Dead or Alive?

Quantum physics generates many profound metaphors that relate to the fundamental functions of the universe and our lives. Imagine a cat within a box that cannot escape. The lid of the box is closed, and there is no possible way of determining the cat's condition--dead or alive--without lifting the lid. This forces the observer to assume that the cat is both alive and dead simultaneously. Fortunately, when the box is open, the cat is alive.

This relates to one of the most bizarre experiments that have been done in quantum physics; it's called the double slit experiment. A physicist, Thomas Young, shot a laser through two narrow slits that landed on a wall behind them. Unexpectedly, the laser created vertical streams of light instead of two beams of light.

For this to happen, light has to be a wave; however, when the slits are a bit wider, the laser creates one stream of light as expected which means light is a particle. In the metaphor, the cat is both alive and dead in the box. The same goes for light; light is both a particle and a wave until observed. Bizarre, light seems to have complete control of it's state; it chooses to be a wave at the quantum level, but also it chooses to be a particle on a larger scale. Why does this happen?

This topic relates more than just to physics; it relates to our lives. We dream of the future; we want to alter the future; we want a pleasant future. However we get caught up in this fourth dimensional lifestyle that we forget about the present. You see, life is full of probabilities. This may happen or that may happen--no guarantee. Instead, you should accept what life throws at you because the most unexpected thing may happen, and that curve ball may hit you in the face. Accept life as it is. Assume that every possibility is equivalent to each other. Prepare yourself for the unexpected. Enjoy life not the dream that may happen.