Carolina QuotesIs the very mechanism for the universe to come into being meaningless or unworkable or both unless the universe is guaranteed to produce life, consciousness and observership somewhere and for some little time in its history-to-be? The quantum principle shows that there is a sense in which what the observer will do in the future defines what happens in the past—even in a past so remote that life did not then exist, and shows even more, that 'observership' is a prerequisite for any useful version of 'reality'.
John Archibald Wheeler Connected to the Carolinas
Source
As quoted by Paul Davies, Other Worlds (1980)
- year
- 1980
Cite this record
“Is the very mechanism for the universe to come into being me…” John Archibald Wheeler. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-4000255F90. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/4000255f90
More from John Archibald Wheeler
I like to think that someone will trace how the deepest thinking of India made its way to Greece and from there to the philosophy of our times.
We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.
Time is nature's way to keep everything from happening all at once.