Why would the interference pattern disappear when we ‘look’ at the Photons?
When scientists put some detectors near the slits and tried to observe through which slit each photon was actually going, apparently the wave pattern disappeared and particle pattern emerged. This lead to another mind blowing conclusion of QM: When photons are not observed, they behave like waves but when someone looks at them they behave like particles.
How can we explain that? i.e. why would the wave pattern disappear when we place ‘cameras’ near the slits and try to observe the photon’s path?
Basically the appearance of wave pattern or particle pattern in DSE is not an all or none phenomenon. Depending upon the set up of the experiment, we may get a purely particle pattern or a purely wave pattern or a combination particle and wave patterns. And neither the wave pattern is specific to waves nor the particle pattern is specific to particles. It all depends upon how we setup the experiment!
By doing some adjustments in the experimental setup, We can make water waves produce particle pattern and also make light waves produce particle pattern
How to make waves produce particle pattern?
Decrease the distance between the source and the screen
2) Make the slits narrow and deep
3) Increase the distance between the slits
4) Bring the detector screen closer to the first screen
5) And last but most important, decrease the sensitivity of the detector so that it only senses and picks up the strong impacts and not the weak impacts
And if we do that, surely water waves will produce particle pattern and even light will produce particle pattern. i.e only two bands come up on the screen. Also increasing the intensity of light beam will also change the pattern that appears on the detector. i.e wave pattern gives way to ‘particle pattern’.
Observing the photons’ path by keeping some sort of detectors near the slits alters the slit configuration (i.e it narrows/ deepens the slit) and hence the appearance of particle pattern. We don’t have to resort to absurd and mythical notions like photons knowing and changing their behavior when someone observes, ‘collapse’ of wave function etc.
Now, How to make particles produce wave pattern?
Do exactly the opposite
1) Increase the source to the screen distance
2) Make the slits wide and shallow
3) Make the slits closer to each other
4) Take the detector screen farther away from the first screen, may be to the infinite
and last and most important- Make the screen highly sensitive i.e. it must pick up even the most subtle impact.
if we do that, we can make even our water particles to produce wave pattern outside the water environment. Even bullets, foot balls etc would produce a wave pattern.
So how the detector screen feels something or what pattern the detector screen shows depends upon the set up of the experiment and its sensitivity. Quantum physicists are right here in a way, the same thing may appear as a wave or as a particle depending upon the circumstances and how we look at it.
So waves can be seen behaving as particles and particles behaving as waves.
And that begs the question: Are they both different at all? Are there really two things called waves and particles in Nature? Now we are getting closer to the Truth and able to smell the Non-dual Nature this Creation.
True, there is only one thing. At the most subtle level, that exists as waves and at the gross level, the same manifests as material objects or particles. We may see a ball here. But it is actually a wave in the ether ocean at a more fundamental level. While the gross material form of the ball exists at just one location, its subtle wave form exists all over the space.
(Dear friends, In this video I am going to talk about the rationale behind Karma Yoga, one of the four divine paths to Salvation as per the Hindu spiritual philosophy. And will try to clear the mystical notions surrounding this very practicable but divine path to salvation. Here is the great sloka from Gita that we are all familiar with..
Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana। Ma Karmaphalaheturbhurma Te Sangostvakarmani।।
In that, Lord Krishna seems to preach that we should do our work without thinking about the results. And apparently, results should never be a motivation for us to do our work. That obviously raises two questions.
Firstly is it possible at all for people to perform actions or karmas without any expectation about the results? And secondly, why shouldn’t we think about the results? What should be our motivation to work, if not the results? We will delve into the issues and ‘rediscover’ Karma Yoga, the divine path to Moksha, and as we do that, we will realize that not only our destination is happiness but the path is also full of happiness.
Now coming to the point, is it possible at all for people to work without any expectation about the results? In our modern society we always think about the results first, either consciously or subconsciously and then only we plan our work. For example, we want to pass our exams and so we study; we want to have better career and jobs and so we go for higher education. We want to earn our livelihood, so we go to office and work. We take medicines because we want to get relief from illness, we brush our teeth because we want our mouth to be fresh etc…thus either consciously or subconsciously, we set our goals first and then decide the plan of action or the karma. If we take away the result part, we almost always lose the motivation to do our work and we become confused as to what to do next. Even when people do charity work, they do it with some ulterior motives and expectations in their mind.
