Time&Eternity

Time in the Formulation of Scientific Theory 153
epistemological progress, 208 and one of the reasons for the successful application
of quantum theory lies precisely in this manner of viewing things.
Both Spectator and Actor in the Great Existential Drama 209 —
The Role of the Observer
The theory of relativity had already bestowed upon the observer a more
important position than ever before by making time dependent upon the
respective reference systems of one or another observer. Quantum theory
increased this tendency into the almost unimaginable. First, it brought disorder
into the distinction between “objective” and “subjective” that was apparently
so self-evident in natural science. Thus, for example, the concept
“objective observation” becomes contradictory in itself, because in quantum
theory, it must be assumed that we can observe only that which cannot be
separated from us. 210 Quantum physics also robbed empirical measurement
processes of their innocence by asserting that any observation of a process
represents an influence on that process. In the words of Bohr: “Now the
quantum postulate implies that any observation of atomic phenomena will
involve an interaction with the agency of observation not to be neglected.
Accordingly, an independent reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither
be ascribed to the phenomena nor to the agencies of observation.” 211
Bohr thus goes so far as to question the very existence of an independent
reality. Neither the phenomena nor the observations can be described
with a simple “that’s how it is.” Each observation requires an intervention
into the course of phenomena in a way that deprives us of the basis for a
causal description. 212
It may sound improbable that the intense observation of a clock slows
down its movement, but that is precisely what happens when the clock is
regarded as a quantum system. It has been shown on atoms that normally
disintegrate with regularity that continuous observation prevents these
atoms from disintegrating. 213 During uninterrupted observation of a quantum
system, time, then, principally stands still. For physicists, this is not entirely
unproblematic: Their definition of time as being that which is shown
by the clock works only when they do not look at the clock too often.
So far, this presentation of quantum physics has focused on probability
and uncertainty only. The inclusion of the observer makes clear that, in
quantum theory, one is dealing with a massive triad of probability, complementarity,
and observation. Neither probability nor complementarity becomes
clear without measurement. This means that even when uncertainty
cannot be traced back to a fault of the observer and his or her equipment,
but is rather a feature of nature per se, uncertainty becomes evident only
through the act of measurement that is performed by an acting subject. The