1
00:00:25,030 --> 00:00:16,080
[Music]

2
00:00:27,519 --> 00:00:25,040
so I'm talking here about my matter

3
00:00:28,420 --> 00:00:27,529
interaction experiments with light some

4
00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:28,430
of what I'm gonna say is a

5
00:00:32,589 --> 00:00:30,290
recapitulation of the two talks that you

6
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:32,599
just heard there shall be pictures of

7
00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:38,050
cats but but only two pictures of cats

8
00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:40,250
so I'm going to talk about three things

9
00:00:44,350 --> 00:00:42,430
first of all a mystery in physics

10
00:00:46,900 --> 00:00:44,360
interpretations of the mysteries and

11
00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:46,910
then experiments involving them the

12
00:00:52,930 --> 00:00:50,090
mystery as Richard Fineman said is

13
00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:52,940
absolutely impossible to explain in any

14
00:00:57,460 --> 00:00:55,370
classical way and which has it at the

15
00:01:01,210 --> 00:00:57,470
heart of quantum mechanics in reality it

16
00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:01,220
contains the only mystery in terms of

17
00:01:05,380 --> 00:01:02,930
the interpretations of this mystery

18
00:01:08,289 --> 00:01:05,390
there are ideas like many worlds

19
00:01:10,149 --> 00:01:08,299
hypothesis decoherence Copenhagen

20
00:01:12,249 --> 00:01:10,159
interpretation and the one that I'll

21
00:01:15,340 --> 00:01:12,259
focus on most is the one that proposed

22
00:01:16,809 --> 00:01:15,350
by John von Neumann and presented in

23
00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:16,819
among other places in his book the

24
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:18,350
mathematical foundations of quantum

25
00:01:23,739 --> 00:01:21,530
mechanics in terms of experiments I'm

26
00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:23,749
going to talk about work that we've been

27
00:01:28,289 --> 00:01:26,450
doing for the last almost seven years

28
00:01:30,699 --> 00:01:28,299
now

29
00:01:32,109 --> 00:01:30,709
so let's look in more detail about the

30
00:01:35,139 --> 00:01:32,119
mystery the mystery of course is the

31
00:01:37,269 --> 00:01:35,149
quantum measurement problem and to talk

32
00:01:40,899 --> 00:01:37,279
about this in terms that everyone can

33
00:01:42,669 --> 00:01:40,909
understand they'll use cows the cows

34
00:01:46,029 --> 00:01:42,679
behave in a certain way provided that

35
00:01:47,949 --> 00:01:46,039
there's no one watching when somebody

36
00:01:51,399 --> 00:01:47,959
comes by the cows act in a different way

37
00:01:52,569 --> 00:01:51,409
and then they go back in a different way

38
00:01:55,269 --> 00:01:52,579
when they're not being watched anymore

39
00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:55,279
so this is one of the problems that this

40
00:01:59,019 --> 00:01:57,170
doesn't just happen for cows it also

41
00:02:01,690 --> 00:01:59,029
happens for elementary particles

42
00:02:03,519 --> 00:02:01,700
electrons photons and so on the other

43
00:02:06,849 --> 00:02:03,529
part of the problem or the mystery is

44
00:02:10,029 --> 00:02:06,859
that photons and elementary particles

45
00:02:12,550 --> 00:02:10,039
can simultaneously be in two different

46
00:02:15,130 --> 00:02:12,560
states so this is like wave particle

47
00:02:19,470 --> 00:02:15,140
though your skier is a particle but can

48
00:02:25,660 --> 00:02:23,979
if you take golf balls and you shoot

49
00:02:27,490 --> 00:02:25,670
them through two slits then you would

50
00:02:28,959 --> 00:02:27,500
expect that when you look at the other

51
00:02:32,470 --> 00:02:28,969
side of the screen that you'll get two

52
00:02:34,690 --> 00:02:32,480
bands of golf ball hits and the same is

53
00:02:37,089 --> 00:02:34,700
true for light provided that you're

54
00:02:38,349 --> 00:02:37,099
looking where each photon goes but if

55
00:02:40,300 --> 00:02:38,359
you don't look then you get this

56
00:02:42,069 --> 00:02:40,310
interference pattern so this is the same

57
00:02:43,569 --> 00:02:42,079
thing about the cows whether you look or

58
00:02:46,479 --> 00:02:43,579
don't look you get different kinds of

59
00:02:49,449 --> 00:02:46,489
distributions so the path is knowable

60
00:02:51,550 --> 00:02:49,459
and photons behave like particles if

61
00:02:55,210 --> 00:02:51,560
it's unknowable photons behave like

62
00:02:56,830 --> 00:02:55,220
waves you actually do this in the

63
00:02:58,569 --> 00:02:56,840
laboratory and use something like a

64
00:03:01,659 --> 00:02:58,579
double slit system with a laser on the

65
00:03:03,460 --> 00:03:01,669
top you see the particle pattern like a

66
00:03:05,409 --> 00:03:03,470
single slit pattern and the bottom is a

67
00:03:10,059 --> 00:03:05,419
double slit pattern where both slits are

68
00:03:11,949 --> 00:03:10,069
open that's what it looks like so all of

69
00:03:14,259 --> 00:03:11,959
this has something to do with words like

70
00:03:17,770 --> 00:03:14,269
knowledge information observation

71
00:03:18,670 --> 00:03:17,780
measurement and they're related in there

72
00:03:20,860 --> 00:03:18,680
I mean they're semantically different

73
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:20,870
but they're related in ways that we we

74
00:03:25,659 --> 00:03:23,690
kind of grok and we grok it in terms of

75
00:03:29,379 --> 00:03:25,669
this like where we're information

76
00:03:31,780 --> 00:03:29,389
processing machines kind of and we what

77
00:03:33,580 --> 00:03:31,790
we do involves knowledge information and

78
00:03:38,670 --> 00:03:33,590
observation and that then becomes a link

79
00:03:43,149 --> 00:03:41,589
so now let's look at interpretations in

80
00:03:45,129 --> 00:03:43,159
a little more detail in particular the

81
00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:45,139
one button john von neumann he had this

82
00:03:48,879 --> 00:03:46,250
principle of what he called

83
00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:48,889
psychophysical parallelism where

84
00:03:53,469 --> 00:03:50,930
consciousness collapses the quantum

85
00:03:58,629 --> 00:03:53,479
wave-like behavior into a classical

86
00:04:00,309 --> 00:03:58,639
particle like behavior what's your

87
00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:00,319
opinion of the importance of the quantum

88
00:04:06,009 --> 00:04:02,030
measurement problem this was asked at a

89
00:04:07,390 --> 00:04:06,019
conference in 2011 by Zeilinger 33

90
00:04:09,069 --> 00:04:07,400
people were present these are all

91
00:04:11,379 --> 00:04:09,079
specialists and the foundations of

92
00:04:13,179 --> 00:04:11,389
quantum mechanics and they gave a

93
00:04:14,559 --> 00:04:13,189
variety of answers and the reason I

94
00:04:16,629 --> 00:04:14,569
bring this up is because sometimes

95
00:04:18,039 --> 00:04:16,639
physicists might say well the quantum

96
00:04:20,499 --> 00:04:18,049
measurement problem has been solved by

97
00:04:22,330 --> 00:04:20,509
this or it's been solved by that and

98
00:04:24,370 --> 00:04:22,340
what are the specialists say actually

99
00:04:26,890 --> 00:04:24,380
you can see by their responses that

100
00:04:30,219 --> 00:04:26,900
there there is no clear consensus and

101
00:04:32,679 --> 00:04:30,229
the interesting response is this it's a

102
00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:32,689
severe difficulty threatening or under

103
00:04:37,719 --> 00:04:35,330
standing of quantum mechanics so even

104
00:04:40,389 --> 00:04:37,729
among specialists there is first of all

105
00:04:42,549 --> 00:04:40,399
no consensus no clear consensus and also

106
00:04:44,739 --> 00:04:42,559
some like a quarter of the people

107
00:04:48,999 --> 00:04:44,749
responding said this is a very important

108
00:04:50,499 --> 00:04:49,009
problem that is not yet resolved and

109
00:04:54,309 --> 00:04:50,509
then he asked the philosophers like

110
00:04:55,779 --> 00:04:54,319
David Chalmers he says that the hard

111
00:04:58,509 --> 00:04:55,789
problem of consciousness has already

112
00:05:00,459 --> 00:04:58,519
been raised it's about subjectivity so

113
00:05:04,479 --> 00:05:00,469
he proposes we might need one or two

114
00:05:06,459 --> 00:05:04,489
ideas that might seem crazy his crazy

115
00:05:08,199 --> 00:05:06,469
idea is the same as John von neumann's

116
00:05:10,089 --> 00:05:08,209
and Vig neurs and others that

117
00:05:13,059 --> 00:05:10,099
consciousness may be fundamental in some

118
00:05:19,359 --> 00:05:13,069
way that physics is not yet able to deal

119
00:05:20,529 --> 00:05:19,369
with so what about experiments the

120
00:05:22,449 --> 00:05:20,539
experiments that we've been doing have

121
00:05:25,239 --> 00:05:22,459
been looking at what we might call the

122
00:05:27,399 --> 00:05:25,249
observer effect those pure subjectivity

123
00:05:30,369 --> 00:05:27,409
collapse the quantum wave function or

124
00:05:31,509 --> 00:05:30,379
not you would think that within physics

125
00:05:33,039 --> 00:05:31,519
given that this is an outstanding

126
00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:33,049
problem that there would be many many

