Chapter 7
You Can't Know
Quantum Mechanics was the bane of
Einstein’s existence. As stated in chapter two, Einstein could not reconcile
the supposed disorder of quantum mechanics to his theory of Relativity. No
matter how many recalculations Einstein made, the results were the same. It
seemed as though the quantum level operated with a different set of rules than
the universal physical world. In the quantum level there is no way to determine
the position and direction of an object at the same time. You can’t pin
anything down in the quantum world. There is no up, down, left, right, or even
before and after. All these 3 dimensional representations of reality disappear.
As talked about a little bit in the
second chapter, Quantum was developed when it was noticed that the electron
acted differently purely based on whether or not you were observing it. It was
almost as if the electron, and any subatomic particle for that matter, had a
brain of its own and knew when we were observing it. In a normal, double slit
experiment, the photon acted like we would expect, a wave. It produced an
interference pattern of a wave. However, when scientists decided to see if they
could find out which slit the electron actually went through they discovered
something that blew their minds. When they found the exact location of the
photon, it produced an interference pattern as though it was a particle, with
no wave properties at all. This was ridiculous, and rejected by many
scientists. How could one piece of matter be two different things in the exact
same experiment?
This really is the most significant piece of
information that we have obtained from quantum mechanics. The very act of observing
changes the way the universe operates. This revolutionized science. No longer
could experiments be taken at their face value. In fact, reality itself can no
longer be taken at face value. The very act of observing our surroundings
changes how they actually act. Does this sound a little like magic to you? If
it doesn’t you probably don’t get it yet. The old question, “If a tree falls in
the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make any sound?” is
actually a legitimate question. In fact, it can be taken one step further, “If
a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to see it, did it actually
happen?” The answer is no. According to many scientists today, nothing exists
until it is observed. We change what “exists” and doesn’t just by existing and
observing what is around us.
These experiments showed that it is impossible
to obtain exact experimental data. This provides astounding implications for
the entire universe, not just the electrons, but for all things that contain
matter. All data must be taken as relative to the observer. There is no reason
to believe that what is observed could not behave differently. We literally can
only study what is inside our reality, and bringing anything into that reality
changes the way in which it behaves. Not only that, but no electron can be
calculated because it could be anywhere or everywhere at one time. It is
impossible to know the location of any subatomic particle.
If we lived in a Quantum world, there would be
no way to know if we were here, or over there, or in both places at once. In
fact, we would not even be able to know the time at which we arrived at a certain
destination. Did, we arrive just now, or have we not yet arrived at our
destination and will be there in a few seconds, or did we arrive before we
arrived? Quantum mechanics explains much more than just the electron and subatomic
particles. It holds implications for real life as well. It explains what
actually happens in our world.
In quantum mechanics, there is a chance that
anything can happen. We can’t know for certain the outcome of a certain
experiment. We can only calculate the probability of the outcome occurring. For
instance, according to the quantum theory, it is completely possible to walk
straight through a solid brick wall, because at some point in time, all our
molecules would randomly line up in a precise way with the molecules of the
wall, which would allow us to step straight through it. The only problem is
that it would take you nearly an eternity to do so. This theory is so accurate
that Quantum mechanics has never contradicted an experiment, but neither has relativity,
and yet they were so completely opposed to each other. One makes the assumption
that everything in the universe is understand able and obeys the speed of
light. It is a very organized world and very rule oriented and
non-contradictory. Quantum mechanics on the other hand is totally different,
everything is changing, the rules of the natural world don’t apply, reality
begins to break down, and nothing is solid and known. Both cannot both be
right, because both theories require the other one to be false.
You can see why Einstein made his statement,
“God does not play dice!” Einstein refused to believe that a God of order would
create something disorderly. Einstein was not overly religious, do not extract
from my writing that Einstein was a religious man, he was not, but he had at
least a basic belief in a God. This basic belief however, was Einstein’s
undoing. Who is Einstein to say what God does or doesn’t do? He limited his
understanding because of his basic belief in what God could or couldn’t do. It
is extremely important that we recognize how much greater God is, for that one
belief shapes every belief that comes after it. Niels Bohr responded to
Einstein’s rash statement by saying, “Einstein! Stop telling God what to do!”
It was clear that to reconcile these two
theories that have been tested hundreds of thousands of times, every time both
being confirmed, there had to be a larger theory that encompassed both. For
example, black holes follow both Quantum and Relativity. Black holes are so immensely
small that they do not follow the laws of the General Theory of Relativity, but
yet their density is so large, that their gravitation impact does not obey the
laws of Quantum either. Both Theories must be used to explain the behavior of
black holes. Einstein was right about one thing, not that Quantum was wrong,
but that the universe should have a logical explanation. Everything in our
universe up to now has operated by following logical laws that fit in with
mathematical observations. This does not mean that there will never be
something that we cannot understand; it simply means that we can expect that
there should be and we should study and experiment until we find it.
This persistence to find a unifying theory that
mathematically unifies Quantum with Relativity led to a new theory, the Theory
of Everything; String Theory. String Theory is extremely complex, and I will
not be explaining it in detail, for the simple reason that I do not understand
it. I will speak of only the implications of the theory; I will not be going
into the actual math of the theory.
