“Quantum physics shows us that you can’t predict the position of subatomic particles. An electron or a photon of light is never in a particular place. It’s in a sort of super-position of all possible places at the same time. It’s only when something is observed that all these possibilities collapses into one actuality. What this means is that all options are possible and there are an infinite amount of pathways. We don’t live in a deterministic universe.”
“Okay. Fine. The universe is random and chaotic. But knowing that isn’t going to change anything.”
“I disagree, Gabriel. Religions and governments that follow a determinist model have caused the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. The strangest aspect of this rigid view of history is that the founders of every major religion believed in free will and made choices throughout their lives. Moses decided to lead his people out of Egypt, Mohammed decided to preach in Mecca, and Buddha sat down beneath a Bodhi tree. For me, one of the most significant aspects of the Passion story is that Jesus made a
Gabriel frowned and shook his head. “That’s what the Tabula believe.”
“Their views are shared by many governments and political parties. The two failed ideologies of the twentieth century-Communism and Fascism-both advocated a deterministic model of history. Communism was supposedly a ‘scientific” theory that predicted the inevitable collapse of the capitalistic system. And Adolph Hitler believed that the so-called ‘master race’ was destined to take over the world.”
“Maybe they failed, but we’re still fighting with each other.”
“People don’t believe they have power. Because they’re scared, they want magic spells and secret passwords. It takes some bravery to accept the implications of free will and negative consequences. But we can’t solve our problems with surveillance cameras and tracking programs.”
“A member of the Tabula would say that the world is a dangerous place. We need safeguards to protect us.”
“I’m not going to deny that there’s pride and anger and greed in the Fourth Realm. We can find those negative qualities in our own hearts and see them in others every day. But the Panopticon is a system that automatically assumes that
“Are you talking about our spiritual connections?”
“I’m always wary of calling anything spiritual, Gabriel. It’s such a fuzzy, vague word. What I’m saying is that we really
Gabriel laughed. “I don’t think you can prove that with physics.”
“Perhaps we can. When I was in graduate school, we studied something called the EPR Paradox. In the 1930’s, Einstein and two other physicists had come up with a thought experiment that attempted to show the illogical nature of quantum theory. Physicists knew that electrons and other subatomic particles revolve like two kinds of tops with their axis pointing up or down. Often one of these particles paired up with its opposite so that their up and down movements cancel each other out and became zero.”
“So what’s the paradox?”
“The three physicists described an experiment where an atom was blown apart and two paired particles flew away from each other at close to the speed of light. If one particle was spinning down, then quantum theory predicted that its lost twin had to spin up. Einstein wrote that it was ‘spooky’ to believe that something that happened at one point of the universe influenced another point light years away.”
“Of course. That’s impossible.”
“It might sound impossible, but a number of experiments have shown that Einstein was wrong. French scientists measured paired photons several kilometers apart and discovered that the particles were still linked together, joined by their wave function, acting in response to each other. The entire universe is a strange sort of spider web connected by gossamer strands of energy.
“These theories both describe and explain what we see in reality. The walls of the Panopticon cannot last: freedom is the essence of our lives-not surveillance and control.”
Gabriel nodded his head. “You could be right. But I haven’t met any gods here who actually know the truth.”