127
00:05:38,049 --> 00:05:34,969
experiments in the physics literature

128
00:05:40,929 --> 00:05:38,059
and there are a couple but with one

129
00:05:43,540 --> 00:05:40,939
exception all of them are involved

130
00:05:48,579 --> 00:05:43,550
people who are doing parapsychology and

131
00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:48,589
not physics and here's here's one cat

132
00:05:51,729 --> 00:05:49,849
but it's a cartoon cat

133
00:05:53,379 --> 00:05:51,739
so with Schrodinger's cat paradox what

134
00:05:55,529 --> 00:05:53,389
we're interested in is can we select a

135
00:05:58,059 --> 00:05:55,539
preferred outcome by mental means alone

136
00:06:00,850 --> 00:05:58,069
so we're going to try to select that

137
00:06:04,029 --> 00:06:00,860
outcome part of what I'm talking about

138
00:06:05,319 --> 00:06:04,039
here I had mentioned in a talk at SSC a

139
00:06:06,819 --> 00:06:05,329
few years ago and I'm going to go

140
00:06:10,119 --> 00:06:06,829
quickly through that and then bring you

141
00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:10,129
up up to speed on the latest work so no

142
00:06:20,590 --> 00:06:17,860
and instead we use a Michelson

143
00:06:23,740 --> 00:06:20,600
interferometer instead of a cat so this

144
00:06:24,790 --> 00:06:23,750
is a very nice interferometer you send a

145
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:24,800
light beam through there through a

146
00:06:29,290 --> 00:06:27,050
half-silvered mirror and so part of the

147
00:06:30,970 --> 00:06:29,300
beam is reflected to a solid mirror and

148
00:06:34,090 --> 00:06:30,980
the other part goes through to a solid

149
00:06:35,860 --> 00:06:34,100
mirror and then the two beams combine

150
00:06:37,510 --> 00:06:35,870
and you get a nice interference pattern

151
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:37,520
which in this particular design comes

152
00:06:43,030 --> 00:06:39,530
out as a concentric circle so there's

153
00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:43,040
the interference pattern so the idea in

154
00:06:47,890 --> 00:06:45,290
this sort of experiment is that you have

155
00:06:50,170 --> 00:06:47,900
the optical apparatus inside some sealed

156
00:06:51,910 --> 00:06:50,180
container in this case it's inside our

157
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:51,920
shield electromagnetically shielded room

158
00:06:57,250 --> 00:06:54,490
which also in this case was white tight

159
00:07:00,370 --> 00:06:57,260
and then outside the room we have a

160
00:07:03,190 --> 00:07:00,380
person we tell them to put your mind in

161
00:07:05,380 --> 00:07:03,200
the arm of the interferometer and we're

162
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:05,390
using interferometer this particular one

163
00:07:08,470 --> 00:07:07,010
in this experiment because it's big

164
00:07:11,620 --> 00:07:08,480
enough so you can tell somebody it's

165
00:07:13,330 --> 00:07:11,630
about the size of a grapefruit it's a

166
00:07:15,430 --> 00:07:13,340
big space where you need to put your

167
00:07:17,110 --> 00:07:15,440
mind so it's easy to describe what to do

168
00:07:19,060 --> 00:07:17,120
with it and when your mind is there

169
00:07:20,770 --> 00:07:19,070
imagine you can see the photons if you

170
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:20,780
can and you're gaining which path

171
00:07:24,070 --> 00:07:22,610
information out of the system and you

172
00:07:27,370 --> 00:07:24,080
would so-called collapse the wave

173
00:07:30,370 --> 00:07:27,380
function their job is to gain knowledge

174
00:07:32,710 --> 00:07:30,380
some people can't do this task very well

175
00:07:34,210 --> 00:07:32,720
they get confused with the idea that in

176
00:07:35,620 --> 00:07:34,220
their minds eye they have to see a

177
00:07:37,750 --> 00:07:35,630
photon well they don't know how to do

178
00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:37,760
that so I said okay if you can't do that

179
00:07:42,070 --> 00:07:39,670
imagine you can block the photons

180
00:07:45,010 --> 00:07:42,080
imagine you can move on imagine you can

181
00:07:47,050 --> 00:07:45,020
do anything with the photons and so

182
00:07:50,350 --> 00:07:47,060
people figure out themselves what

183
00:07:52,540 --> 00:07:50,360
they're going to do so under calibration

184
00:07:56,020 --> 00:07:52,550
conditions you run the system under

185
00:07:58,210 --> 00:07:56,030
conditions where you ask in this case no

186
00:08:00,190 --> 00:07:58,220
one there but you ask them to observe

187
00:08:02,170 --> 00:08:00,200
with your mind's eye and then rest and

188
00:08:04,150 --> 00:08:02,180
withdraw your attention and now observe

189
00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:04,160
again withdraw your attention for

190
00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:06,050
roughly 30 seconds to a minute at a time

191
00:08:10,810 --> 00:08:08,810
and you see how the system behaves it

192
00:08:12,730 --> 00:08:10,820
should show no change at all and in fact

193
00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:12,740
this is calibration condition there's no

194
00:08:16,900 --> 00:08:15,290
change in the interference pattern but

195
00:08:18,730 --> 00:08:16,910
when you ask a person to do this under

196
00:08:20,380 --> 00:08:18,740
experimental conditions the line on the

197
00:08:22,930 --> 00:08:20,390
bottom here is what happens when a

198
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:22,940
highly experienced meditator did this

199
00:08:25,490 --> 00:08:23,570
task

200
00:08:28,100 --> 00:08:25,500
now this meditator is

201
00:08:29,450 --> 00:08:28,110
at the time is probably about 75 years

202
00:08:32,810 --> 00:08:29,460
old and he said that he had been

203
00:08:38,899 --> 00:08:32,820
meditating about 70 years not

204
00:08:41,149 --> 00:08:38,909
continually but but enough so that he's

205
00:08:42,680 --> 00:08:41,159
able to go into a state which in the

206
00:08:45,050 --> 00:08:42,690
yogic tradition would be called a city

207
00:08:47,870 --> 00:08:45,060
he's able to do the the special yoga

208
00:08:50,030 --> 00:08:47,880
super powers which involves manipulation

209
00:08:52,550 --> 00:08:50,040
of mind and matter so he did that in

210
00:08:56,630 --> 00:08:52,560
this in this case and we've got a very

211
00:08:59,630 --> 00:08:56,640
good result we're an non-meditators and

212
00:09:01,100 --> 00:08:59,640
meditators partially because we expect

213
00:09:03,530 --> 00:09:01,110
that meditators have attention training

214
00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:03,540
and this kind of experiment requires you

215
00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:05,790
focus attention so we expected they

216
00:09:09,050 --> 00:09:07,290
would do better and in fact all of the

217
00:09:11,660 --> 00:09:09,060
action and this experiment was from the

218
00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:11,670
meditators they ended up with odds

219
00:09:15,980 --> 00:09:14,070
against chance of about a hundred

220
00:09:19,340 --> 00:09:15,990
thousand to one and we published this in

221
00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:19,350
2008 so as a result of that experiment

222
00:09:24,470 --> 00:09:21,690
we decided to take the plunge and go to

223
00:09:26,570 --> 00:09:24,480
a double stood optical system as you see

224
00:09:29,270 --> 00:09:26,580
the design is extremely simple just a

225
00:09:32,030 --> 00:09:29,280
laser accepting a filter that reduces

226
00:09:34,940 --> 00:09:32,040
the illumination level a double set and

227
00:09:37,329 --> 00:09:34,950
then a camera that's what it looks like

228
00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:37,339
laser tube is on the left

229
00:09:43,430 --> 00:09:41,490
it's a helium-neon laser and the double

230
00:09:47,390 --> 00:09:43,440
slit and the camera are inside the box

231
00:09:49,940 --> 00:09:47,400
in the middle and inside the box there's

232
00:09:52,130 --> 00:09:49,950
the holder for the double slit and

233
00:09:56,900 --> 00:09:52,140
there's also a line camera and so that's

234
00:09:59,540 --> 00:09:56,910
very simple the idea of this is on the

235
00:10:01,850 --> 00:09:59,550
top you see the intensity level of the

236
00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:01,860
camera measures it's a line camera but

237
00:10:06,230 --> 00:10:03,300
what is showing here is the intensity

238
00:10:10,340 --> 00:10:06,240
and the the pattern is the interference

239
00:10:12,650 --> 00:10:10,350
pattern on the bottom is a Fourier

240
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:12,660
transform of the picture on the top and

241
00:10:18,860 --> 00:10:15,450
it shows three peaks middle peak is a

242
00:10:20,660 --> 00:10:18,870
double slit peak this is the single slit

243
00:10:23,180 --> 00:10:20,670
peak and the peak on the right is a

244
00:10:24,590 --> 00:10:23,190
harmonic of the double slit so this is a

245
00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:24,600
very easy way of taking an entire