As scientists worked feverishly to find a theory
to unify Quantum Mechanics and Relativity, they began to see that what the math
was describing was pieces of energy so small that it is just as impossible to
imagine them as it is to imagine the vastness of our universe. These particles
of energy were found to be massless, pure energy termed strings. According to
the math, these strings could vibrate, and move in any direction. Strings were
found to be a billion billion times smaller than the atom. It was theorized
that these vibrating strings make up everything in the universe. All matter is
composed of these vibrating strings. The way the “string” of energy vibrates or
moves determines the properties of the matter it makes up. This theory provided
a viable description of gravity on the quantum level. Also known as the
Graviton Particle, strings carry with them pieces of spacetime. Indeed, these
particles, are the frame work of which spacetime is made.
As these particles interact with each other,
they make up the
observable
universe. We are all made up of these strings in theory. Trillions and
trillions of them. This explains gravity, because each string is a piece of
spacetime itself, and thus the more that come together, in other words, the
more dense an object is, the more spacetime it contains, and the more effect it
has on spacetime around itself. The most dramatic example of this would be a
black hole, which contains so much spacetime that not even light can escape its
curvature of reality. Our sun is anther example; the sun contains so much
space-time that it bends the space around itself and puts the planets in a
continual orbit around itself. I won’t go into this any farther to spare myself
sounding like a fool who doesn’t know what He is talking about, because in
truth, I do not. However, there are a few more things to consider that I think
are worth our time.
String theory predicts multiple dimensions in
every point of space-time because in order for these oscillating strings to be
stable, they require the existence of at least 10 other dimensions. You see,
there are two different kinds of strings, open-ended strings that are held in
place to this realty, and closed ring strings that are not. The closed ring
would be our force of gravity that can project in all dimensions. Each string
that is tied down to this particular space-time membrane is composed of
multiple dimensions. We exist on just one of these alternate space-time
dimensions. The only difference between the extra
dimensions of our dimension is their shape.
According to string theory, shape is everything.
A string vibrates in different ways thus making up all the different particles
in the universe. Thus our reality is just one vibration of the multiple ways in
which these strings could vibrate. So we live in a world in which certain
things happened because of the way things vibrate. It could be that in the next
reality over, a very different set of circumstances are observed. Everything
that could happen at a certain point in space-time, does happen, just not in
the same reality.
What does this say about our ability to make our
own decisions? Do we live in a fixed universe that is unchanging? Is our
reality predetermined? My suggestion is that this is not the case. What if God
has given us the ability to exist in which ever of these dimensions we choose?
In other words, our very actions alter space-time itself and determine which
reality we happen to exist in. Something completely different may be happening
in the reality next to you because of a decision you made differently in the
past. I will explore this idea a little further in the next section of this
book, but just as a spoiler alert, what if God allows all realities and possibilities
to play out in which he does every alternative possible to give you the chance
to choose life. Thus in heaven, if we have a question about how our life would
have turned out if such and such hadn’t have happened, God will be able to show
you the entire spread of time and show you that no matter which circumstances
you face, you ended up making the exact same decision. Or perhaps God will
bring all realities into one single reality, in which you remember yourself,
every different scenario that could have happened in your life, and yet you
choose Christ in every single one. The God I believe in will not let anyone be
lost who, if circumstances were different, would have been saved. Everyone that
would be saved will be saved.
This is possible precisely because of quantum
mechanics. Because our particles can exist in any place at any time, and cannot
be calculated in any way, our brain can choose anything at any time without being
determined. In fact, it is impossible for us to be determined, because God has
created the universe without the ability of calculation. An electron can be
everywhere at once, and nowhere at the same time, thus it is possible that our
intellect that makes up every decision we make can go anywhere at any time. To
my knowledge, creatures with an intellect are the only things that can control
any aspect of space-time around them. We literally bend reality to our will.
Doesn’t this idea strike you as amazing, that God would give us such power over
the universe? If this God is real, He is great indeed. Even our own free will
has a reason, and is a created thing. Our very reality, free will, time, space,
and existence itself, is all created. Everything has a cause, and a reason, and
that cause and reason could be nothing but an infinite creator, above all, and
of none. He was in the beginning, and before Him there is nothing.
So my last question for you is this, if string
theory really is the theory of everything, describing every known observation
in the universe, and it appears to be self-existent, doesn’t it explain away
the need for God? Many seem to think so. There is only one problem with this,
that is, what started these strings of energy vibrating in the first place?
Even more disturbing is that these strings can actually decay. Space-time is
decaying as we speak. That means that time is not eternal. You understand what
that means!? Time itself is decaying. Bit by bit, piece by piece, these strings
can decay taking with them both the space, and time they occupy. In order for
the universe to continue, a power greater than the string must sustain it.
String theory also predicts a universe that
works like a clock. The properties of these strings, that is to say, the way in
which they vibrate, make up all the forces in the universe. All the constants
we have in the universe, the speed of light, the electromagnetic force, and
gravity, all these forces are determined by the careful balancing of the these
vibrations of the strings. The universe balances on the edge of a knife, if
even one of these constant forces were changed just slightly, the entire
universe would break apart.
The 10 dimensions cause these forces to equal
out, and help determine the constants of nature. We live in such an irreducibly
complex universe. String theory does not negate the need for God; to the
contrary, it shows a universe that requires Him to exist. Quite literally, if
God ceased to exist, the entire universe would go to ruin. I believe, that if
God ceased to exist, so would all of space-time, because the universe is an
extension of the mind of God. Yet even if my theory were not true, without the
clock maker to wind the clock and carefully balance its gears, the clock (this
universe) would, without a doubt, end.
