생각하라

생각하라 그 속에 모든 답이 있다. Think, all answers are within. I knew I used to think a lot during my undergrad days. I think a lot more in depth when I was studying quantum chemistry. Have you ever wonder why there is a saying, "curiosity kills the cat."?

It originates from a thought experiment devised by Erwin Schrödinger to illustrate the duality nature of quantum mechanics. In this experiment, Schrödinger imagined a cat inside an enclosed steel chamber along with a tiny bit of radioactive substance and a mechanism which will release poison upon detection of an atom emitted from radioactive decay. There can be only two outcomes for the cat inside the chamber after being left alone for some time. It can either be dead or alive but we can never be too sure unless we open the chamber. The fact that the cat can be dead and alive at the same time mirrors the duality nature of quantum mechanics. Duality exists if there is no human intervention. Let say, a person, out of curiosity, opens the chamber. There will then only be one outcome for the cat. Duality vanishes upon human intervention. So if the person finds a dead cat, the cat can never be alive anymore which is why curiosity kills the cat.

From what I have learnt about from the world of quantum mechanics, I believe in "non-human intervention" for my future. That means, I don't believe in having my fortune told. I rather let my future takes its natural course. Possibilities exist because I don't intervene but if I do intervene, be it good or bad outcome, I think it is still worse off than if I have left it alone. If I know my future is good, I may become lazy and not work hard. And if it is bad, I may resign to fate and give up trying. I must say that I believe in fortune telling and I am not afraid to have my fortune told but I would rather "tell" my own future by working for it.

Talking about possibilities, can Singapore really be a "City of Possibilities". It can but not when the government intervenes. Being pragmatic and outcome-driven, I think it is very difficult for our government not to intervene. Perhaps a more appropriate description of Singapore is that it is a "City of Outcomes". But then again, do our people really care whether it is a "City of Possibilities" or a "City of Outcomes"? For the fact that Singaporeans seldom "intervene" with what the government says, we can always live with the "duality". At this juncture, I would like to think that if a person thinks too much, simple thing can become too complicated and a spade can no longer be called a spade. At times, it may sound counter-productive to think. Yes, I may end up at the same point where I started but because I think, I ended seeing with clarity the two sides of the same coin.