It used to be and still is the general view to suggest that reality is, well, real. Before quantum physics, our understanding was governed by classical theories in which reality exists regardless of observers. Newton’s laws of motion, for example, say we live in a clockwork, deterministic world that behaves in well-defined, predictable ways independently from what we are doing.
Then along comes Quantum Theory (note the humility in theory as all opinions are theories)
David Bohm a Quantum Theory advocate proposed there was a hidden reality to quantum theory, he was referring to a world that doesn’t exist until you choose to look at it; the world Bohm revealed is a more profoundly and mysteriously interconnected place than we ever imagined
By way of exnnple WHERe us a sub atomic particle when you are not looking at it?
OK , when you aren’t looking a subatomic particle quantum physicist would probably answer: sort of all over the place. An unobserved particle is a wisp of reality, a shimmer of existence – there isn’t a good metaphor for it, because it is vague both by definition and by nature. Until you do have a peek. Then it becomes a particle proper, it can be put into words, it is a thing with a place.
That picture seems utterly absurd. Yet many, many experiments exploring the microscopic realm over the best part of a century have reinforced the conclusion that when we’re not paying attention, the world is fuzzy and undecided. Only by looking at things, observing them, measuring them, do we make them recognisably “real”.
Einstein was unimpressed, pointedly asking whether the moon is not there if no one looks at it
but it was proven by QM that God did actually play dice.
is looking at it. But then Einstein was always raising pesky objections to quantum theory. For many physicists since it has been a case of swallowing any philosophical qualms. The maths works, there’s no real alternative, so get on with it!
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