Q&A: Quantum Mechanics and Human Consciousness
Quantum Mechanics and Human Consciousness
Question
Hello Rabbi, I once heard that the double-slit experiment was also done in a special variation comparing the results when a human consciousness is present in the room, versus the consciousness of an ordinary animal, or an empty room. That is, if the information from the detectors is going to reach a human consciousness, then the electrons behave in a classical physical way and pass through only one of the openings; but if the material is not going to reach a human being (for example, if the camera constantly burns the film), then the electrons behave quantum mechanically. Is that true?
Answer
I’m not up to date, but as far as I know, experiments were actually done showing that there is no connection to human consciousness (they placed detectors that transmitted the information to a computer, which destroyed it after storing it). Nowadays, I think almost nobody believes that consciousness changes anything. In my book The Science of Freedom I gave a link to such an article.