246
00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:26,910
pattern doing Fourier transform and

247
00:10:30,710 --> 00:10:28,770
getting two points of interest double

248
00:10:32,750 --> 00:10:30,720
set and the single slit peaks that

249
00:10:35,300 --> 00:10:32,760
allows you to get basically capture the

250
00:10:37,490 --> 00:10:35,310
whole pattern and see how much as I call

251
00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:37,500
it double slit enos there

252
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:42,690
is going on so we used a measure of the

253
00:10:47,780 --> 00:10:45,090
ratio between the double slit and single

254
00:10:49,070 --> 00:10:47,790
slit spectral Peaks and had the

255
00:10:50,630 --> 00:10:49,080
prediction that when somebody was

256
00:10:52,910 --> 00:10:50,640
observing the system and trying to get

257
00:10:54,410 --> 00:10:52,920
which which path knowledge out of it

258
00:10:56,510 --> 00:10:54,420
that the double said power would go down

259
00:10:59,600 --> 00:10:56,520
the single sub-par would go up so the

260
00:11:02,540 --> 00:10:59,610
ratio should go down when the mind is in

261
00:11:04,070 --> 00:11:02,550
the box so to speak so there's the

262
00:11:05,990 --> 00:11:04,080
picture of what the signal actually

263
00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:06,000
looks like over the course of around 11

264
00:11:13,210 --> 00:11:08,910
minutes we're looking at the spectral

265
00:11:15,890 --> 00:11:13,220
ratio we have assignments down here

266
00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:15,900
attention towards the box attention away

267
00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:19,050
from the box and these are automatically

268
00:11:23,510 --> 00:11:20,850
given by a computer to the participant

269
00:11:26,090 --> 00:11:23,520
and the experiment and the bottom line

270
00:11:29,180 --> 00:11:26,100
is when you look at the means of the

271
00:11:31,490 --> 00:11:29,190
that signal and the attention away

272
00:11:33,860 --> 00:11:31,500
versus the attention towards there

273
00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:33,870
should be a difference between them in a

274
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:35,490
predictable direction maybe there should

275
00:11:39,980 --> 00:11:37,530
be less double slit power when people

276
00:11:41,270 --> 00:11:39,990
are attending toward the system that's

277
00:11:43,910 --> 00:11:41,280
because they're gaining which path

278
00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:43,920
information out of the system the signal

279
00:11:46,730 --> 00:11:45,270
looks like it's going all over the place

280
00:11:50,090 --> 00:11:46,740
but the actual variance here is only

281
00:11:51,710 --> 00:11:50,100
0.4% I just this is just an expansion of

282
00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:51,720
it so you can see the way that the

283
00:11:57,500 --> 00:11:55,770
signal moves so we did a couple of

284
00:12:00,290 --> 00:11:57,510
experiments first of all the the first

285
00:12:01,820 --> 00:12:00,300
experiment is here we were asking does

286
00:12:04,250 --> 00:12:01,830
anything happen at all when you do this

287
00:12:07,490 --> 00:12:04,260
so we had 30 sessions people did the

288
00:12:09,860 --> 00:12:07,500
experiment repeatedly the green dot show

289
00:12:12,740 --> 00:12:09,870
up yeah the green dot is all data the

290
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:12,750
red God is meditators and the blue da is

291
00:12:17,890 --> 00:12:14,730
non-meditators so the first experiment

292
00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:17,900
did pretty well it was a modest

293
00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:21,810
significant decline as we expected as we

294
00:12:25,910 --> 00:12:24,810
hoped then we did another experiment

295
00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:25,920
which is basically the same thing

296
00:12:30,470 --> 00:12:27,570
because we looked at the first result

297
00:12:32,540 --> 00:12:30,480
and we said really that was really what

298
00:12:34,340 --> 00:12:32,550
happened well so the experiment second

299
00:12:37,579 --> 00:12:34,350
experiment overall result was basically

300
00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:37,589
the same meditators did better a third

301
00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:38,910
experiment we were a concerned that

302
00:12:43,850 --> 00:12:40,530
maybe what we're seeing is an artifact

303
00:12:46,100 --> 00:12:43,860
as a result of the participants being

304
00:12:48,230 --> 00:12:46,110
within two meters of the optical system

305
00:12:50,030 --> 00:12:48,240
and so we thought that's because

306
00:12:51,020 --> 00:12:50,040
interferometers are so sensitive to

307
00:12:52,670 --> 00:12:51,030
everything that may

308
00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:52,680
what was happening is that the

309
00:12:55,730 --> 00:12:54,330
participants were leaning forward a

310
00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:55,740
little bit when their attempt when

311
00:12:58,880 --> 00:12:56,970
they're putting their mind in the box

312
00:13:00,440 --> 00:12:58,890
and that would raise the temperature of

313
00:13:02,690 --> 00:13:00,450
the box maybe a thousandth of a degree

314
00:13:04,610 --> 00:13:02,700
and that might be enough in order to see

315
00:13:06,710 --> 00:13:04,620
the effect we were saying so we put

316
00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:06,720
thermocouples on the interferometer to

317
00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:09,570
measure the temperature changes to see

318
00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:11,310
if that was in fact what was going on

319
00:13:15,140 --> 00:13:13,530
and the answer is it was not that that

320
00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:15,150
wasn't what's happening the temperature

321
00:13:21,110 --> 00:13:19,050
wasn't changing at all so overall we get

322
00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:21,120
slightly smaller effect but still in the

323
00:13:24,650 --> 00:13:23,010
predicted direction meditators did quite

324
00:13:27,890 --> 00:13:24,660
well and in this case the non-meditators

325
00:13:30,260 --> 00:13:27,900
didn't do well at all we did the

326
00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:30,270
experiment again using a delayed choice

327
00:13:35,660 --> 00:13:33,210
version and this is a little complicated

328
00:13:37,490 --> 00:13:35,670
to wrap your brain around but the notion

329
00:13:39,740 --> 00:13:37,500
of observation in this case it doesn't

330
00:13:42,110 --> 00:13:39,750
have to take place in real time could

331
00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:42,120
take place in the future so the

332
00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:43,890
observation that took place in this

333
00:13:50,780 --> 00:13:45,960
experiment took place two months after

334
00:13:52,970 --> 00:13:50,790
the data was recorded so the meditators

335
00:13:54,530 --> 00:13:52,980
did very well in this version overall

336
00:13:57,170 --> 00:13:54,540
people did pretty well and again the

337
00:13:59,240 --> 00:13:57,180
non-meditators did not do so good we ran

338
00:14:01,670 --> 00:13:59,250
five different control tests which are

339
00:14:03,290 --> 00:14:01,680
the same apparatus the same analysis the

340
00:14:04,730 --> 00:14:03,300
same everything under conditions where

341
00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:04,740
there's nobody around just to see what

342
00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:07,470
what the box is doing and none of those

343
00:14:11,300 --> 00:14:09,930
are statistically significant and then

344
00:14:14,570 --> 00:14:11,310
overall this is what we get with the

345
00:14:16,550 --> 00:14:14,580
first four pilot studies meditators did

346
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:16,560
extremely well that's what the p-value

347
00:14:22,250 --> 00:14:18,810
there is but even overall people did

348
00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:22,260
quite well so that encouraged us to do a

349
00:14:26,390 --> 00:14:24,090
formal experiment this is a pre planned

350
00:14:27,980 --> 00:14:26,400
experiment with 50 sessions where we

351
00:14:29,540 --> 00:14:27,990
tried to optimize the results by

352
00:14:32,210 --> 00:14:29,550
selecting the people who would do the

353
00:14:34,100 --> 00:14:32,220
experiment based on how they did in the

354
00:14:36,590 --> 00:14:34,110
pilot test so we're selecting people

355
00:14:38,780 --> 00:14:36,600
based on what we think is a mild form of

356
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:38,790
talent and they did extremely well so

357
00:14:45,650 --> 00:14:41,010
the red dot or humans and the white dot

358
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:45,660
there is a control a match control when

359
00:14:49,250 --> 00:14:47,610
you look at the difference between the

360
00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:49,260
meditators and non-meditators you can

361
00:14:53,620 --> 00:14:50,970
see that cumulatively the meditators

362
00:14:55,490 --> 00:14:53,630
actually did very well

363
00:14:58,220 --> 00:14:55,500
accumulating down to about four and a

364
00:15:01,490 --> 00:14:58,230
half sigma results and non-meditators

365
00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:01,500
did okay but just the they didn't get a

366
00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:06,740
so we published this in physics essays

367
00:15:14,180 --> 00:15:12,570
in 2012 and then we decided to it's very

368
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:14,190
difficult to do this experiment and get

369
00:15:17,180 --> 00:15:15,930
four or five Sigma results and actually

370
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:17,190
believe that that's what's happening

371
00:15:20,990 --> 00:15:19,410
because I've done many many experiments

372
00:15:24,079 --> 00:15:21,000
involving random number generators and

373
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:24,089
you don't often get results that good so

