H: HEISENBERG PRINCIPLE

I once saw a sign that said, “Heisenberg slept here—maybe.” If you know what Werner Heisenberg is most famous for, you get the joke. Simply stated, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle tells us that both the momentum and position of a particle cannot be known at the same time. Like all quantum physics, the principle has its own math, and in this case the equation clearly shows that as the uncertainty of one measurement approaches zero, the uncertainty of the other measurement increases reciprocally. In case you are ever at a party and would like to either impress--or repel--someone, it might be good for you to know the title of the 1927 paper in which Heisenberg first laid out this cataclysmic reality-adjustment, so here it is: “On the Perceptual Content of Quantum Theoretical Kinematics and Mechanics.” (And let me know how that goes for you!) There is an important point here to make. You might be tempted to think this limit on knowing is a result of our clumsy observation or just a measurement problem in general—the intrusion into the system disturbing it like the butterfly wings in chaos theory. But uncertainty, as quantum physics sees it, is not just a function of our participation in the system (that will come with the letter “O” for OBSERVER EFFECT). Uncertainty tells us something else fundamental about the nature of reality: There are limits to our knowing. Reality seems to resist too much extraction of discrete data! Though larger things like balls and cars and planes will allow us reasonable accuracy in knowing position and momentum, the demand for that information will not be fully met by the most small and sped up matter and energy components. The glorious universe freely offers itself, unrolling at our feet when we sit quietly, as Franz Kafka has said, but it will not freely transform itself into sheer data for our cataloguing! As the physicist John Wheeler said, “Reality is determined by the questions we put to it,” but it seems they have to be the right kind of questions! Let’s go back to that title: I’m thrilled to know that there is a “perceptual content” to quantum physics because this implies the location of a “perceptual limitation” that I fully understand! Years ago, I realized that the biggest challenges we encounter with our local realities (circumstances and relationships that waylay us along the road to destiny) are challenges of altered perception. It is our inner world that we must guard most vigilantly in the face of outer world onslaughts. We must strive to believe in justice in the face of so much injustice. We must continue to tend the inner fires of love in the oxygen-sucking environment of so much hate. It is perception that is both too powerful and too weak at the same time! Many people have lamented the death of determinism for which the Heisenberg Principle seemed to be the tombstone. But, for me, the uncertainty statement points to a more stable version of the mystery—once with which I can FREELY DANCE with no immediate need to fully decode! Heisenberg said that the use of probability in atomic theory was not a result of ignorance on the seeker but rather, more or less, a feature of the system. I propose that we take a page from uncertainty and just go ahead and lay our fear of looking ignorant on the altar once and for all—go ahead and have a beginner’s mind and enjoy it. Maybe the nature of the system is such that you weren’t created to know everything with positivistic certainty. Maybe the death of determinism can enhance your faith, rather than eat away at it. Maybe God is calling out to a place in us that represents a different kind of knowing beyond mere data. Maybe uncertainty is the road to a form of certainty that is not of this world (or of this brain). When my Reality is universal and absolute, I don’t need my measurements to be certain. A universe with an uncertainty principle might just be a measure of grace and breathing room—flexibility for the applications of the absolute! It might be good news, not bad. If determinism is dead, doesn’t that open a road of hopeful possibilities? (As well as, I acknowledge, the opportunity to avoid some deep ditches on the sides of that road—uncertainty gives us those choices, too.) Coming to grips with uncertainty is not just for subatomic particles. We too can decide to appreciate the design of reality and participate joyfully!