#quantum | Living The Emerson Rule

What holds the universe together? … does anyone know?

When I came across this quote, I felt a sense of melancholy and buoyancy all at once.

It’s unlikely I’m alone with those moments when I feel I’m holding the universe together. The responsibility of it can be overwhelming. But when I see the power in it – it’s liberating.

Even science doesn’t know this mystery.

Einstein died seeking a unifying theory. In the 70’s, physicists at CERN identified the substance gluon which carries “the strong force that “glue” quarks into protons, neutrons and other particles known collectively as hadrons.”

High school science teaches us about atoms and electrons; and the neutron/proton within its nucleus. What physicists learned 40 years ago and continue to study today is that “Inside the proton lies the deep, unsettling truth: Stuff is made of nothing, or almost nothing, held together by glue, lots of glue.” And these gluons are “massless and evanescent” and carries “most of the proton’s energy.”

“The closer you look, the more you find the proton is dissolving into lots of particles, each of which is carrying very, very little energy,” . . . “If you really study the equations, it gets almost mystical.”
– Frank Wilczek

So, what holds the universe together? Is it gluon? Is it Leah as she leans on the balcony? Maybe Leah is gluon and we’re all Leah. Maybe collectively we hold the universe together.

“To see a world in a grain of sand

And heaven in a wild flower Hold

infinity in the palms of your hand

And eternity in an hour.”

― William Blake

Consider infinity, time and eternity. Thought-provoking concepts – potential mind benders.

There’s an episode from the 80’s Twilight Zone, called “A Matter of Minutes” that sticks with me. A couple somehow wake up hours into the future. They’re freaked out to see their home being dismantled and re-built by cloaked humanoids.

Running through the city they don’t see anyone they know. Eventually they learn these builders create the world minute by minute before anyone arrives – but only the bits that are used and observed. They glimpse a mystery and are captivated until they realize they’re trapped. There’s a very 1980’s ending – a bit eyerolling but still twilight zone-y.

How do these futuristic organizers know what bits are needed? That’s what stuck, poking my curiosity about creating the future.

Time is commonly perceived as linear; the way of clocks and days and years – forward moving like we see in the Twilight Zone episode. However, the theories proposed by quantum physics and entanglement allow more room for imagination.

The early 1900’s saw the introduction of the wave-particle theory. This is a new way to consider the physical universe and time. My favorite thought experiment from that era is Schrodinger’s Cat – is the kitty dead or alive?

Not many people go down the quantum rabbit hole, and eternity is a principle more often contemplated by the disciplines of mathematics, philosophy, religion and poets.

If I extend a little imagination and awareness in my day-to-day life, I can tap quantum possibilities. Reflecting on William Blake’s poem helps me go into the feeling of these lofty ideas, holding them briefly before practicality carries me back to the current moment.

Considering possibility just beyond my understanding pushes my mental boundaries, creating a ripe field to sow a future I might not have imagined.

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.”
― Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone

Tag: #quantum

Holding the Universe Together – As One

Cross Over and Join Me – In The Twilight Zone