374
00:15:28,579 --> 00:15:26,730
I maintained a certain degree of

375
00:15:30,350 --> 00:15:28,589
suspicion about what's going on here and

376
00:15:32,870 --> 00:15:30,360
we decided to we have to replicate it

377
00:15:35,660 --> 00:15:32,880
again and so we did it again again with

378
00:15:37,550 --> 00:15:35,670
selected people this time we also

379
00:15:39,499 --> 00:15:37,560
concentrated on something we're looking

380
00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:39,509
for other ways of seeing whether this is

381
00:15:43,550 --> 00:15:41,910
really what it appears to be and so one

382
00:15:45,980 --> 00:15:43,560
of the effects here is that the task

383
00:15:48,769 --> 00:15:45,990
involves asking people to put your mind

384
00:15:50,389 --> 00:15:48,779
over there and now withdraw it and now

385
00:15:51,860 --> 00:15:50,399
put it back and I withdraw and the

386
00:15:54,470 --> 00:15:51,870
machine is telling you when to do that

387
00:15:56,689 --> 00:15:54,480
if you think about it and you were asked

388
00:15:58,579 --> 00:15:56,699
to do that task you'd realize you can't

389
00:16:01,249 --> 00:15:58,589
switch your attention that quickly and

390
00:16:03,650 --> 00:16:01,259
and the cognitive world is called task

391
00:16:06,139 --> 00:16:03,660
switching cost it takes a couple of

392
00:16:07,699 --> 00:16:06,149
seconds to switch gears mentally and so

393
00:16:09,439 --> 00:16:07,709
we figured that what should be happening

394
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:09,449
in this experiment is that we should see

395
00:16:14,990 --> 00:16:13,050
a delay in the data suggesting that if

396
00:16:16,910 --> 00:16:15,000
the people are actually taking a few

397
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:16,920
seconds to change their attention you

398
00:16:21,470 --> 00:16:18,810
should see that delay in the in the data

399
00:16:25,100 --> 00:16:21,480
itself so we predicted something between

400
00:16:27,439 --> 00:16:25,110
two and five seconds delay and so this

401
00:16:29,990 --> 00:16:27,449
is a delay analysis or lagging from zero

402
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:30,000
seconds to minus fifteen seconds in

403
00:16:34,879 --> 00:16:32,010
effect you see you do see a delayed in

404
00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:34,889
this case it was around two seconds two

405
00:16:39,559 --> 00:16:36,510
seconds after the instruction was given

406
00:16:41,329 --> 00:16:39,569
you actually get a better result and

407
00:16:42,769 --> 00:16:41,339
under these so that's the experimental

408
00:16:44,990 --> 00:16:42,779
data on the top we're looking at the

409
00:16:47,210 --> 00:16:45,000
control data so the controls are not

410
00:16:50,030 --> 00:16:47,220
significant the experimental data is

411
00:16:53,900 --> 00:16:50,040
very significant so this we publish and

412
00:16:56,179 --> 00:16:53,910
also in physics si is last year in that

413
00:16:58,819 --> 00:16:56,189
paper we also did an analysis of these

414
00:17:01,579 --> 00:16:58,829
data using a theoretical model you can

415
00:17:03,350 --> 00:17:01,589
do you can very precisely model this

416
00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:03,360
using wave mechanics based on a

417
00:17:09,260 --> 00:17:07,290
Fraunhofer diffraction model so there's

418
00:17:10,850 --> 00:17:09,270
what there's how you characterize the

419
00:17:14,210 --> 00:17:10,860
model these are what the equations look

420
00:17:15,890 --> 00:17:14,220
like the equation on the bottom they're

421
00:17:16,900 --> 00:17:15,900
showing the intensity level that you

422
00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:16,910
would measure

423
00:17:21,700 --> 00:17:19,910
it has three components one is the

424
00:17:23,410 --> 00:17:21,710
amount of light coming through one slit

425
00:17:25,030 --> 00:17:23,420
and one through the other slit and then

426
00:17:26,860 --> 00:17:25,040
the light coming through both slits you

427
00:17:29,830 --> 00:17:26,870
know if this allows you to partition out

428
00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:29,840
the contribution of light from each of

429
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:33,440
the slits the model then is on the top

430
00:17:39,130 --> 00:17:36,170
you get a very nicely well-behaved and

431
00:17:41,170 --> 00:17:39,140
symmetrical interference pattern and the

432
00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:41,180
bottom is the actual data so the actual

433
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:43,550
data is a little bit skewed it's not a

434
00:17:47,890 --> 00:17:46,370
perfectly symmetrical the Fourier

435
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:47,900
transform which is on the right you see

436
00:17:51,670 --> 00:17:49,610
is not exactly the way the model would

437
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:51,680
would show and the reason for this is

438
00:17:55,210 --> 00:17:53,210
because when you're working on the real

439
00:17:57,130 --> 00:17:55,220
system there's small imperfections in it

440
00:17:58,930 --> 00:17:57,140
and of course it's very very difficult

441
00:18:01,450 --> 00:17:58,940
to arrange it so it actually looks

442
00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:01,460
exactly like the theoretical model but

443
00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:03,770
it's pretty good so we modeled the data

444
00:18:10,330 --> 00:18:07,070
based on the Fraunhofer equations and

445
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:10,340
what we come up with is is this that on

446
00:18:14,050 --> 00:18:12,170
the top when somebody is asked to relax

447
00:18:16,030 --> 00:18:14,060
and withdraw their mind from the system

448
00:18:18,250 --> 00:18:16,040
the amount of light going through two

449
00:18:19,690 --> 00:18:18,260
slits is symmetrical total amount of

450
00:18:20,890 --> 00:18:19,700
light is the same going through two

451
00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:20,900
slits that's what the model would

452
00:18:26,050 --> 00:18:23,810
predict when they concentrate though the

453
00:18:28,330 --> 00:18:26,060
amount of light becomes skewed there's

454
00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:28,340
more light through one slit less light

455
00:18:31,060 --> 00:18:29,750
through the other and that would produce

456
00:18:33,220 --> 00:18:31,070
the results that we see in this

457
00:18:34,810 --> 00:18:33,230
experiment this doesn't mean that that

458
00:18:36,940 --> 00:18:34,820
this is what's happening in this

459
00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:36,950
experiment but it's consistent with what

460
00:18:41,170 --> 00:18:38,990
we see so it's as though the act of

461
00:18:45,550 --> 00:18:41,180
observing is making the light skewed in

462
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:45,560
some way becomes asymmetrical for this

463
00:18:50,350 --> 00:18:48,890
same paper we also decided to replicate

464
00:18:52,690 --> 00:18:50,360
the experiment using a completely

465
00:18:57,100 --> 00:18:52,700
different system so this is a diode

466
00:19:00,700 --> 00:18:57,110
laser which is designed to be extremely

467
00:19:03,610 --> 00:19:00,710
stable in many respects in terms of the

468
00:19:06,310 --> 00:19:03,620
stability of power output it's very

469
00:19:08,950 --> 00:19:06,320
stable it's temperature resistant it's

470
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:08,960
vibration resistant it's 200 meter

471
00:19:14,230 --> 00:19:11,570
coherence length it's specially designed

472
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:14,240
for experiments requiring very stable

473
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:16,610
outputs and this is by contrast to a

474
00:19:21,130 --> 00:19:18,410
helium neon laser if those of you who've

475
00:19:23,110 --> 00:19:21,140
used helium neon laser ZnO that it does

476
00:19:25,930 --> 00:19:23,120
what's called mode hopping and that's

477
00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:25,940
because it's a it's a gas tube it's it's

478
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:27,650
like these fluorescent tubes up here

479
00:19:31,299 --> 00:19:29,690
with slight

480
00:19:33,789 --> 00:19:31,309
arrangement that's a little bit

481
00:19:35,590 --> 00:19:33,799
different but the idea is that and when

482
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:35,600
you have a gas tube it gets heated up on

483
00:19:40,210 --> 00:19:38,690
one side the the gas inside is moving

484
00:19:43,299 --> 00:19:40,220
that causes a little bit difference in

485
00:19:45,430 --> 00:19:43,309
power output and also it you hope that

486
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:45,440
it stays in a standing wave and it's

487
00:19:48,490 --> 00:19:47,210
lazing mode but there are other modes

488
00:19:49,990 --> 00:19:48,500
that it can be in it could also

489
00:19:52,299 --> 00:19:50,000
sometimes switch so that's like three

490
00:19:54,279 --> 00:19:52,309
lobes and every time it switches

491
00:19:57,249 --> 00:19:54,289
randomly it produces a different power

492
00:19:58,899 --> 00:19:57,259
output that introduces noise into our

493
00:20:01,240 --> 00:19:58,909
measurement because if you look very

494
00:20:03,310 --> 00:20:01,250
carefully at the interference pattern

495
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:03,320
the total amount of power will make it

496
00:20:06,909 --> 00:20:04,850
actually hop up and down a little bit

497
00:20:08,379 --> 00:20:06,919
and so we have to do a lot of fancy

498
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:08,389
statistics in order to get rid of that