So we always seem to think of the results first, whatever actions we perform or whatever karmas we undertake and we keep asking ourselves what is the benefit? What will I get? Why should I do that? etc. But let’s think. Are there any activities in our daily life which we do without thinking about the results? Well, there are many. For example, eating food. We don’t generally think of the benefits that come to us when we eat our food. We won’t ask ‘what will I get if I eat?’. Rather we simply eat, because we just enjoy that, we derive pleasure out of that action. Eating food and satiating our hunger is a pleasurable activity. So we are always eager to do that whenever we are hungry.
Of course, by eating food, we get the energy to carry on with our daily activities and it helps us sustain our body, maintains health etc, but these benefits come as a bonus and not that we seriously aspire for them or think of them as we eat our food. Of course, there do exist some highly conscious and goal oriented people who eat food and also make love, not for the enjoyment in doing them but with some targets in their mind, like to maintain fitness, to have kids etc… we will talk about them at some other point. But most of us eat food primarily because the act is enjoyable and satisfying to do. So the motivation to do the action comes from the action itself and not from the results that follow the action.
Same is the case with lovemaking. Most couples make love because they derive pleasure out of that action. To have children is not the prime reason or motivation for lovemaking for any species. It is just that as a couple enjoys moments together, they get children as a bonus. If a couple attempts lovemaking for the sake of having children and not for the pleasure in it, it is likely that they will not be able to perform that effectively and so their chances of having children go down. So they not only miss the enjoyment now but also suffer in the future for not having children.
And that brings us to the most important life secret which forms the basis of Karma Yoga. That is…never work for the results or the fruits, rather just enjoy the present karma. If you enjoy the present karma, you will perform that well and fruits will automatically come to you and add to the joy.
On the other hand, if you don’t enjoy your karma, you will not be able to perform that well and so your chances of getting the fruits become slim. And even if you get the fruits, you will not be able to really enjoy them because by the time those fruits materialize for you, you will have newer goals and expectations flooding your mind and you will continue to slog to realize those new expectations. Thus people who work for the results will always remain stressed and dissatisfied.
On the other hand, if people do the work, not for the results but for the enjoyment in doing the work, not only do they live happily now but also live happily in the future. So if you live happily now, happy moments line up for you automatically. In other words, happiness brews happiness. And each pleasurable action leads to a more satisfying, happier and lasting outcome and thus we ‘fall’ into a happiness cascade.
For example, as we have discussed, as a couple makes love and enjoys the moments together, they get kids as a bonus and which gives them more happiness. And as we care for our kids and enjoy time with them, they grow into happy and responsible citizens and which brings us even more happiness. Instead, if we sacrifice those happy moments and engage ourselves completely in career and business, we will surely be deprived of happiness in the future also, and despite all the money and fame that we might acquire, we will be left alone in misery when we get old. In other words, if we don’t acknowledge and enjoy the happy moments that are right in front of us, unhappy moments will surely wait for us in the future.
Coming to food again, as we eat and enjoy our meal, we get the energy and strength to ‘play’ with Nature i.e. we can plough, cultivate, hunt etc. And as we play with Nature, we get our livelihood, that is, we are again ready to satisfy our hunger and enjoy. And having played with Nature and satisfied our hunger, we get ready for a good night’s sleep. And the happiness cycle repeats. Again see the wonderful arrangement here. One happy event leads us to another happy event.
Also as we play with Nature and enjoy the good food that Nature offers us, we remain healthy and active. There is a misconception that good food is not tasty, and so we can’t really enjoy that. But if we look at the food habits around the world, we will realize that taste is largely a matter of habituation and not a property of the food stuff. So why not tune our taste buds or why not habituate ourselves to the good food that comes for free as we play in Nature and be happy and healthy?
So just by playing in Nature, we can get entertainment, exercise, good food, health etc… and all for free. And despite all this wonderful arrangement in Nature, if people still remain unhappy and struggle to live, that shows the level of ignorance in the society.
There exist so many ‘activities’ or games in Nature for us to play and to make our livelihood… from cultivation to animal rearing to cookery to pottery, weaving, crafting, music, dance etc. We just have to chose the game that we can play most comfortably and take up that as our occupation. Then, as we play and enjoy our occupational game, fruits will automatically come to us even though we don’t think of them.
For many of us, it is usually our family game or family occupation that we will be most comfortable to play. More over, we can learn that game for free from an early age in our own home environment without much competition. And the other great thing is that as we do our ‘apprenticeship’ under our parents, we remain supportive and helpful to them. That is to learn and excel in the livelihood game, children need not sacrifice decades of their valuable life taking exams after exams in competitive foreign environments nor do they need to ‘rob’ their parents’ hard earnings to pay for fees etc.
