Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Bad physics, Good Fantasy

There’s an interesting article in the NYTimes today about how some ideas from quantum mechanics have been totally co-opted by New Agers. Essentially the idea is that
“based on the insights of modern quantum physics, that reality is just a mental construct that we can rearrange and improve, if we are enlightened or determined enough.”

For those of you who might have forgotten, one of the things about quantum physics is that the simple act of observing something, changes it. So your powers of perception shape what you see (I think: I might be getting into bad physics here). This is all tied up with Schroedinger’s Cat and the Heisenberg Principle.

Yes it is probably bad physics. But it’s a great premise for magic in an urban fantasy :)

Far Out Man, But is it Quantum Physics?

1 Comments:

At 3:26 PM, Blogger Suisan said...

Hey, first off, thanks for visiting my blog!

Secondly, ummmmm. Well. I'm all for coming up with some sort of description of the mystical forces that engage us in fiction, or even in reality. But quantum physics only operates at the sub-atomic level. And a lot of parapsychologists have been using this quantum theory as explanation for ESP et cetera for some time. But I liked the article in the Times nonetheless! Tis a good fantasy....

 

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