An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that reality cannot be fully understood through observation alone, as both the phenomena and observers influence it.
Niels Bohr's quote emphasizes the complex relationship between reality, phenomena, and the observers who study them. It highlights the idea that our understanding of reality is not purely objective, as both the phenomena we observe and the observational tools and methods we employ shape our interpretation of the world. This challenges traditional notions of an independent reality and invites deeper contemplation about how knowledge is constructed.
In practice
During a lecture on quantum mechanics, one might quote Bohr to illustrate the intricacies of measurement and reality.
When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.
Fame is damaging when people become reliant on it for their sense of self, and their identity, when fame is linked to how you see yourself.
He sees with amazement that our defeats are but the stepping stones to victory and that all his victories are stepping stones to ruin. It was apparent to me that this bad man saw quite clearly the shadow of slowly and remorselessly approaching doom, and he railed at fortune for mocking him with the glitter of fleeting success.
My dog does not care where heat comes from, but he cares that it comes, and soon. Indeed he considers my ability to make it come as something magical, for when I rise in the coal black pre-dawn and kneel by the hearth to make a fire, he pushes himself blandly between me and the kindling splits I have laid in the ashes, and I must touch a match to them by poking it between his legs. Such faith , I suppose, is the kind that moves mountains.
This my goodness does to endow the souls of the just more fully with spiritual riches when for my love they are stripped of material goods because they have renounced the world and all its pleasures and even their own will. These are the ones who fatten their souls, enlarging them in the abyss of my charity. Then I become their spiritual provider. The Holy Spirit becomes their servant.
Let us learn from Christ how to pray, to forgive, to sow peace, and to be near those in need.
We are an impossibility in an impossible universe.
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