This Will Mindfuck You: The

Double-Slit Experiment
Recap: When a camera observed the electrons, they acted as particles. However, when
the no equipment was used to observe the electrons, they acted as waves and particles
simultaneously.
So whats the reason for this? Does the electron somehow know that it is being watched?
That was the only logical reason that scientists could come up with so much
skepticism and controversy followed.

Want even further proof?

Then in 2002, a group of researchers set up the experiment in a way that the electron
could not possibly receive information about the existence of an observing instrument.
The setup was on a much smaller scale: a single photon was emitted and an
interferometer that observed the wave-or-particle behavior was either inserted or not
inserted. (Click here to download the full report)
Heres the kicker: The insertion of the interferometer took only 40 nanoseconds (ns)
while it would take 160 ns for the information about the configuration to travel from the
interferometer to reach the photon before it entered the slits. This means in order for
the photon to know if it was being watched, that information would have to travel at 4
times the speed of light, which is impossible (the speed of light is the universal speed
limit).
The Results: The photons acted like particles 93% of the time that they were observed.
Even if the photon guessed the configuration each time, statistically speaking it would

never have more than 52% accuracy. In scientific experiments, a 93% success rate is as
conclusive as they come.

What are the implications of this?

1. Matter can act as both a wave and a particle depending on whether or not
it is being observed (Wave-Duality Theory)
This is the least meaningful implication for you as a macroscopic organism, but
nonetheless its a pretty crazy concept.
2. Observation can (possibly) affect the outcome of macroscopic events
After all, you and everything you know are composed of these microscopic particles, so
why couldnt something large be influenced as well? It would be the sum of a seemingly
infinite amount of pieces of matter acting as either waves or particles. Scientists have
very mixed opinions on this topic so Ill just say it makes sense to me that this could
happen on a larger scale.
3. We dont know very much about this universe (Science is not yet an exact
science)
There are a couple things out there that science still cannot explain like the
characteristics of gravity, but this blows Newtons discovery out of the water. As we
study smaller and smaller particles in order to understand more about what were made,
we seem to find more things that just dont make sense. Point being that nothing should
be ruled out completely because we simply cannot know anything for certain at this
point.

What other implications did you get out of these experiments?

Sources:
1. http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/schroedinger/two-slit2.html

2. http://arxiv.org/abs/0710.2597
3.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mind