Day 9: Physics, International Relations, Quantum Reality- Is destiny fixed?

To what extent do we control our fate, our destiny? Destiny as a word- implies that its something out there and its fixed. Then, controlling it means having the ability to change that of what is fixed.What if there was more to this? What if things are not as fixed as we think they are?

 My current understanding about physics draws exactly this picture. There are two prominent schools of thought that explains the world in physics. One is Albert Einstein's school which explains the world of physics as fixed set of rules that always produces the same outcomes. Not only physics but almost all science is based on fixed set of rules with fixed set of outcomes because this way it is easier to be measure, track, prove or disprove and build predictions upon it. Another relatively new school of thought (almost a century now) is Quantum physics which opens a totally new perspectives to understand the universe we are living.

The major difference between Quantum and traditional physics is that quantum does not agree with the fixed rules of physics. According to quantum physics the same action does not always produce the same outcome. On the contrary, there are endless possibilities of outcomes that the same action can produce. I would like to build a comparison with the International Relations theories to better explain it to IR students.

So the traditional theories of IR (Liberalism and realism, Marxism) have a certain understanding and set of rules about the states, human behavior and world system. These theories are considered scientific because they can be proved/disproved, measured and therefore some events can be predicted using them. The modern theories of IR, however, i.e. the Constructivist School opens new possibilities as is distorts the fixed set of rules that traditionalists present. That is why traditionalists do not accept them as science because it takes away the tools of measurement and prediction from their hands. This school of thought claims that the observer of international relations his beliefs thoughts and ideas can equally shape the sytem as other more prominent actors do such as states international organisations and classes. According to them the observers are the actors of international relations system as well. System is not somewhere out there, we are part of it and in fact we create the system. For example, after the end of the cold war Francis Fukuyama wrote the book called "The end of history and the last man"- with this he shared the idea that the world of the conflicts and competition has come to an end. The world of the Globalization and the rule of single superpower will bring peace and harmony. The state borders will dissolve and eventually one world one state will emerge. However, Samuel Huntington with his book Clash of Civilizations brought about a totally different perspective to the understanding of conflicts. He claimed that the conflicts will move on to another phase on a civilizations level. Different ideas, groups, religions, traditions will fight over survival. According to the constructivists both of these approaches could be true which at first does not make sense because they both were contradicting each other. However, it is argued that they both can be valid depending on the lenses you are looking at the world. The observer on its own can shape the reality he is living in as both Francis Fukuyamu and Samuel Huntington did by writing their books and spreading their worldview. In their reality and in the reality of thousands the world they view was the reality. Therefore, Ideas and thought are as equal actors of the International Relations System as the states and organisations.

Now lets come back to the Quantum physics. The main difference of the quantum physics is that in traditional physics if you take an atom it can behave either as a particle or a wave. Quantum says it can be both. The next stage is if you take that wave it can move either clockwise or counter clockwise, up or down. Then you make an experiment and you observe it. The outcome lets say is that it moves clockwise or up. So the result should always be same clockwise or up. (traditional) However, when  You observe it for the second time you see a different result. Third time a different result and so on. The possibilities in quantum world are endless and they cannot be measured. The answer is similar with IR theories. It is the relations of the atom with the observer that changes its movement direction or the behavior every-time. It is wrong to assume that the observer is outside the quantum field where the atom exists. In fact we both are the quantum field. We are also composed of atoms and by watching the atom move we influences its movement. We the observers are part of the quantum world as well and we are made of atoms, particles and waves.

The theory says that the movement is always different because we are different every time we make the experiment. But What does it have to do with destiny you would ask?

The Quantum theory goes deeper to argue that we are being that exist in the metaphysical realm and in fact there are multiple universes/ realities that exist at the same time. During our lifetime we shift from one reality to another which is slightly different from the previous or the following one. The reason why the observer can impact the movement of the atom is because he is located in the different coordinate every-time he observes the atom.  So the interaction of the atom is different every-time. Therefore the outcome is always different.

To sum up, destiny is not something that is fixed and that is out there. There are infinite number of destinies that exist at the same time. We and our destinies are not two separate entities. We are composed and interact with each other as the atom and the observer. Whats more to this our belief systems, set of rules that we impose on ourselves have the power to shape our reality i.e destiny. So maybe we can in fact control our destiny??

Sorry for slightly confusing post. There were just thoughts that were flying over my head this morning. For deeper insight regarding the theories presented in this post i would hightly recommend to read Sean Carrols new book called "Something Deeply Hidden"