General Chat

Quantum mechanics (the study of the infinitely small) tells us that the world we inhabit depends for its meaning and reality on our perception of it. Let’s seriously consider any solid object, perhaps the chair on which you are sitting, and think of it afresh.

Firstly, using stored knowledge, we can examine the chair with our normal senses - sight, touch and smell and maybe tap it, bringing in our hearing. We may deduce that it is made of wood and not metal, plastic or some other substance.

We may go on to deduce the existence of a tree and, subsequently, soil, water, sunlight and air so necessary for the production of wood. But then think of the transmutation of all these forms of matter and energy into a living tree. But don’t stop there; it is composed of cells and molecules.

A molecule is the smallest unit of a compound that can take part in a chemical reaction and is made up of a group of atoms electrically bonded together. An atom is mostly empty space. It has a tiny nucleus surrounded by electrons whizzing round it as the earth and planets whiz round the sun. None of these components is touching. Indeed, relative to their size, the spaces between are astronomical. To illustrate this, if the electrons circling at set distances made the shape of a football, the nucleus (which as we all know can be split into even smaller components) could be compared to a grain of sand in the centre.

Had it been a metal, fabric, plastic or any other sort of material chair we would still have arrived at molecules, albeit of a different sort – but let’s not go into that..
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So how about your chair or any other “solid” object? It is made of atomic particles no two of which are touching. It's mostly empty space. It’s quite ghostly, in fact, if one looks closely enough. We are just used to perceiving it as hard and solid.

Since the advent of quantum mechanics, over the last few decades, the physical world has lost its old solidity and permanence, certainly as observed by most physicists.

Reading this reminded me of the other thought proking question;

If a tree falls down in a forest and nobody is there,Does it still make a sound???

Sorry, that should read,"thought provoking"