Thank goodness for Audible!
You see, my whole life I’ve suffered from A.D.D. and ever since my childhood, reading has been incredibly challenging.
I can remember when I was about 13 reading “Harry Potter” in my room late at night using headphones and a beanie to block out the sound because any noise would throw me off the page.
My A.D.D made it impossible to concentrate and because of this, reading was pretty much off the table for most my life.
With Audible though, I’m able to read as many books as I want because I can focus on what’s said and not on reading what’s said.
Audible has made millions of books available to me when they otherwise wouldn’t be.
I’m constantly inspired by what I read, and it just so happens that right now I’m reading an excellent autobiography about Mr. Albert Einstein—perhaps one of our worlds greatest thinkers—written by Walker Isaacson.
Read more, grow more
If you read my post last year about how much I love space, you can image that Mr. Isaacson’s account of Einstein’s life has me gushing!
If you’re like me and you love science, space, and physics and want to hear about Einstein’s eccentric and quirky personal life, then you have to do yourself a favor and pick up Isaacson’s book.
It’s a fascinating read and and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
One of the things I love about reading books outside of my expertise is that I can see another perspective of life through someone else’s eyes.
I can see how they see for an instant and in turn, I can incorporate some of the knowledge I get from books back into my mindfulness and meditation practice.
And that’s exactly what I’m going to do today!
Space and the uncertainty principle
Twenty years or so after Einstein revolutionized physics and the way we understand the cosmos through his ‘Theory of General Relativity’, a new theory arose that shook Einstein’s beliefs about the universe to their core.
The theory was called the ‘Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics’ and even today physicists and string theorists around the world use its interpretations of the quantum world as guiding principles for their research.
In a nutshell, quantum mechanics basically states that the universe has no general guiding principles that work independently from our observation of them.
According to the famous ‘Uncertainty Principle’ which is derived from quantum mechanics, the precise location and momentum of a particle cannot be known at the same time. Furthermore, the more we know about one, the less we know about the other.
In other words, nothing truly exists—that is, what we can say about it in reality—until it’s observed and the mere act of measuring or observing an event impacts the observation we perceive.
And thus, there is no certainty when it comes to quantum particles; only probabilities.
What this means for mindfulness
Think of Schrödinger’s cat made popular by one of my favorite shows of all time—"The Big Bang Theory.”
In this famous thought experiment, we find a cat who’s had the misfortune of being placed in a concealed box with a vile of poison set to release at random which will kill our furry little friend. The only thing is, no one knows when or IF the vile of poison will be released causing Schrödinger’s cat to meet its end.
Here’s the point as Mr. Schrödinger puts it: until we (the observer) open the box and look inside, the cat can be thought of as either dead or alive.
In other words, the uncertainty of quantum mechanics means that how we think really does matter; how we think really does impact how we experience reality; and how we think really does have the power to save Schrödinger’s cat!
Think about this: if we believe that we don’t know shit until we try, then won’t the stories we tell ourselves about the cat being dead or alive significantly impact whether or not we ever look inside the box?
Furthermore, if the uncertainly principle holds true, then that means there is no such thing as destiny and if destiny doesn’t exist, then that means we really do have the power to forge our own paths in this life.
With mindfulness we’re able to create a better destiny because we can see thoughts that try to stop us from taking risks or looking in the proverbial box.
With the insight of uncertainty, we know that nothing is written in stone and therefore, no stone should be left unturned.
Conclusion
Nothing is for certain in this world and that’s not a bad thing.
What Schrödinger’s cat and the uncertainty principle really tells us is this - there is no ultimate truth in life - we make our own!
So, go for it because you don’t know until you know. Be mindful of the stories that try to stop you from looking in the box because who knows, if you check soon enough you just might save Mr. Schrödinger’s cat and in turn change your life.
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See you next week for another, less “sciencey”, blog post!