Poem: ‘The Soliloquy of Schrödinger’s Cat’

A meditation on life and the von Neumann–Wigner interpretation of quantum mechanics

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To be and not to be—that is the mystery: Whether opposing states thus coexist Until their limbo meets a conscious mind, Which, by observing, ends it? To look, itself, Affects what’s seen, for by our sight we end The many delicate entanglements That matter’s heir to. ’Tis a constant loss That cannot be escaped. The smallest acts May seal our fate in ways none can predict, For nature charts its course by rolling dice, With nil regard for our desires or prayers. Through countless chance events we came to be, And random luck may hasten our demise. It falls to us to ease each other’s load And find such meaning as we can in life. That we evolved from dust of stars, with minds Adept at seeking meaning for ourselves, Should ample meaning be; aye, there’s the rub, For where’s the line dividing mind from brain That frees the first from laws of space and time To act with ghostly power from afar? O, Erwin, do not chafe at vexing truths That mock thy core beliefs about the world. The universe cares naught for thy despair And cannot bend its nature to thy will. Its secrets lie beyond the human realm, Beyond the grasp of common human thought. That untold wondrous mysteries still abound To challenge and exalt the greatest minds Is surely life’s most precious gift of all.

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