter physical reality but our means of observation do! For example, we observe a macroscopic object by assimilating the light reflected from it (vision) but at sub-atomic scales any means we use will alter the observed particle itself. Shoot a photon at an electron and its state changes. contd...
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More generally we cannot measure anything without altering the aspect we are measuring. Its not the intention but the means that cause this phenomenon.
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Of course we can alter our existing intentions with new intentions and our thoughts with new thoughts. Power of suggestion and Self Hypnosis! We can train our brains to this effect but that does not mean we can alter the physical reality around us with mere thoughts. Our thoughts always influence our actions and its these actions that affect the reality and not our thoughts by themselves. Spurious correlation! Contd...
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Metaphorically if we are convinced and resolved, we can achieve anything but again by acting on our thoughts. Mere contemplation does not cut the cake. On the other hand we see this mantra thrown around very frequently because our thoughts will always influence our actions and we cannot prevent it. So in effect if you think of something, it will influence your actions (behavior) and ultimately influence the physical world!
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Indeed the control we have over our reality is mind bending, and yet there are still those that insist it is still beyond control, I wonder if there is some sort of evolutionary advantage between those individuals that do and do not respectively...
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Many do not believe in their ability to change and control their reality simply because its a long term phenomenon and very few have that perseverance in them. And those who realize and exercise this ability definitely have a survival advantage. All the great minds around us and before us are definitely aware of this dynamic and power of persistence.
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So how do we convince the many? Or would those that tried end up like Socrates? Have we not learned from the Cave People Allegory?
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Internet has changed things for the better in the recent decades but there is still much left to desire. Things are definitely moving in the right direction in my opinion.
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@Praveen-What observations are you basing this off of?
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@Nicholas - Looking at the very conversation we are having right here :-) Yes there is a lot of noise and noisy people on the internet but it has definitely liberated us from our caves (Cave People Allegory). We can look far beyond and reach out far further than ever before in the history of mankind. Yes there is a lot left to desire in terms of philosophical thought from our fellow men but we are living in relatively better times.
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@Praveen- I find that not enough people are familiar with the key points of History and Philosophy, not to mention all of the Sciences. It is not generally accessible on an information level that the average adult in the World community can process and apply, but also I have noticed upon reflection is that a lot of key things like this and others that would change the way people thought, were almost edited out of my general education thus far.
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The problem with many around us is that they don't try to learn things that they are not required to. Education is no longer seen as a way to learn and do more but only as a means for earning wages. "Higher Education = Higher Wages" and that is the end of it. Our education system is created for this. We are taught to earn a wage and nothing more. We need to master applied sciences for a living and philosophical enquiry for progress. I bet very few even care to understand the above statement!
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We can't paint "everyone" with the same brush. There are certainly people who are more curious and people that are less curious.
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@Alistair - Ofcourse, there is no prototype personality and we can't assess everyone on the same scale. The issue is, how to drive more people into philosophical enquiry and create enthusiasm towards things that matter. In the industrial age, people started viewing education as a means than a path, which narrows our vision and has disturbing consequences for our society at large.
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but there is still a strong academic subset of people who just like to think. They are the same subset that did the thinking in the past. we have educated more people, diluting the average result of education, but the high performers still exist. their designing cell phones and windmills and running hadron colliders and building satellite. and working on AI, and robotics, and new materials and process.
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and there are amateurs doing higher thinking too. Stack exchange, Talkonomy, and a myriad of blogs, blog writers, blog readers. They are all good signs, offering evidence contrary to a decline in a desire to learn. N'est pas??
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@Alistair - All that worries me now is that we are not pursuing all inclusive progress. Yes there are scientists, innovators and others doing their stuff and there are more of them today. But with all this progress there is also a widening gap between those who learn, think and do and average citizens. I am talking about the least common denominator.
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I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt that great minds tend to discuss ideas, average minds events, and weak minds people, or something like that? but why the belief there is a decline over time? Britain is talking about trying to attain 40% population with degrees. Education very rarely seems to devolve anywhere. China during communism is about the only serious example I am aware of and they seem to have kicked that bad habit.
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@alistair- education isn't as important as the ability and drive to apply that knowledge. Nothing is more dangerous thanks an educated fool because now they know how to be a fool in an educated manner. I have no formal education outside of a high school diploma and an emt-b certificate and I work with people who have higher ed, yet I grasp concepts such as QM much more fluidly and readily than they do. It's a matter of wanting to understand v wanting to further your career in my eyes.
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@Praveen- I fear you're right, and it's a multi-faceted problem that I intend to focus on in both Philosophy for Life and Colors of Governance. I'm not sure using language like 'amateurs doing higher thinking' is very conducive to the issue as a whole. It perpetuates a cultural meme that implies only professionals can be good at contemplating and enumerating the philosophical issues facing civilization, cultures must promote philosopher citizenry, inversely to Plato's republic, to succeed.
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