Of course, if not one’s family profession, one may choose a profession or game in which one has passion. In our modern society, the activities that we are really interested in and perform well are often labelled as ‘hobbies’ or ‘pastimes’ and we put them aside as we run behind high income occupations even though we don’t really have a passion in them.
If you can make your hobby as your occupation, then the motivation to work comes from the work itself and not from the results that follow. And obviously you will enjoy your work, you will perform that well, and fruits will automatically come to you and add to the joy you have already been experiencing.
Livelihood will never be a problem for any occupation. In fact, as we have discussed, we can earn our livelihood and meet all our daily needs just by playing in Nature.
But, meeting just today’s needs doesn’t seem to satisfy us. We are all worried about our future a lot in this modern world. And so we work very hard to accumulate money for future needs at the expense of our present happiness, and people call this as foresight. It is actually this ‘foresight virus’ which is the main threat for human race and not corona virus, swine flu, dengue, HIV etc etc. And this ‘foresight virus’ which has infected the human mind is claiming more lives than anything else on this planet. I will discuss later about the various manifestations of that ‘foresight virus’ and how it disguises us to make our future bright but leaches our whole life in the process. Fortunately, it doesn’t require costly medicines or vaccines. Just with right education, we can keep a check on that virus and health, happiness and peace will be restored in no time on this planet.
If one can rescue oneself from this ‘foresight virus’ and learn to live for the present, one will realize that livelihood is not a problem for any occupation. And every occupation is as joyful as any other if we play it just enough to fetch our livelihood. But if we start overplaying our profession to earn more than what we really need for our living, then our profession ceases to be a play and becomes stressful, whether it is pottery, weaving, cultivation or medicine. Even eating and lovemaking become stressful and painful if one does them too much.
Eating remains a pleasurable activity only as long as we do that to satiate our hunger, but if we start competing with others and go on over eating, then the same turns into a stressful and harmful activity. Same is the case with all our hobbies and occupations. We can enjoy any activity or occupation as long as we do that for our own livelihood and not to defeat others. Being able to eat more than what others can, isn’t something really great. How much you have enjoyed your meal is what should matter.
So, now coming to our original question, if we choose the right activities and follow the right path, we can enjoy and perform every activity just like eating and lovemaking and without thinking about the fruits and as we enjoy our activities, fruits will automatically come to us and add to our ecstasy.
Thus, people who practice karma yoga will enjoy every moment and every activity in their life to the fullest extent i.e. they enjoy their food, they enjoy their marital life, enjoy with their children and grand children, enjoy their work, enjoy with their neighbors etc. That is they enjoy every phase of their life to the fullest extent and they will reach a stage of total contentment. That is they feel enough of joy and enough of life. Its just like the satisfaction that we experience when we satiate our hunger with a sumptuous meal. Having enjoyed all the material pleasures, they would happily leave this world for a ‘refreshing sleep’ and reach the highest stage in the happiness cascade i.e. Moksha, where in they get liberated from all the worldly desires and bondages and experience what is called as Bliss or Brahmanandam.
Life is actually like a meal. If you eat your meal properly, you wouldn’t crave to eat more. Similarly if you live your life properly, you wouldn’t crave to live more, rather you would happily leave this world for a ‘refreshing sleep’.
Unlike what the modern fake swamijis preach, there isn’t anything called selfless service in Karma Yoga. Rather a true karma yogi seeks to experience divine pleasure in every action that he performs. And each action takes him to a higher level in the happiness cascade and finally to attain Moksha and experience Bliss.
Next, a true karma yogi never really gives up his desires but fulfills all of them to the point that he will have no desires left to fulfill in this material world. The secret here lies in knowing one’s true desires and following the ‘DHARMA’ while satisfying those desires. That is, for us to attain Moksha via Karma Marg, it is important that we perform the actions or the karmas in the right manner.
For us in the modern era, Righteousness or ‘DHARMA’ implies a hard life style. But if we go deep and analyze, we will know that, Righteousness or ‘DHARMA’ just implies doing our karmas in the right way or performing the actions in the most effective way so that we experience maximum pleasure. Simply put, ‘DHARMA’ implies following the laws of Nature as we do our karmas. I will discus more about this in the next episode. Thank you)