499
00:20:12,700 --> 00:20:10,129
and we decided we needed a system that

500
00:20:14,919 --> 00:20:12,710
was stable enough so they didn't need to

501
00:20:16,509 --> 00:20:14,929
use any fancy statistics at all the

502
00:20:19,509 --> 00:20:16,519
system was just stable so that's what

503
00:20:22,509 --> 00:20:19,519
this is about the laser is sent in this

504
00:20:25,779 --> 00:20:22,519
case through a crystal quartz crystal

505
00:20:27,970 --> 00:20:25,789
from the the place where they have

506
00:20:30,399 --> 00:20:27,980
quartz crystals from John of God you can

507
00:20:32,379 --> 00:20:30,409
buy these crystals so I bought that

508
00:20:35,889 --> 00:20:32,389
because I figured we need God's help on

509
00:20:37,690 --> 00:20:35,899
this or maybe John of God's help and the

510
00:20:39,730 --> 00:20:37,700
reason for it really was that we need

511
00:20:41,590 --> 00:20:39,740
something to diverge Allah the beam

512
00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:41,600
itself the beam coming a little bit

513
00:20:44,889 --> 00:20:43,129
smaller than a millimeter in diameter

514
00:20:46,330 --> 00:20:44,899
and we need roughly two to three

515
00:20:48,129 --> 00:20:46,340
millimeters in order to get through the

516
00:20:50,139 --> 00:20:48,139
double slit and the uniform way so it's

517
00:20:53,980 --> 00:20:50,149
it was a nice beam divergence method and

518
00:20:55,810 --> 00:20:53,990
it also looked nice so here again we

519
00:20:58,330 --> 00:20:55,820
have a slightly different task the task

520
00:21:00,369 --> 00:20:58,340
in the previous experiments was we

521
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:00,379
instruct you what to do whether you're

522
00:21:03,340 --> 00:21:01,250
ready for it or not

523
00:21:04,509 --> 00:21:03,350
now do this and now do that so we

524
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:04,519
changed it this time

525
00:21:09,399 --> 00:21:07,490
so people were allowed to intervene with

526
00:21:10,450 --> 00:21:09,409
the system whenever they wanted to it's

527
00:21:12,909 --> 00:21:10,460
like oh you felt you're ready to

528
00:21:14,980 --> 00:21:12,919
concentrate you press a button 10

529
00:21:16,749 --> 00:21:14,990
seconds later would you actually would

530
00:21:18,700 --> 00:21:16,759
get the instruction ok now concentrate

531
00:21:20,980 --> 00:21:18,710
but it gave you a little bit of time

532
00:21:23,409 --> 00:21:20,990
whenever you feel like you're ready go

533
00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:23,419
get ready to get ready get ready and now

534
00:21:29,230 --> 00:21:25,970
concentrate so what you're seeing here

535
00:21:30,940 --> 00:21:29,240
then is at where the finger is pointing

536
00:21:32,950 --> 00:21:30,950
is somebody has pressed the button and

537
00:21:34,779 --> 00:21:32,960
they know ten seconds later they have to

538
00:21:38,019 --> 00:21:34,789
concentrate so they have this ten-second

539
00:21:40,779 --> 00:21:38,029
warmup period and we expected a delay

540
00:21:44,340 --> 00:21:40,789
even after they start to concentrate

541
00:21:46,770 --> 00:21:44,350
because it's a task is slightly differ

542
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:46,780
and so we're down almost at 3 Sigma 3

543
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:51,490
Sigma drop and this is how many people

544
00:21:59,820 --> 00:21:55,410
this is 20 sessions each person spending

545
00:22:02,220 --> 00:21:59,830
about 25 minutes doing the task and each

546
00:22:05,550 --> 00:22:02,230
one has to press the button 30 times so

547
00:22:08,010 --> 00:22:05,560
30 trials in one given session so

548
00:22:11,090 --> 00:22:08,020
there's the result again we got a drop

549
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:11,100
in the double set power as we predicted

550
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:14,530
and there's exactly the same system

551
00:22:24,159 --> 00:22:16,810
under control conditions and none of

552
00:22:29,049 --> 00:22:26,710
in the same paper we also presented a

553
00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:29,059
third result which is using the

554
00:22:34,930 --> 00:22:32,090
helium-neon system online and this was

555
00:22:38,919 --> 00:22:34,940
done to make a very rigorous test of the

556
00:22:40,629 --> 00:22:38,929
possibility that what we are we dealing

557
00:22:43,629 --> 00:22:40,639
with some sort of an artifact due to the

558
00:22:45,820 --> 00:22:43,639
proximity of the person or not so in

559
00:22:47,619 --> 00:22:45,830
this case the closest participant in

560
00:22:50,859 --> 00:22:47,629
this experiment was four kilometers away

561
00:22:53,619 --> 00:22:50,869
and the farthest participant was 18,000

562
00:22:55,450 --> 00:22:53,629
kilometers away so nobody is close to

563
00:23:00,009 --> 00:22:55,460
the system it's in the lab it's only

564
00:23:01,539 --> 00:23:00,019
accessible over the Internet these are

565
00:23:05,109 --> 00:23:01,549
locations around the world where people

566
00:23:07,629 --> 00:23:05,119
had done this experiment our lab is

567
00:23:09,519 --> 00:23:07,639
where the checkmark is and the 18,000

568
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:09,529
kilometers is South Africa that's the

569
00:23:17,979 --> 00:23:14,450
farthest away the way it works is you

570
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:17,989
have a server that somebody the human or

571
00:23:25,029 --> 00:23:22,850
a robot system we have a Linux robot act

572
00:23:28,690 --> 00:23:25,039
as a simulated human for our control

573
00:23:31,539 --> 00:23:28,700
task here so if a human comes in they go

574
00:23:33,879 --> 00:23:31,549
to the commercial server and we have

575
00:23:36,970 --> 00:23:33,889
about 5,000 sessions from humans 6000

576
00:23:40,210 --> 00:23:36,980
sessions from our robot they go to the

577
00:23:41,919 --> 00:23:40,220
server it connects to the server that it

578
00:23:44,349 --> 00:23:41,929
connected to the double-slit and it

579
00:23:47,470 --> 00:23:44,359
starts feeding data to their web browser

580
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:47,480
and so the nice thing about this design

581
00:23:52,149 --> 00:23:50,210
is that the the double-set system and

582
00:23:53,950 --> 00:23:52,159
the server that is dealing with the data

583
00:23:56,529 --> 00:23:53,960
it doesn't know whether a human has

584
00:23:58,509 --> 00:23:56,539
asked for data or whether a robot has

585
00:24:00,669 --> 00:23:58,519
asked for data so we have a very very

586
00:24:02,609 --> 00:24:00,679
nice control here because the system

587
00:24:06,099 --> 00:24:02,619
adjusts all it does is push out bits

588
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:06,109
pushes out data actually and it doesn't

589
00:24:09,430 --> 00:24:07,730
know where where it's coming from or

590
00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:09,440
what's who's requesting the data it's

591
00:24:13,749 --> 00:24:11,960
always exactly the same when the human

592
00:24:16,149 --> 00:24:13,759
does the experiment they see two screens

593
00:24:17,950 --> 00:24:16,159
these are in flash and they see it in

594
00:24:19,989 --> 00:24:17,960
their browser if they're given the

595
00:24:21,190 --> 00:24:19,999
instruction to relax they just see a

596
00:24:23,710 --> 00:24:21,200
blue screen and there's nothing

597
00:24:24,909 --> 00:24:23,720
happening if they see the instruction or

598
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:24,919
they hear the instruction now please

599
00:24:28,690 --> 00:24:26,450
concentrate they see a squiggly line

600
00:24:31,899 --> 00:24:28,700
they're told to try to make the squiggly

601
00:24:34,149 --> 00:24:31,909
line go up and there's also a tone that

602
00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:34,159
sounds like a whistling wind so the

603
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:35,570
whistle you try to get the whistling

