Is Reality Observer Dependent or Independent?

One of the most important players in all things quantum is the observer – that person or instrument that makes a measurement will decides between all possible outcomes. Even though the Copenhagen Interpretation says that Mother Nature only makes up Her mind – collapses the wave function of possibilities to a specific outcome – when an observation or measurement is made, and until then all possibilities are, well, possible, then I have to ask, how on Earth (or in the Universe) did anything happen before any life (and associated mind) evolve? Taken to its logical conclusion, the Copenhagen Interpretation would say that prior to the origin and evolution of life, the Universe didn’t exist because there was nothing with sensory equipment and a comprehending mind around to observe it and give it existence. [Of course if the Universe (actually Multiverse) has always existed and therefore if life has always existed somewhere or other, that would take care of that little problem quick-smart.] Regardless, how does Nature make up Her mind today in those parts of the Universe where there are no observers? Observers, to my mind, are an irrelevance and while a part of reality, do not determine what reality actually happens. Reality exists – it is what it is and what it is exists independently of any observer or mind or consciousness.

Another important player in all things quantum is the concept of probability, or chance, or randomness or uncertainty or indeterminacy. That’s in stark contrast to classical physics where all things are predetermined and where cause and effect rule the roost.

Now to my manner of thinking, quantum uncertainty, the core of which is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, is only uncertain because there are observers trying to measure things, although fundamentally they cannot ever get a precise measurement, no matter how good their instruments are, or ever will be. You can’t measure things in the micro realm without affecting the everything you are trying to measure. However, remove the observer from the picture and things are as certain and predetermined in the micro world as they are in the macro (classical) world. An electron might jump around like a flea as it is pummeled with photons of all wavelengths and energies from radio to gamma, and to an observer trying to measure the electron’s position and velocity finds it is always somewhat uncertain, nevertheless, at any specific point in time, it’s somewhere with precise coordinates, and it’s traveling at a specific velocity.

Any radioactive substance decays at a known rate – the half-life. If you have 1000 atoms of a radioactive substance, and the half-life is one year, do you really need to interrupt your holidays after one year to check that there are still 500 radioactive atoms left?

Now apparently an isolated neutron will decay into an electron, a proton and (I believe) an antineutrino within roughly ten minutes. If you could put an isolated neutron in an impenetrable box, and put it on your closest shelf, do you really need to open the box – other than to satisfy personal curiosity – ten years later to find out what’s in the box? If you believe the Copenhagen Interpretation, there’s a possibility that there is still just a neutron in the box. Me, I think that’s so unlikely a possibility that you could stake the family fortune on the outcome and win hands-down. To flog a dead horse, the Copenhagen Interpretation says that you have to actually observe something in order for it to have reality. Until you observe, all possibilities are, well, possible. Mother Nature makes up her mind when you observe. But it does seem to be possible to know the reality of something without measuring or observing it because of entanglement, where knowing the state of one object, immediately gives you information on the state of something intimately associated with it, but which you don’t actually observe.