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What is an observer?

We have long assumed that “an observer observes the world.”

But what if—

observation itself is not something we do, but something that only appears when certain conditions are met?

Two independent systems align only at specific moments.

Yet this alignment cannot be explained by causality, correlation, or measurement.

So who is observing?

Or rather—

does the observer emerge only when observation becomes possible?

Summary 👇 https://docs.google.com/document/d/19nDAJ_9MgrUFv4Ggyd9yvZIy4YCH9EqSlVOZPr_VuPs/edit?usp=drivesdk

What do you think about this perspective?

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[-] fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

An observer is a means of taking measurement.

The things being measured are so small the means to measure such things greatly disrupts what they would be if not being measured. Think equal and opposite reactions.

[-] KissYagni@programming.dev 1 points 35 minutes ago

I'm wondering if it is that simple. Does the observer needs to have a "consciousness" ? Is a photon colliding with an atom is consider as the observer, or is it the scientist that lighted up the atom which is the observer ?

If we takes Schrödinger cats, when does the measure happen ? When the sensor detect the radioactive particle ? When the cat realize its death ? When the box is open ? When someone actually looks inside the box ?

That's true questions, I'm trying to understand quantum physics since years, but the sources I find are either too simple ("The cat is both dead and alive, It means there are parallel universe !), either too complicated (directly jump to equations).

this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2026
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