604
00:24:39,120 --> 00:24:36,970
wind to go up in pitch

605
00:24:42,029 --> 00:24:39,130
which in it goes kind of goes along with

606
00:24:43,980 --> 00:24:42,039
this moving a line so you could do this

607
00:24:45,539 --> 00:24:43,990
experiment with your eyes closed because

608
00:24:47,820 --> 00:24:45,549
you don't have to look at the the line

609
00:24:49,919 --> 00:24:47,830
you can just listen to the pitch it

610
00:24:51,510 --> 00:24:49,929
lasts for 11 minutes and we have checks

611
00:24:53,279 --> 00:24:51,520
in there to make sure that the person

612
00:24:55,110 --> 00:24:53,289
still doing the experiment because if

613
00:24:56,909 --> 00:24:55,120
there's not we don't get a proper

614
00:24:58,049 --> 00:24:56,919
handshake back from the person's

615
00:25:01,470 --> 00:24:58,059
computer then we know that they've

616
00:25:04,470 --> 00:25:01,480
stopped the experiment and so we end it

617
00:25:06,899 --> 00:25:04,480
at that point so again we've given

618
00:25:08,580 --> 00:25:06,909
roulette can instructions to now

619
00:25:10,230 --> 00:25:08,590
concentrate your attention on the system

620
00:25:14,370 --> 00:25:10,240
make the squiggly squiggly line move up

621
00:25:16,590 --> 00:25:14,380
or relax and do nothing here - we expect

622
00:25:18,630 --> 00:25:16,600
a delay but it's longer than a task

623
00:25:20,399 --> 00:25:18,640
switching delay it's not simply 3 or 5

624
00:25:22,950 --> 00:25:20,409
seconds where we also have Internet

625
00:25:25,130 --> 00:25:22,960
delays we have a delay in terms of the

626
00:25:27,419 --> 00:25:25,140
feedback that we give people because

627
00:25:28,950 --> 00:25:27,429
feedback is based on the last couple of

628
00:25:30,630 --> 00:25:28,960
seconds of data in order to give a

629
00:25:32,700 --> 00:25:30,640
smooth response so we did some

630
00:25:35,730 --> 00:25:32,710
calculations and measurements we decided

631
00:25:37,230 --> 00:25:35,740
that the the feedback delay or the delay

632
00:25:39,770 --> 00:25:37,240
that we would expect in the data would

633
00:25:42,180 --> 00:25:39,780
be roughly 5 to 10 seconds delay

634
00:25:44,580 --> 00:25:42,190
empirically it turns out that 9 seconds

635
00:25:47,070 --> 00:25:44,590
is the optimal time so there's

636
00:25:49,169 --> 00:25:47,080
instruction to concentrate and when we

637
00:25:52,169 --> 00:25:49,179
delay the data a little bit because the

638
00:25:53,370 --> 00:25:52,179
reaction would be slowed so here's what

639
00:25:55,169 --> 00:25:53,380
this interference pattern looks like

640
00:25:57,840 --> 00:25:55,179
this one is a little bit rectangular and

641
00:26:00,779 --> 00:25:57,850
we did a very simple analysis based on

642
00:26:03,990 --> 00:26:00,789
Fringe visibility this is simply looking

643
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:04,000
at for an adjacent peak and trough

644
00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:07,090
it's the proportional heights so in a

645
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:09,730
perfect interference pattern you have a

646
00:26:14,060 --> 00:26:11,530
hundred percent fringe visibility you

647
00:26:18,510 --> 00:26:14,070
have a very very low trough a very high

648
00:26:20,159 --> 00:26:18,520
peak we looked at the middle twenty

649
00:26:21,690 --> 00:26:20,169
fringes and the interference pattern

650
00:26:25,919 --> 00:26:21,700
because so they're the ones that are the

651
00:26:27,450 --> 00:26:25,929
most stable measure each fringe and so

652
00:26:30,299 --> 00:26:27,460
here we're looking at the difference in

653
00:26:33,419 --> 00:26:30,309
fringe visibility during concentrating

654
00:26:36,299 --> 00:26:33,429
versus relaxing the the red line in the

655
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:36,309
middle is a two Sigma level and as you

656
00:26:40,860 --> 00:26:38,890
see some fringe number nine which is

657
00:26:42,659 --> 00:26:40,870
more or less in the center of the

658
00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:42,669
interference pattern actually went down

659
00:26:46,919 --> 00:26:45,370
to about three and a half Sigma drop the

660
00:26:48,870 --> 00:26:46,929
interesting thing is that all twenty

661
00:26:50,220 --> 00:26:48,880
fringes are negative they're predicted

662
00:26:52,380 --> 00:26:50,230
to be negative because we're

663
00:26:54,930 --> 00:26:52,390
basically saying that fringe visibility

664
00:26:56,340 --> 00:26:54,940
should drop it should shrink when people

665
00:26:57,680 --> 00:26:56,350
are putting their mind in the box and

666
00:27:00,480 --> 00:26:57,690
that is what we see

667
00:27:03,630 --> 00:27:00,490
so fringe visibility declines and mind

668
00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:03,640
focuses on the double-slit and it does

669
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:05,590
not decrease when you have a simulated

670
00:27:09,919 --> 00:27:08,410
human do the same task so again the

671
00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:09,929
reason why this is so nice is because

672
00:27:14,610 --> 00:27:12,970
the the double stood system has been

673
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:14,620
sitting there now almost for three years

674
00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:17,290
it's on continually it has no idea who's

675
00:27:21,289 --> 00:27:19,720
asking for data sometimes it's humans on

676
00:27:23,610 --> 00:27:21,299
the other end sometimes not

677
00:27:25,650 --> 00:27:23,620
you get fringe visibility drops

678
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:25,660
significantly when people are on the

679
00:27:29,580 --> 00:27:27,010
other end and you don't when you have a

680
00:27:31,590 --> 00:27:29,590
Linux box now for those of you who

681
00:27:34,740 --> 00:27:31,600
believe in the the possibility of

682
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:34,750
machine consciousness we know at least

683
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:38,650
that a boon to box is not sufficiently

684
00:27:43,830 --> 00:27:39,970
conscious in order to make this thing

685
00:27:49,650 --> 00:27:43,840
work so there the human observers

686
00:27:52,169 --> 00:27:49,660
there's the robot observers this is a

687
00:27:54,419 --> 00:27:52,179
compass as a reminder for me that when

688
00:27:56,310 --> 00:27:54,429
you're doing something like this where

689
00:27:59,250 --> 00:27:56,320
you have 20 fringes that are not

690
00:28:00,600 --> 00:27:59,260
completely independent of each other you

691
00:28:01,890 --> 00:28:00,610
can do something called a false

692
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:01,900
discovery rate which is like a

693
00:28:05,419 --> 00:28:03,970
bonferroni correction to see how many of

694
00:28:08,220 --> 00:28:05,429
these drops are really statistically

695
00:28:11,580 --> 00:28:08,230
significant so false discovery rate is

696
00:28:13,260 --> 00:28:11,590
used very often an EEG research because

697
00:28:14,669 --> 00:28:13,270
if you're looking at electrodes and you

698
00:28:16,500 --> 00:28:14,679
want to know how many of the electrodes

699
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:16,510
in a given area are significantly

700
00:28:20,430 --> 00:28:18,970
different you need to adjust for the

701
00:28:22,650 --> 00:28:20,440
correlations well you can do the same

702
00:28:26,490 --> 00:28:22,660
process here and it turns out that of

703
00:28:28,620 --> 00:28:26,500
all of the 20 fringes that in this case

704
00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:28,630
there's something like 10 of the 20

705
00:28:34,620 --> 00:28:32,370
fringes which are significantly dropped

706
00:28:38,970 --> 00:28:34,630
so even though there are correlations

707
00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:38,980
here there's still significant many of

708
00:28:42,900 --> 00:28:41,110
them so what causes this change in the

709
00:28:44,130 --> 00:28:42,910
fringe visibility well remember our

710
00:28:46,380 --> 00:28:44,140
models said that there's something like

711
00:28:48,419 --> 00:28:46,390
an asymmetry going on it's as though the

712
00:28:50,190 --> 00:28:48,429
mind is causing the amount of light to

713
00:28:53,570 --> 00:28:50,200
go through one slit a little bit less

714
00:28:56,430 --> 00:28:53,580
than the other so when somebody's has to

715
00:28:59,820 --> 00:28:56,440
mentally observe even from many many

716
00:29:02,580 --> 00:28:59,830
kilometers away maybe that's what's

717
00:29:03,869 --> 00:29:02,590
happening so if you do a fringe

718
00:29:05,999 --> 00:29:03,879
visibility and analysis

719
00:29:09,599 --> 00:29:06,009
you can model that if you have perfect

720
00:29:12,779 --> 00:29:09,609
symmetry between one slit and the other

721
00:29:14,399 --> 00:29:12,789
their fringes are very there's the peak

722
00:29:16,709 --> 00:29:14,409
and there's a trough so the truck is

723
00:29:18,719 --> 00:29:16,719
very close to the zero the peak is where

724
00:29:21,389 --> 00:29:18,729
it is and now we've introduced a little

725
00:29:22,469 --> 00:29:21,399
eight asymmetry the trough Rises but the

726
00:29:24,930 --> 00:29:22,479
peak stays the same

727
00:29:28,319 --> 00:29:24,940
more asymmetry trough Rises peak stays

728
00:29:31,019 --> 00:29:28,329
the same and more so on so as you make

729
00:29:33,419 --> 00:29:31,029
more and more asymmetry the trough is

730
00:29:35,069 --> 00:29:33,429
where the action is the trough is rising

731
00:29:36,539 --> 00:29:35,079
and the peak stays the same so let's

732
00:29:40,919 --> 00:29:36,549
look at our actual data to see what

733
00:29:43,649 --> 00:29:40,929
happened the troughs rise and the peak

734
00:29:45,779 --> 00:29:43,659
stays the same so this is again

735
00:29:48,389 --> 00:29:45,789
suggesting that one way to think about

736
00:29:50,639 --> 00:29:48,399
what's happening is it is as though the

737
00:29:52,529 --> 00:29:50,649
light becomes asymmetrical in the two

738
00:29:55,199 --> 00:29:52,539
slits because the troughs are rising a

739
00:29:58,949 --> 00:29:55,209
lot in this case over five Sigma and for

740
00:30:05,009 --> 00:29:58,959
the center fringe but the peaks don't

741
00:30:07,739 --> 00:30:05,019
change at all so that all of those

742
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:07,749
involved studies with continual

