Preeminence of the observer

 Re “The Quantum Observer,” Sci-Am, July/August 2024

“Some interpretations of quantum physics,” we read, “argue that even if there is only one world, the outcomes of measurements may still be relative to an observer rather than to an objective fact for everyone.” Strong evidence for this position is really to be found all around us, and not just in the depths of quantum physics. It can be found in relatively trivial things, like in the curfew imposed by parents on a teenager, which appears perfectly reasonable to the parents and totally unfair to the teen. And it can bo found in situations of more consequence, like the bombing of Gaza, an act of the greatest injustice for many university students, and the exact opposite for Benjamin Netanyahu. That a coin toss might result, simultaneously, “tails for one observer and heads for another,” is not therefore true just in a quantum realm, as Renato Renner claims, but in pretty much all aspects of life.

Ermes Culos

Ashcroft, BC