As everyone knows, stress is a major contributor to disease, depression, fatigue, and ultimately apathy and non-productivity. All of which has a tendency to occur in cycles. These cycles are determined by the continued momentum of assessments that we make in our life out of habit or conditioning. But if you look closely at this cause and effect relationship, we are assessing something as stressful but in and of itself, it is not inherently stressful. It is how we look at life that makes the difference. Change the assessment and you can eliminate the stress.

Now with amazing discoveries in science, there may be scientific evidence that delves deeper into the ‘assessments’ we make and goes to the very building blocks of the universe and explains how we can create the life we want through the understanding of quantum physics. So, what is quantum physics you may ask and how could it do this? Good question!
To my knowledge there have been very few attempts to bring the quantum world to the laymen. One is an independent film that has made an effort to relate the quantum world with human experience called “What The Bleep Do We Know” created by the Institute of Noetic Sciences. It explores quantum physics in a rather interesting way. This film makes a valid attempt at linking quantum physics with our reality, consciousness and perception. With the wide distribution and popularity of “What the Bleep”, many people are beginning to understand how quantum physics could impact their daily lives.

The other film, which is a bit more scientific than entertaining, is a NOVA special called “The Elegant Universe” with Brian Greene Ph.D. This documentary style film that uses animation as well to explain these hard to visualize concepts, in my opinion, does a better job with the scientific aspect than the former. But, “The Elegant Universe” does lack the aspect of how this wild world may have a direct impact on our daily lives.

So, Let’s take a closer look at this new understanding in science. Quantum physics is the study of the basic building blocks of the universe. ‘Quanta’ is a term that specifies the smallest measurement of radiant energy. For example, things are made up of compounds. These compounds are in turn made up of molecules, which are made up of atoms, which are in turn composed of sub-atomic particles such as neutrons, electrons and protons.

This is the world of quantum physics, sub-atomic particles. But, a sub-atomic “particle” may not really be a particle at all. The latest discoveries in physics have caused physicists to label them “potentialities” or “multiple existencies”. Furthermore, through experimentation, these physicists have been forced to reevaluate the point particle theory, which has been the standard theory for centuries, because of the newly discovered properties these so called particles express. Under certain conditions these particles (electrons, neutrons) act as waves identical to light. Particles are energy that exist as waves spread out over space and time. Now, here’s the amazing part — only when you exercise observation do these waves become particles localized as a space-time event or a particle at a particular ‘time’ and ‘place’. As soon as you withdraw your observation, they become a wave again. So, as you see, your observation, your expectation, and your intention, literally creates that thing as a space-time event.

The classic physics experiment dealing with this issue that has been labeled one of the top ten “Most Beautiful Experiments in Physics”, by Physics World readers, is Young’s Double Slit Experiment. This experiment fires many electrons at a plate with two slits. Behind this plate is an energy sensitive screen. When scientists fired bursts of electrons through the slits, they got an interference pattern that formed on the screen that is identical to light waves. There was an effort to try to explain this pattern since the results weren’t two stripes as expected, but multiple stripes completely opposing traditional thought. Their first explanation was that the electrons were interfering with each other as they could pair up when traveling through the slits.

Later they developed a way of firing one electron at a time so that there would be no interference. Contrary to expectations, there was again the interference pattern. This would mean that each single electron was interfering with itself as it traveled through the slits. But, one might ask, how can an electron be existing in two places at once since that one particle traveled through both slits? Good question! This is where the line between particle and potentiality start to blur.

Now here is the really interesting finding of the double slit experiment: the physicists then tried to “watch” what slit each particle went through. The results shocked everyone. The interference pattern was no longer observable. The explanation, from a quantum physics point of view, is that once the particle is shot through the slit, it remained in the collapsed state of a particle due to the observation. Take away the measurement, and it creates the interference pattern due to existing as a wave after it passes through the slit. Measurement or observation matters.

This particular result is so important and so contrary to our classical notions of the world that it challenges everything that we ‘thought’ we knew about the world. In classical physics things are assumed to happen in the world outside the realm of our control. In the double slit experiment there was a definite contrary result to this notion. Human observation or measurement was affecting the outcome of the experiment.

Now back to my orginal discussion of stress and our quality of life. As I have stated before, stress is caused by our assessment of the world around us perceiving something to be threatening. This assessment can also be considered our “observation” of the world. From quantum physics and the above experiment, they tell us that the mere act of observing an object has an effect on the object. Since all objects are made up of these wave-particles, when you exercise observation these waves become particles localized as a space-time event. Could it be possible that your observation or attention to something could possibly create the object of your attention? Could we take it a step further and surmise that we could possibly create our reality based on our expectations or intentions?

This, of course, could have far more reaching implications in life than just eliminating stress. If the smallest quanta in life exist as ‘potentialities of existence’, then could we possibly stop designing our world haphazardly and unconsciously but instead create a deliberate and conscious life free of negative assessments? Could it be that the possibility that everything your eye can see is made up of these amazing particles of energy which are under your co-conrol just by observing? You are at cause, or co-cause for everything around you? Nothing you observe can exist without your observation?

Perhaps the universe is literally your extended timeless, and boundless body with a mind that has no limitations, only pure potential. Perhaps all you need to do is choose what you wish to observe. Choose it with certainty and consistency, and this will cause the energy field or ‘field of pontentialities’ to collapse from a wave into a particle materializing whatever it is you choose over ‘time’. If this were true, what are the implicatons of this amazing proposition? Think about it. If you could create the life that you want, what would it look like?

Just remember this one fact: You do not have to understand this concept on the deepest level, but then again, even the physicists don’t. Just take the concepts and try to apply them to your life. If it works, great! If it doesn’t, then nothing was lost.