Artfully Mindful

Observer Theory: Fact or Fiction?

• D. R. Thompson • Season 2 • Episode 37

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Can reality exist without an observer? Tune in to our latest episode where we unlock the mysteries of observer theory in philosophy. We'll take you on a journey through quantum mechanics with mind-bending concepts like the Copenhagen interpretation and Schrödinger's Cat, demonstrating how observation can alter quantum states. We'll also explore the perspectives of renowned philosophers such as Edmund Husserl, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Immanuel Kant, who argue that our perception is integral to shaping reality. Don't miss our in-depth discussion on the age-old debate between solipsism and the concept of a shared reality, suggesting that our world is shaped by a multitude of observers.

But that's not all—we'll go even deeper, probing into the primordial essence of reality and the innate urge of consciousness to create something separate from itself for the purpose of observation. Is this separation driven by a fundamental desire to love and be loved by what is observed? We'll explore this fascinating idea through the lens of Buddhist and other philosophical traditions. This episode promises to stimulate your mind and provoke thought about the nature of existence and consciousness, bridging the wisdom of Eastern and Western philosophies. Join us for a compelling conversation that will leave you pondering the very fabric of reality.

Music: Okaya - 'Dreaming of Peace'

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Don Thompson:

Music Musi. Hi, don Thompson here with another podcast for you today. What I'd like to discuss today is a concept in philosophy known as observer theory, observer Theory, and there are a lot of different permutations of what Observer Theory is and I'd like to step through some of these perspectives and I think you'll find it fascinating. I actually worked with our go-to platform, openai, and ChatGPT to get some feedback on this. I have thought about it quite a bit myself and I was curious if OpenAI could do a little bit of a summary and I'll step through that, chiming in with my own thoughts. As a matter of fact, I'll open up with the general thought that observer theory has sort of percolated in my Vedas and Buddhism and also just philosophy in the Western context, and there's a rich history of Western philosophy. Of course that deals with observer theory and various aspects of observer theory. But before we get there, let me do a little bit of a definition of terms, at least from my perspective, in terms of what observer theory talks about. So observer theory really has to do with looking at the fact that every reality in a sense has an observer. There's somebody observing the reality and some of the philosophers and philosophies derived in thinking about observer theory, derived from observer theory, or, thinking about it, discuss the fact that, again, without an observer, without somebody looking, there isn't anything really. But that really is debatable and I'll get into that in a second.

Don Thompson:

But in terms of, let's say, for example, quantum mechanics, modern physics, example quantum mechanics, modern physics really looks at the fact that on the level of the quantum, on the level of the subatomic, the observer can influence the nature of what is observed, and so there's something called the Copenhagen interpretation and this comes from Niels Bohr and Werner Heisberg. So in quantum mechanics, the observer theory takes, you know, really somewhat of a profound turn with this Copenhagen Interpretation, and this theory suggests that the act of observation affects the state of quantum particles. In other words, until observed, a quantum system exists in a superimposition of all possible states and only collapses into a single state upon observation. So there's sort of a probability occurring on the quantum level and the observer collapses, that observation or that reality, into a single state, according to the Copenhagen interpretation. And this really means that the observer has a direct impact on the physical reality at the quantum level, has a direct impact on the physical reality at the quantum level. And there was an interesting thought experiment called Schroediger's Cat, and Erwin Schroediger came up with this thought experiment and he illustrates the paradox of quantum observation. And he says, when a cat is in a box, when a cat in a box is simultaneously alive and dead, it remains so until someone observes it and so, once observed, the cat locks into or collapses into the state of being alive or deceased. And this whole idea raises questions about the nature of reality and the role of the observer in determining outcomes. And you know, it's quite fascinating, I think, because it basically is telling us that the underlying reality is fluid or flexible and it collapses into a particular reality that we call real, based upon observation.

