Quantum Mechanics, Observation and Change

As an economics student at University of Virginia, I ran across a theory in economics that stated that, when an economic pattern is discerned, it ceases to exist. The reason for this is that people cash in on the pattern, and the act of them cashing in on the pattern leads to the pattern disappearing.

This leads us to quantum mechanics, which states that observing a phenomenon can change it. The reason for this is not a difficult one to understand. In order to measure the position and speed of an electron, one needs to send a photon at it; and the photon bumps the electron off its orbit and changes its direction and its speed. It occurs to me that this is not limited to the study of electrons.

There have been a number of situations in history in which people changed things when they were thinking that they were only observing them. When white man came to America and Australia, he brought with himself all sorts of pathogens that destroyed the original population. Many of the people who were guilty of this did

not have any harmful intentions. They wanted to explore; but they brought with themselves something that vastly changed what they were observing.

In human interactions therefore, it is necessary to know what you are yourself changing. What do you bring to the table? What are your pathogens, your prejudices, your beliefs? How are you affecting reality, consciously or unconsciously?

The more this is done, the more informed are the choices and the greater the chances of these choices being right and impacting the world rightfully rather than wrongly.

While relativity reduces one's responsibility by claiming that all things are relative, quantum mechanics demands greater responsibility. If you can change things through your actions without intending to change them, then you better be acting rightfully. If, as some think, you can change things just by thinking about them, then you better have rightful thoughts. It is therefore essential to know what you are doing and how you are going about doing it. And this is the case regardless of the character of your intentions.