edgar-mitchell

Invisible Realities 131
would one day be subject to definitive forecast. But the existence of wave/
particles that can have any number of probable values for their position
and velocity in space-time between measurements causes the universe to
be far more interesting, mysterious, and disturbing than one that is elegantly
deterministic—and presumably less knowable. Yet a universe of
probabilities still falls short of accounting for intentionality and choices
that are made every minute.
Einstein, at once unconvinced of the shortcomings of classical determinism
and disturbed by the counterintuitive idea that one could say
nothing about the underlying structure and movement of matter in the
interval of space-time between measurements, devised various “thought
experiments” to probe the validity of quantum theory.
Exchanges between Einstein and Neils Bohr through the course of
several decades proved the value of mentally dissecting experiments to
discover truths and flaws. Because events at the atomic scale were too
small to observe directly, thought and imagination were needed to create
and think through both physical and thought experiments. As a result, the
subtle line between external and internal reality, between physical experiments
and thought experiments, began to blur even more. It has taken
years for technology to catch up so that the subtleties of thought experiments
could be physically tested. One such thought experiment has particular
relevance to our story, as it illustrates the “supernatural” ways of
nature.
Imagine that protons, ejected from a source, go shooting off in different
directions, tumbling and twisting as they go. The probable values of
the attributes of each separate proton may be described by a separate
Schrödinger wave equation. The values of the attributes of the two particles
must remain correlated to each other, because they came from the
same process and must obey the conservation laws, even though each at
any moment could display a range of values for any particular attribute.
Were one particle to be captured and measured in Princeton, New Jersey,
for example, the other might at the same moment be in Bangkok. Values
of the Princeton particle are suddenly known, and its wave equation collapses
to known values. The Bangkok particle, could it also be captured
and measured simultaneously, would have to display the appropriate values
for its measured attributes because energy and momentum must be
conserved, and the quantum attributes linked. These are fundamental laws
of both quantum and Newtonian physics. What no one understood was
how the Bangkok particle would instantly know that its partner has been
captured, and its wave equation collapsed to correct specific values without
violating the proven relativistic notion that signals cannot travel between
Princeton and Bangkok faster than the speed of light.