Don Thompson:

And there's also other philosophical perspectives that deal with observer theory in their own way phenomenology, for example, and particularly arising from Edmund Herschel, who emphasized that we perceive the world through consciousness, and he implies that the observer's mind shapes the reality we experience. And another philosopher named Maurice Millieu-Ponty also argued that perception is an embodied experience, making the observer an active participant in the creation of meaning. Within epistemology, the relationship between the observer and knowledge has been explored by thinkers none other than our esteemed Immanuel Kant, who argued that we cannot really know the world as it is, but only as we perceive it through our cognitive structures. And this thought, you know, this line of thinking, reminds me a little bit of Buddhism or Tibetan Buddhism, mahayana Buddhism, and that reality becomes a structure of mind. It is not really separate from this cognitive structure, but the basic underlying debate, you might say, as it exists between observer theory and other types of views of reality, is that if the observer is observing reality, is there only one observer or are there multiple observers observing a shared reality? So, if there's one observer, this falls into, you might say, the trap of what's called solipsism, which is that there's only one observer looking at everything and that you are in fact that observer, that you looking, are the observer, the only one observing, and that there's really no way to prove, in essence, that there's anyone but yourself observing. And this thought has gone through my mind, this solipsistic viewpoint.

Don Thompson:

Solipsistic viewpoint, and I'll tell you, I've looked it up and it is not well regarded out there, the solipsistic viewpoint. Most philosophers believe we live in a shared reality. I mean, this is a common sense thing, that there are other people, that there are other minds, that we may be shaping reality in our own way, based upon our own preconceptions, and we each in a sense live in our own reality. But there's a shared reality, there's an underpinning of a shared reality, and this is the difference between a solipsistic view and, you might say, a shared reality view, which is really, you know, that's the way and most philosophers and most science, or all of science, really looks at things. It doesn't really take this solipsistic view, which is probably, you know, a little bit more mentally healthy. I mean, for us to go around thinking that we're the only existing mind might not be the most healthy thing in the world to retreat into, not be the most healthy thing in the world to retreat into. You know, I don't know, but the thought has passed through my mind that perhaps there's no one but me looking and observing. I mean, can you really logically refute it? I don't know, maybe you can. I guess I should look it up.

Don Thompson:

When we look at social sciences and psychology, there's also this idea of social constructionism. So in the social sciences, particularly sociology and psychology, observer theory is related to again what's called social constructionism, where reality is not fixed but is constructed through human interaction and perception, through human interaction and perception. So our observations of society, culture and norms shape our understanding of them and reciprocally, these constructs shape how we observe and interpret events. This leads to what's called the Hawthorne effect. The Hawthorne effect in psychology and behavioral sciences stipulates shows us us how individuals alter their behavior when they are aware that they are being observed. If they are being observed, people behave differently than if they are not being observed. This I'm sure we would all agree with. If people are looking at us, we behave differently. When we're alone in a room, we behave one way. When we're out and about, we behave somewhat differently. In a restaurant, we behave differently. Our conversation could even be different. If somebody overhears in the next booth, we might temper what we say.

Don Thompson:

If we look at postmodernism and Michel Foucault, who is a famous postmodernist philosopher, when we look at observer theory from this perspective, michel Foucault introduced the idea that the observer really should be considered within the context of power relations. In his work on surveillance and discipline, foucault argued that the possibility of being observed changes behavior. Again, going back to the social sciences and psychology, the observation of someone will change their behavior. If we observe someone, their behavior will be changed. If they observe us, our behavior will change subtly, and sometimes not so subtly. Now, when we look at ethics, we also get into this idea of what's called observer bias. So in other words, just the simple act of looking at something as an observer.

Don Thompson:

And this gets a really important consideration in research and I've been involved with some of that recently in terms of my PhD program is researching stuff. Researching information, observations, and perhaps you know, when you get into things like what's called quantitative analysis, where you're really quantifying things into numbers, you want to get this sense that your statistics are reflecting a reality that's underneath it and that's why you're doing the study. You're trying to get a sense of what's the underpinning reality, and you do. You know studies that quantify reality in a way that you can sum it up in statistics and you can do all kinds of slicing and dicing of the statistics to determine what reality really is. The problem is is that there's an observer bias in creating the survey. So the observer bias sneaks in, you might say, with how the survey is constructed and you can actually influence how a study's outcome will happen or what will come out of the study based upon your observer bias. And this is something you need to consider all the time in research this observer bias.

