José Antonio Marín
TEAdir-Aragón
They are two boys and one girl. They are running around the living room, they get on the couch, they jump … “We’re pirates …!” Suddenly one of them, the eldest, stops short: “Father’s here! Father is here! Listen, guys, Father’s here! “And his hug fills me; it’s a second of happiness so intense … The little ones join: “Daddy, Daddy!”. In a moment, they overwhelm you, they grab you, they kiss you, they want to tell you everything, and out of the corner of my eye I see Miguel go back to his world, humming any of the many songs that he memorized, with the TV set in the background Tele-store channel: “But there’s more: if you’re not satisfied, we’ll give you back your money“. And Miguel is retransmitting it, with the same intonation, with the same words, and with a slight smile on his face …
In fact, we believe we know everything. Knowing what we are, how we are, who we are … of course, if we do not consider the existence of our children.
How do the moon and the sun understand each other? What are their criteria, their premises, their principles, their standards? What do they talk about, what are they afraid of? Why did they choose to wander around in a non-stop way instead of looking for the straight path?
A few days ago, I listened to the scientist Sonia Fernandez-Vidal, from Barcelona, 33 years old, quantum physics who has worked on the Particle Accelerator of the European Council for Nuclear Research, explain the theory that there are different realities, a systole -diastole of multiple dimensions … and I understood my son a little more. I already knew that his universe is not exactly the same as mine, so prosaic, so standardized, and so rational. However, some parts fit better for me: our brain can also think – and it does – with quantum logic: fantasy, illusion, imagination, dreams, are also our neural functions, and they are not exactly governed by reasoning.
It turns out that we are only elementary particles: the subatomic, quarks and electrons, which then make up the protons, which in turn form the atoms, to form molecules … And those subatomic particles defy the logic of classical physics, so much that it no longer can affirm: “Reality is such objective truth.” Today he must say, “Reality is not such fixed and objectifying truth, it is fickle and changing as we observe it.”
Therefore, the emotions we feel, the anguish or the happiness, the pleasure and the pain are not quantifiable: they are or are not. Like Miguel. Moreover, because of this, the classical sciences that study reality to give a mechanical and determined explanation cannot give answer to the CONSCIENCE: to the wonder of the contradiction, that coexists between us and responds to another logic … maybe not rational.
Now I am sure that my son has a rich world of his own, much wider than mine, much more attractive, and, like quarks, he can be here and there at the same time. If elemental particles ignore space-time, why cannot Miguel do it, which is a miracle far greater than a single particle?
It had to be assumed that perhaps I was not going to be able to play with him like other parents with their children: that ours was going to be a very, very special game: a game in which Miguel puts the rules. We had to assume many things…
It is unavoidable. You see it in others, and the rage eats up you within. You do not want them to feel sorry, to think, “Poor thing.” Yet, you fall at any moment. Although you see him advance, strive more than any, his perseverance until he manages to discover the meaning or the functioning of something … sometimes you do not value it, and a bad thought crosses your mind. Then, Miguel, who seemed to you to be absent, only Miguel, because the others are “at his own”, he looks at you and says, “What is the matter with you, Dad? Why are you sad? Do not worry, I’ll help you …”
Moreover, you feel angry again because he caught you, because you have not trusted him. In addition, an immense affection, and the luckiest dad in the world to have this special son…
Miguel loves the song “Libre”, by Jarabe de Palo. We discovered it by chance, like most of him. In a compilation album, this song appeared in the first place, and it was heard, and from then on he just wanted to hear that, over and over … Today, three years later, if he hears it again, he receives it with a broad smile …
Let me live
Free
Like the pigeons
That nest in my window
My company
Every time you leave.
Let me live
Free
Free as the air
You taught me to fly
And now
You cut my wings.
And to be myself
And that you become you again
Free
Free as the air
Let me live
Free
But in my own way
And to breathe again
Of that air
That brings me back to life
But in my own way.
Listened in an interview with Sonia Sanchez Vidal by Julia Otero (2011)
What is a quark? What about an electron?
-The most elementary particles of matter: the nucleus of the atom is made of protons, and the protons are made of quarks.
And the quarks?
-They are vibrant particles. There are several types, some very rare, two being the most common: Up and Down.
And the electrons?
-Particles that are corpuscle and wave: orbit around the nucleus. If the nucleus of the atom were a marble in the center of a football stadium, the electron would be the head of a pin orbiting the stands!
-Yes, the atom is almost empty. Matter is a sort of emptiness, an energetic tension.
Thus, matter is almost an illusion…
-And the properties of subatomic particles defy the logic of classical physics.
What properties are these?
-A particle is here and there at the same time! They are all … everywhere at once. Intertwined with all. And a particle is teleported: its structure can pass instantly to another. Like living and dead at the same time.
Excuse me?
-Elementary particles ignore space-time.
It is a challenge for rational logic…
-But our brain can also think with quantum logic that fantasy, imagination, intuition, dreams, magic… they are also our neuronal functions!
Will quantum physics one day explain extrasensory phenomena, telepathy…?
-It will inspire ways of understanding; it will propose some explanations from another non-mechanistic logic. Meanwhile, science already studies the neurology of emotions, how the brain information is transmitted…
And?
-Neuronal microtubules and their meshwork can be quantum mechanisms in our brain. Your brain, quantum machine! Perhaps we carry a quantum computer on our shoulders without knowing it.
Are we facing a scientific leap?
-Faced with a paradigm shift. Classical physics scrutinized reality as something external and objective, looking for a mechanistic and deterministic explanation…
How does quantum physics see reality?
-As a continuum of which our consciousness is not separated! So, the moment you start to observe that subatomic reality … you are already modifying it!
How is that?
-The observer’s consciousness interferes with the behavior of elementary particles, which react to observation. So, if you expect a subatomic particle to behave like a wave, it do it! And if you expect it to do it as a corpuscle, it do it!
Conclusion?
-That science can no longer affirm: “Reality is such an objective truth.” Today it must say, “Reality is not such fixed and objectifying truth, it is fickle and changing as we observe it.”
With what implications?
-It will have to be accepted that rational logic will not be able to explain everything. It will have to accept the wonder of the contradiction … that responds to another logic.
Being a scientific and quantum physics, does it affect your everyday way of being?
-Yes, in three aspects: one, it induces me to think in a more creative, lateral way; Two, impels me to act without victimizing me, to build my reality; and three, it helps me to feel that we are all intertwined.
Will we better understand the functioning of the universe with all this?
-It is what artists, mystics and scientists long for: we yearn for the same thing … And we are more like each other every day.
Translated by Lorena Hojman Davis