Wave-particle duality, great teams and health

I am actively learning about quantum physics, a topic that did not come up much in medical school.

Why?

In quantum physics, scientists and thinkers investigate the core elements and truths of our universe. If we want to solve the challenge of promoting health, then we should understand the basic structures that underlie our physical world.

The basis of health is the basis of our existence. If you can accept this tenet, then let’s dive in.

There are many discoveries in quantum physics that challenge the foundation of our beliefs about our life and existence.

For example, there is no time.

Einstein determined that experience of the passage of time is relative to the location and speed of the observer.

Time and space are really the same things. We see time as going in a specific direction, from the past, to now, to the future. What we call time is the growth of information in our world and universe. When me measure time, in years, minutes, or seconds, we are actually measuring the growing entropy or disorder in our world and universe.

The second law of thermodynamics states that as a system grows, so does the entropy in a given system. In this sense, growing entropy is also growing complexity, information and chaos in the system.

Put another way, growing entropy in a system leads to multiple potential outcomes of a system.

This brings us to another observation in quantum physics, that every particle in nature exists as a wave and a particle, so called wave-particle duality.

What determines whether they exist as a wave or a particle? An observer. That could be you, or me.

This implies we interface with these multi-potential waves to collapse these potentials to a coherent particle or state. In other words, we directly interact with our world and universe to create a given future from a multi-potential wave state.

Could the same be said about team building and health states?

I believe the answer is yes. That’s why I am so interested in quantum physics that studies the basis of matter and energy.

If entropy or disorder is the natural outcome of a growing and thriving system, then we need to protect this creative energy in our systems, from our teams to our bodies and health.

While creative energy as entropy is critical, so is the need to have organization underlying the system to avoid chaos.

In teams, I believe that is the powerful role of purpose.

Creating direction and destination for this creative energy not only facilitates new ideas and innovations, but also continues to build these efforts towards a defined set of outcomes or destinations.

Since Einstein defined that energy is matter (E=mc²), then at the body’s level, we are energy beings, as is all matter.

We actively commit energy in our bodies to creating the organized response to the daily challenges we face. These challenges can arise from the physical world, including changes in ambient temperature, biochemical reactions, moving from light to dark, and so on -- and from our physical, emotional, social and spiritual activities.

While we are all made of the same stuff, there is stark difference in our outcomes.

Why? Well, I think it comes back to wave-particle duality.

Since we actively interact with our environment, world and universe to create our futures, I believe that our health is driven by our beliefs and perceptions.

I have blogged that a seminal study by Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel  showed that the perceptions of chronic stress causes us to biologically age, irrespective of how we may objectively quantify this stress.

That is, I believe that we work with the multi-potential future of our health and by our deep beliefs and perceptions, drive coherence into the health state we experience.

This explains the critical negative impacts of social isolation, fear, scarcity mindset, despair and hopelessness on health. What we believe, we become.

In this paradigm, our beliefs influence our gene expression, our biological systems and our biological age.

Time to change mindsets, beliefs and health.

Almost heaven.