743
00:30:12,180 --> 00:30:10,329
continuous beam laser if we think about

744
00:30:15,119 --> 00:30:12,190
the number of photons involved in this

745
00:30:17,129 --> 00:30:15,129
case photons per second are many many

746
00:30:19,319 --> 00:30:17,139
gazillion trillions of photons per

747
00:30:20,309 --> 00:30:19,329
second you can actually calculate how

748
00:30:22,199 --> 00:30:20,319
many of there are but I don't remember

749
00:30:24,329 --> 00:30:22,209
just say many trillions of photons per

750
00:30:26,539 --> 00:30:24,339
second so when the mind is doing this

751
00:30:30,899 --> 00:30:26,549
task you don't have any possibility of

752
00:30:32,759 --> 00:30:30,909
capturing individual photons even though

753
00:30:34,589 --> 00:30:32,769
that's the task the task is to imagine

754
00:30:36,239 --> 00:30:34,599
you can gain which path information but

755
00:30:38,699 --> 00:30:36,249
how can you gain which path information

756
00:30:40,949 --> 00:30:38,709
of a trillion things per second so we

757
00:30:43,379 --> 00:30:40,959
decided to do this as a single photon

758
00:30:45,239 --> 00:30:43,389
double slit system that give the

759
00:30:46,649 --> 00:30:45,249
possibility that mind actually might be

760
00:30:48,419 --> 00:30:46,659
able to capture what was going on

761
00:30:50,069 --> 00:30:48,429
remember all of this is happening in

762
00:30:51,449 --> 00:30:50,079
your mind it's imagination which is

763
00:30:53,029 --> 00:30:51,459
doing the capture but nevertheless at

764
00:30:55,589 --> 00:30:53,039
least you have the possibility of

765
00:30:58,109 --> 00:30:55,599
capturing something at a human scale

766
00:31:01,199 --> 00:30:58,119
rather than a trillion protons per

767
00:31:02,339 --> 00:31:01,209
second scale so this device you see on

768
00:31:05,430 --> 00:31:02,349
the right there with Little Buddha

769
00:31:08,519 --> 00:31:05,440
sitting on it this is about a 1 meter

770
00:31:10,589 --> 00:31:08,529
long chamber and the way that and it's

771
00:31:12,629 --> 00:31:10,599
sitting on a vibration isolation table

772
00:31:15,089 --> 00:31:12,639
it's a very heavy table that is does

773
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:15,099
that's sitting on pneumatic legs that is

774
00:31:20,730 --> 00:31:17,770
designed to dampen vibration

775
00:31:23,070 --> 00:31:20,740
a very stable system this is a schematic

776
00:31:24,990 --> 00:31:23,080
of it and the left you have the source

777
00:31:27,390 --> 00:31:25,000
of the light it's a very tiny little

778
00:31:29,130 --> 00:31:27,400
bulb and you can tune it down so that

779
00:31:31,860 --> 00:31:29,140
the amount of light coming out of the

780
00:31:35,340 --> 00:31:31,870
bulb is very very low that goes through

781
00:31:37,169 --> 00:31:35,350
a very heavy green filter the photons

782
00:31:38,850 --> 00:31:37,179
coming out are actually yellow the

783
00:31:40,950 --> 00:31:38,860
yellow bulb goes through a green filter

784
00:31:42,780 --> 00:31:40,960
and there are not very many yellow

785
00:31:44,660 --> 00:31:42,790
things that can get through green so you

786
00:31:46,830 --> 00:31:44,670
end up with even fewer number of photons

787
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:46,840
those go through a single slit to

788
00:31:50,850 --> 00:31:49,210
collimate them and by the way this is

789
00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:50,860
not a laser this is just an incandescent

790
00:31:54,930 --> 00:31:53,110
bulb so that goes through a single slit

791
00:31:56,910 --> 00:31:54,940
go then goes through a double slit and

792
00:31:58,890 --> 00:31:56,920
then it goes on to another double

793
00:32:02,160 --> 00:31:58,900
another single slit that you can move on

794
00:32:03,780 --> 00:32:02,170
a stage and select which photons go into

795
00:32:05,190 --> 00:32:03,790
the photomultiplier tube because we need

796
00:32:08,100 --> 00:32:05,200
to count each photon as it goes through

797
00:32:09,660 --> 00:32:08,110
now the reason that you can move the

798
00:32:11,850 --> 00:32:09,670
stage because you want to be able to

799
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:11,860
check is it actually producing an

800
00:32:16,770 --> 00:32:13,690
interference pattern one photon at a

801
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:16,780
time and then you have a digital counter

802
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:18,130
that's simply counting the number of

803
00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:21,970
photons per second so here you have a

804
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:23,710
new vertical scale the number of photons

805
00:32:28,140 --> 00:32:25,570
per second in this particular case is

806
00:32:30,780 --> 00:32:28,150
roughly 25 to 30 photons per second

807
00:32:32,310 --> 00:32:30,790
that's being counted it's a very

808
00:32:33,870 --> 00:32:32,320
well-behaved system it gives a nice

809
00:32:35,940 --> 00:32:33,880
pause own distribution as you would

810
00:32:38,190 --> 00:32:35,950
expect and when you move the little

811
00:32:39,450 --> 00:32:38,200
stage around you can see what is what

812
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:39,460
are the number of photons that we're

813
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:41,530
actually getting well it ranges from

814
00:32:47,390 --> 00:32:45,730
around 25 up to around 700 and though

815
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:47,400
you can see the error bars there and it

816
00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:49,450
actually showing a very nice

817
00:32:54,540 --> 00:32:51,610
interference pattern one photon at a

818
00:32:57,510 --> 00:32:54,550
time so this is how you know that what's

819
00:33:01,650 --> 00:32:57,520
happening here is the wave property of

820
00:33:03,150 --> 00:33:01,660
light actually it really does work it's

821
00:33:05,970 --> 00:33:03,160
somehow the lights going through two

822
00:33:09,210 --> 00:33:05,980
slits at the same time so the task now

823
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:09,220
is you ask somebody to put their

824
00:33:13,799 --> 00:33:12,370
attention onto the onto the system we're

825
00:33:17,190 --> 00:33:13,809
going to look at a trough we're going to

826
00:33:19,590 --> 00:33:17,200
look at that particular spot and if the

827
00:33:20,850 --> 00:33:19,600
idea is that what's going on is collapse

828
00:33:23,460 --> 00:33:20,860
of the wave function then we're going to

829
00:33:26,580 --> 00:33:23,470
get by virtue of looking at the system

830
00:33:27,570 --> 00:33:26,590
we will interfere with interference in

831
00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:27,580
other words we'll get rid of the

832
00:33:30,549 --> 00:33:29,110
interference and we should increase the

833
00:33:32,619 --> 00:33:30,559
photon count rate

834
00:33:33,999 --> 00:33:32,629
so now rather than trying to drop a

835
00:33:37,350 --> 00:33:34,009
level we're trying to raise the number

836
00:33:39,669 --> 00:33:37,360
of photons that's that's the prediction

837
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:39,679
again we use a volitional task we allow

838
00:33:43,210 --> 00:33:41,570
people to intervene in this system when

839
00:33:45,730 --> 00:33:43,220
they wish so that they're at an optimal

840
00:33:46,930 --> 00:33:45,740
attentional period so they can relax as

841
00:33:49,539 --> 00:33:46,940
long as they want and they press a

842
00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:49,549
button to to do the task they wait a

843
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:51,110
couple of seconds and then the computer

844
00:33:55,419 --> 00:33:53,570
says now concentrate now concentrate for

845
00:33:59,169 --> 00:33:55,429
30 seconds and then they go back to

846
00:34:02,470 --> 00:33:59,179
relaxing so the first experiment we did

847
00:34:04,269 --> 00:34:02,480
there's the the mean for resting for

848
00:34:07,899 --> 00:34:04,279
waiting and concentrating this is a 5

849
00:34:10,599 --> 00:34:07,909
Sigma drop so this is opposite to our

850
00:34:12,250 --> 00:34:10,609
prediction this is not show a collapse

851
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:12,260
of the wave function of anything this is

852
00:34:16,389 --> 00:34:14,810
showing a sharpening of the fringes or

853
00:34:18,879 --> 00:34:16,399
another way of thinking of it is that

854
00:34:24,909 --> 00:34:18,889
the entire system becomes much more

855
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:24,919
orderly much much better behaved so we

856
00:34:29,470 --> 00:34:27,050
like this because when you get a 5 Sigma

857
00:34:32,290 --> 00:34:29,480
anomaly you can get the Nobel Prize if

858
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:32,300
it happens to be the Higgs boson in this