Don Thompson:

Last but not least, let's talk a little bit about Eastern philosophy. Now I've talked about Eastern philosophy on this podcast quite a bit. We've talked about mindfulness, which in a sense or you might say fundamentally rises out of Buddhism. Mindfulness, the Buddha philosophy, eastern philosophy, so some metaphysical frameworks propose that consciousness itself is fundamental to reality. And this kind of gets into what we were discussing about the Mahamudra and the different definitions of emptiness and whether or not emptiness was really reflecting mind only, meaning there's only a consciousness observing and in a sense making reality, and this has been, in more recent times, summed up in phrases like you create your own reality, and things like that. So this comes out of, you know, different flavors of Eastern philosophy. Again, mahayana, buddhism, but also Advaita Vedanta. So you know, vedanta has these ideas that are similar to Buddhism, where the role of consciousness is central to shaping our perception of reality, what it is.

Don Thompson:

Now, if we look at modern physics again, just to circle back a little bit to modern physics and Einstein's theory of relativity, we have to bring that in because that's really the most pervasive and influential theory in recent memory. Of course there's been other theories related to quantum physics and mechanics, as we've noted. But initially, einstein's theory of relativity really posits that the observer plays a crucial role in understanding space and time and that observations are relative to the observer's frame of reference. So the meaning of reality derived from the measurements of time and space can vary depending on the observer's velocity and gravitational field. So the physical proximity, or the relative physical proximity, of the observer to a variety of different elements related to space and time will affect what they're perceiving. Their space and time can literally be different because they're in a different place.

Don Thompson:

And there's a really interesting film called Interstellar by Christopher Nolan which I just watched. It's really interesting. It gets into some of these anomalies that can happen because of gravity and because of these anomalies of space and time and relativity. No-transcript years old, whereas his daughter has aged and is now over 100 years old. So this is an entertaining way of showing us Einstein's theory of relativity and I do recommend that you take a look at Interstellar, einstein's theory of relativity, and I do, you know, recommend that you take a look at Interstellar. It's a great movie and really gets into Einstein's theories of relativity and observer theory. Because you know, the fact of the matter is is that the observer's reality based upon space and time is going to be different based upon space and time is going to be different in different contexts, depending on where they are, and you can slow time down and you can in a sense slow speed time up or whatever, but time is slower in certain contexts and when you take a human being and you put them in that slower time, they could theoretically come back to Earth at the same age and other people on Earth would have aged Again. Interstellar great movie. I highly recommend it. So I'm going to leave it at that. I think it's a really interesting topic.

Don Thompson:

Observer theory again has crossed my mind because I've thought about the fact that, well, you know, is there anything but the mind perceiving? You know? Can you prove that there's anything but yourself observing everything? You know, can you prove that there's anything but yourself observing everything? And if you are the only observer, well, why are you the only observer? Now, again, most philosophers completely discount that theory. They say that there is a shared reality, that there is something that you might see as really real. It isn't just all being made up by our mind. You might see as really real, it isn't just all being made up by our mind. But when you look into Eastern philosophy, you do edge into this arena. That sort of prompts you to ponder.

Don Thompson:

You know that you might be alone, in a sense, that you might be alone observing, and interestingly, I think that the reason for reality itself could be that the observer is lonely, that the observer doesn't want to be alone. So the observer creates another. You might say, the observer creates another, and in a sense, love comes out of this reality of self and other. You create the other with your mind, in a sense, and you love them. And this is the purpose of reality is to be observed and ultimately to be loved. And you know, it's an interesting thought, I think.

Don Thompson:

Sometimes I think about that. Why would I be observing something? Well, perhaps out of loneliness. The observer creates reality in order to have something to love. Now, philosophically, scientifically, physically, does that make any sense? Well, not really.

Don Thompson:

But I think, if you go back to the primordial essence of reality, it could be that, in this urge of consciousness to have something separate from itself, to observe for a purpose and I can't think of a better purpose than to love and to be loved by what you observe that seems to me to be a fairly good purpose and there are other you know side effects of that which also has gotten into, you know, in Buddhist philosophy and other philosophies. But again, I'll leave it at that. I won't burden you too much with any more of this observer theory stuff, but sometimes it's good to ponder it a little bit. I think it sort of loosens you up a little bit and makes you think about things, maybe in a good way. Hopefully that's the idea. Anyway, I appreciate you listening, as always, and I look forward to talking to you again soon. Okay, bye-bye, thank you.