Schrodinger’s Cat. Google it so I don’t waste time explaining the concept. Oh, heck, its simple as hell: a cat in a sealed box with a gadget that can kill it. Is it alive or dead?

This is supposed to be a revelationary(sic) example of the Theory Of Quantum Mechanics, the unexplainable world of sub atomic particles. It’s a world of duality and uncertainty which really cannot be quantified, or even explained. Imagine trying to answer the question about the cat. Can you? The answer is “No”. Not without looking, anyway, and when you look, what will it prove? Is a cat in a sealed box always dead or always alive? Dead some of the time and alive some of the time? Every time you do Schrodinger’s Cat you never know until…

So why is that important? Science relies on repeatable experiments. getting the same result every time proves…something. Even getting the same result most of the time is educational. So what does it mean when you cannot get a predictable or measurable result from repeatable experiments?

In the Theory Of Small Worlds*, my own, this means we are the cat. But oddly, we are also the Observer, trying to find out what’s what and we never know until we act, one way or the other. Keep in mind NOT acting is acting. Or choices in real life are do it, don’t do it, or ignore it. Imagine worlds within worlds like Russian Nesting Dolls, all swirling with what we think are choices and free will. Or maybe we believe in Fate and determined results. We will only know for sure when its too late and the cat is out of the box, dead or alive.

In other words, we are subatomic particles in some other entitie’s world. And they in someone else’s and so on, ad infinitum. (Latin. Look it up.)

In our world Schrodinger’s Cat begins at birth: are we alive or are we dead? Alive? Yay, now are we healthy or malformed? Did we get good genes? Did we get good parents? Are we lucky to live in a nice neighborhood? Et. al.(Latin, iterum,) Each and every question is an example of duality and uncertainty. We deal with Quantum Mechanics every day, from someone’s perspective. We’re all Theoretical Physicists–like Sheldon Cooper–trying to explain the world by our actions. But…

Most of us live lives made of routine, of order, and purpose. We repeat experiments and maybe sometimes hope for better outcomes. Some don’t think at all. Some are even psychopaths intent on killing cats. We shouldn’t waste a lot of time trying to understand a concept bigger than us, but give it enough thought to know we are not what we might think we are. Or are we?

Do it, don’t do it, or ignore it. It might not make any difference in the long run. Or maybe it would…

• Not the “small world” phenomenon of 6 degrees of separation.