We (humans) seem to be at a very important point in space-time, yes, the position we occupy in the cosmos seems just right, not just for us but also for all living things residing in our vicinity. Also we seem to have evolved and still be in existence at a timeframe that seems like it was/is the right time, with certain qualities that separates us from that of other living things. One of our interesting attributes is conceptualization, where we try to explain/make sense of our observation, using our minds. So, how is this all related to an observer?
Interesting question, the consensus is that we are observers especially because we can also make sense of the universe or try to give it meaning. Truth be told things are actually more complicated just looking at it that way, for example there's the problem of what an observer actually is - especially when you factor in quantum mechanics, is it restricted to only humans? Is it restricted to conscious entities? Is it restricted to life? What about non-living thing (measuring instruments or AI - artificial intelligence)?
There's the question of why our universe is the way it is and one plausible explanation called the "anthropic principle" is that our universe is the way it is because of intelligent life, which means if it were to be in another way, life itself or intelligent life (including humans) may not exist or our universe may not exist. The anthropic principle could also be wrong, intelligent life could as well be a byproduct of a more important process, in essence we aren't important. Now, given that we (intelligent life) are considered observers, it means that from the anthropic principle the universe was also fine-tuned for observers to exist, in other words, if not for the observers how would the universe make sense?
This raises another interesting question and it's, can a universe exist without an observer?
May I remind us that our universe is believed to have a beginning and there are events/stages that followed before getting to where we are today. During those times before our existence or that of our planet or possibly other alien intelligent lifeforms that would come later, there were no observers. Which means there were times where our universe existed without observers but however, this is if we assume observers are restricted to just intelligent life like we humans.
Another way of answering the question is from the perspective of a multiverse. A multiverse is a collection of universes not necessarily governed by the same fundamental laws and they could be infinite. Being infinite would imply that there's at least one universe that supports intelligent life and thus observers, which is itself a support to the anthropic principle - there are universes specifically fine-tuned for observers to exist. What this means is that there are universes in the multiverse that also doesn't support observers/intelligent life. Are you getting the logic?
From the two scenarios given above we see that it's easier to answer the question of whether a universe can exist without an observer, if we restrict the observer to intelligent life. We stated earlier that we still do not know what an observer really is - in quantum mechanics, factoring this in would make the question very difficult to answer. For example, if non-living things are part of observers, then a universe without any object can be considered a universe without observers but can such universe actually exist and why should we still call it a universe?
Also, can a universe itself be an observer?
We still have a lot to learn and understand before we can answer such questions, science itself is still in it's progressive stage. I just hope we don't get to a universeless universe as it would be interesting and no one to observe it. 😂
Enjoy the universe while you're still an observer and till I come your way again next time.
For further reading
Thank you all once again for stopping by to read my jargons and also thank you @stemng, @lemouth and the @Steemstem team for your valuable supports.
Lastly, please don't forget to do the needful
Upvote
Comment
Reblog
If you enjoyed my jargons.
