Where does spirituality end and science begin? CHRISTIAN JAILER writes that science is starting to provide evidence for some of our spiritual beliefs.
Quantum physics, also known as quantum mechanics, is a central theory in physics that examines the tiniest particles and energies revealed in nature. These comprise of atoms and subatomic particles such as electrons and photons.
If you gaze closer, atoms and other particles in their simple form are only made up of energy. And energy is in continuous motion. This is where traditional scientific principles often break down because moving energy can’t easily be measured and categorised as science aims to do. Instead, we’re left with a new world of potentials that start to explain nature on an unfathomable level, which has conventionally been the realm of spirituality.
In the physical world, we all seem like very separate individuals. If you could gaze at an atom under a powerful microscope, you would see a small, hurricane-like vortex that contained other infinitely small energy vortices called quarks and photons. These vortices are unseen to the human eye, and like all energy, they have no mass or physical structure.
Quantum physics has proven that our thoughts can indeed influence matter. Your mind has created your reality based on your thoughts and insights. Many modern theories support this observation.
Science previously believed that matter only contained particles, and light only existed in waves. Now, quantum physicists have found that light can act like a particle, twisting around corners or bouncing off walls. And matter can behave as a wave, such as electrons moving in waves around a neutron.
Simply observing particles actually changes their behaviour. Electrons have been shown to behave as waves. Although, an Israeli study revealed they only do this when no one is watching.
Quantum physics now provides a way to prove that time is not as absolute as we often think it is. Scientists have proven certain particles can become entangled so that their physical properties will consistently mirror each other.
Spiritual teachings reveal the karmic principle that what you put into the universe will come back to you. But quantum physics is revealing there may actually be a scientific law behind that mantra.
One particle can be in many locations at once. A fact that has been proven repeatedly in what physicians call the double-slit experiment. Researchers have sent atoms, photons, complex molecules and other single particles through a barrier that has two slits cut into it. Every time, each particle shows evidence of interacting with itself on the other side of the barrier. This shows the particle somehow went through both slits at the same time. This has given rise to the many-worlds theory, which suggests there’s endless number of parallel universes that exist in this moment. This also means there’s an infinite number of potential realities where the infinite versions of you have committed every action possible during your infinite lives.
Featured photo: Electrons moving in waves, by Alexandre Gondran [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons
