Week Two---Quantum Mechanics ....

Uncertainty .... Can we ever know anything with certainty? What is 'certainty'?---predictability, or fixity, knowing the answer to all questions. Mystery is not allowed for as it is always already solved. If the universe were 'certain', dynamic phenomenon would take on a rigid character akin to stasis; all trajectories would be severely narrowed to one movement for transformation, and one movement only. Ever. While there are countless observable patterns in the universe---day turns into night and night into day, the cycle of the seasons---there is also allowance for great variation in these patterns. I feel like there is energy in the universe that is more grounded, like a foundation or core (observable)... and ascending from this base energy, there are infinite levels of ever more dynamic energy, some more fluid or porous than others, that allow for a great variety of phenomenon. All energy is relative and intermingles; energy that is more condensed allows for 'certainty', and energy that is more ephemeral allows for 'possibility'. Like yin and yang, 'certain' holds a seed of 'possibility', and 'possibility' holds a seed of 'certain'. In relation to Quantum Mechanics, to me, subatomic particles are the more ephemeral, the immaterial material greatly imbued with possibility. It follows that they are only deliberately observable, and you can only know their position on a scale of probability, not with any certainty.

Causality .... When I think about 'relativity'---the fundamental tenet that 'everything is connected'---'causality' seems like the immaterial material that fills in the 'gaps', or the porous spaces of the universe's web---the 'interminglingness' of all things. I think of causality as a neutral energy shifted by 'intention'. In Buddhism, all actions begins in the mind, with intention. Following that, it would seem that observable energies in the world both trickle down from thought and would be affected by thought. I know that when I am feeling rather 'fine-tuned', I experience a sensitivity to the energies around me and can viscerally feel my own energies shift in response.

Is the Universe weird? ....It is funny to think that our thoughts can will actions, but I think it is entirely possible. To me, it correlates with the idea that the behaviour of the observed is affected by the act of observation, and the observer. When walking down the street and I run into someone that I have not crossed paths with in some time, someone that I was just thinking about this morning---did my thoughts will this interaction? or, did I cross paths with this person because their thoughts willed the action?... or did we both will the action? .... or did someone else who thinking of both of us will the action? ....Can not say. I oft think of the Universe as giving me 'gifts' or 'tests', or that the Universe has moods. I do not the think the Universe is 'weird' per say, but I do think it has a rather snarky sense of humour.