859
00:34:36,909 --> 00:34:34,970
case we were pleased with that because

860
00:34:39,550 --> 00:34:36,919
it told us a clue that maybe our

861
00:34:41,139 --> 00:34:39,560
original concept was either incorrect or

862
00:34:42,669 --> 00:34:41,149
maybe something different is going on

863
00:34:44,260 --> 00:34:42,679
when you're reducing a trillion photons

864
00:34:48,309 --> 00:34:44,270
per second as compared to when you're

865
00:34:50,230 --> 00:34:48,319
using 25 or 30 per second so we didn't

866
00:34:51,790 --> 00:34:50,240
we did it now a sequence of experiments

867
00:34:53,409 --> 00:34:51,800
I'm just going to mention the couples so

868
00:34:56,559 --> 00:34:53,419
the second experiment we did we got it

869
00:34:58,660 --> 00:34:56,569
two and a half signal rise now this was

870
00:35:00,640 --> 00:34:58,670
a different design different people do a

871
00:35:02,319 --> 00:35:00,650
lot of things that were different in the

872
00:35:04,930 --> 00:35:02,329
experiment but we're now thinking well

873
00:35:06,970 --> 00:35:04,940
we might be on to something but we don't

874
00:35:09,220 --> 00:35:06,980
know what it is yet because we're

875
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:09,230
flip-flopping from one to the other in

876
00:35:14,140 --> 00:35:12,650
statistically meaningful ways and that

877
00:35:16,900 --> 00:35:14,150
experiment with the two and a half Sigma

878
00:35:18,579 --> 00:35:16,910
rise we're also keeping track of the

879
00:35:20,700 --> 00:35:18,589
personality of the people involved in

880
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:20,710
the experiment using the Cloninger

881
00:35:27,059 --> 00:35:25,310
inventory and what we found is that the

882
00:35:29,910 --> 00:35:27,069
people in our experiment were very

883
00:35:32,620 --> 00:35:29,920
significantly deviant from the norm and

884
00:35:36,910 --> 00:35:32,630
particularly characteristic called self

885
00:35:38,650 --> 00:35:36,920
transcendence so these were the people

886
00:35:40,690 --> 00:35:38,660
who tend to end up in our experiments

887
00:35:42,550 --> 00:35:40,700
are interested in things like meditation

888
00:35:43,670 --> 00:35:42,560
and self-development so it's not too

889
00:35:45,109 --> 00:35:43,680
surprising but

890
00:35:47,660 --> 00:35:45,119
compared to the population norm these

891
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:47,670
are not normal people compared to the

892
00:35:51,049 --> 00:35:49,650
average person off the street in

893
00:35:52,549 --> 00:35:51,059
California especially in Northern

894
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:52,559
California they probably kind of look

895
00:35:58,400 --> 00:35:57,450
like this we also were took taking

896
00:36:00,680 --> 00:35:58,410
32-channel

897
00:36:02,089 --> 00:36:00,690
EEG so we could look at brain response

898
00:36:06,020 --> 00:36:02,099
while they're doing the double stat

899
00:36:07,760 --> 00:36:06,030
tasks and so here's pictures of many

900
00:36:10,970 --> 00:36:07,770
people that were involved in the

901
00:36:16,370 --> 00:36:10,980
experiment and the the upshot of this is

902
00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:16,380
that when they're concentrating a double

903
00:36:19,700 --> 00:36:18,150
sit count went up it didn't stay up for

904
00:36:21,079 --> 00:36:19,710
very long it actually over the course of

905
00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:21,089
the twenty five seconds that they're

906
00:36:25,940 --> 00:36:23,190
concentrating it went back down to

907
00:36:27,950 --> 00:36:25,950
chance pretty quickly so even at

908
00:36:30,140 --> 00:36:27,960
meditators doing this experiment could

909
00:36:32,329 --> 00:36:30,150
not maintain the kind of concentration

910
00:36:34,910 --> 00:36:32,339
that was necessary for more than around

911
00:36:36,380 --> 00:36:34,920
five seconds but nicely because we're

912
00:36:38,059 --> 00:36:36,390
looking at their EEG we're able to

913
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:38,069
measure alpha D synchronization in the

914
00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:40,410
brain which is correlated with attention

915
00:36:45,819 --> 00:36:42,450
with concentration in particular and

916
00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:45,829
that drops so we're getting a nice

917
00:36:50,150 --> 00:36:48,299
anti-correlation between alpha D

918
00:36:52,069 --> 00:36:50,160
synchronization and the result in the

919
00:36:53,930 --> 00:36:52,079
double-slit so the more cut the more you

920
00:36:56,410 --> 00:36:53,940
concentrate the better the result in the

921
00:36:58,819 --> 00:36:56,420
experiment which is nice

922
00:37:00,079 --> 00:36:58,829
we also found since we ran 20

923
00:37:01,849 --> 00:37:00,089
participants were able to look on

924
00:37:03,980 --> 00:37:01,859
average what is happening in terms of

925
00:37:05,420 --> 00:37:03,990
different frequencies in the brain and

926
00:37:07,430 --> 00:37:05,430
we found that one of the frequencies

927
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:07,440
showed a significant result across all

928
00:37:13,390 --> 00:37:09,930
20 people this is a directional

929
00:37:17,210 --> 00:37:13,400
correlation with gamma gamma frequency

930
00:37:18,980 --> 00:37:17,220
so this is not an increase in gamma and

931
00:37:21,890 --> 00:37:18,990
the temporal and the occipital but

932
00:37:25,789 --> 00:37:21,900
actually a decrease in gamma gamma

933
00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:25,799
becomes D synchronized as well so it

934
00:37:29,510 --> 00:37:27,930
actually everything alpha beta gal all

935
00:37:31,039 --> 00:37:29,520
of the brain frequencies become D

936
00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:31,049
synchronized and the process of doing in

937
00:37:35,359 --> 00:37:33,210
this experiment the bottom is showing

938
00:37:37,460 --> 00:37:35,369
however an absolute change that's it

939
00:37:39,849 --> 00:37:37,470
doesn't matter whether the gamma went up

940
00:37:43,069 --> 00:37:39,859
or down but some change from a baseline

941
00:37:45,230 --> 00:37:43,079
very significant results in the temporal

942
00:37:48,260 --> 00:37:45,240
area this says that what we're seeing is

943
00:37:50,420 --> 00:37:48,270
not consistent across people some people

944
00:37:52,309 --> 00:37:50,430
gamma went up some people gamma went

945
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:52,319
down we're thinking okay well there's

946
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:53,970
something going on with that particular

947
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:55,650
frequency which is much greater than any

948
00:38:01,349 --> 00:37:57,130
other frequency we saw

949
00:38:04,230 --> 00:38:01,359
which is related to these results so

950
00:38:05,490 --> 00:38:04,240
here we have our other cat and this this

951
00:38:07,109 --> 00:38:05,500
came about because you're trying to

952
00:38:09,269 --> 00:38:07,119
think now what is it about doing this

953
00:38:10,650 --> 00:38:09,279
experiment with single photons where

954
00:38:12,059 --> 00:38:10,660
sometimes you get a very strong result

955
00:38:13,460 --> 00:38:12,069
in one direction and sometimes a very

956
00:38:16,740 --> 00:38:13,470
strong result in the other direction

957
00:38:18,690 --> 00:38:16,750
doesn't seem to make sense until I

958
00:38:22,259 --> 00:38:18,700
started to realize that the quantum Zeno

959
00:38:23,730 --> 00:38:22,269
effect is one of the properties of what

960
00:38:25,470 --> 00:38:23,740
happens when you observe a quantum

961
00:38:27,420 --> 00:38:25,480
system doesn't work for all quantum

962
00:38:30,210 --> 00:38:27,430
systems because it needs to be in a

963
00:38:31,950 --> 00:38:30,220
certain certain configuration but

964
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:31,960
suitable quantum systems when you look

965
00:38:36,170 --> 00:38:34,690
at it they basically freeze it freezes

966
00:38:39,839 --> 00:38:36,180
the evolution of the quantum system

967
00:38:41,910 --> 00:38:39,849
that's the quantum Zeno effect what I

968
00:38:43,559 --> 00:38:41,920
did not realize until I started looking

969
00:38:46,230 --> 00:38:43,569
into this is there is also a quantum

970
00:38:47,910 --> 00:38:46,240
anti Zeno effect and this is that there

971
00:38:50,670 --> 00:38:47,920
you can look at certain systems and

972
00:38:52,319 --> 00:38:50,680
accelerate its evolution so you can do

973
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:52,329
both and it depends a lot in the way

974
00:38:56,039 --> 00:38:53,890
that the system is devised you can

975
00:38:58,380 --> 00:38:56,049
depending on the frequency with which

976
00:39:00,870 --> 00:38:58,390
you observe the system you can freeze it

977
00:39:03,210 --> 00:39:00,880
or you can accelerate it so we've been

978
00:39:06,539 --> 00:39:03,220
doing experiments evolving single

979
00:39:07,890 --> 00:39:06,549
quantum events with different designs so

980
00:39:10,559 --> 00:39:07,900
maybe I thought well let's do an

981
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:10,569
experiment where we do what amounts to a

982
00:39:16,980 --> 00:39:13,210
quantum Zeno experiment so we used our

983
00:39:19,130 --> 00:39:16,990
diode laser we set it up to get this

984
00:39:21,150 --> 00:39:19,140
time looking at Fringe visibility and

985
00:39:22,890 --> 00:39:21,160
there's who are tracking fringe

986
00:39:25,859 --> 00:39:22,900
visibility in one particular fringe and

987
00:39:28,740 --> 00:39:25,869
it's a very nice well-behaved system and

988
00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:28,750
the observers task is that we're

989
00:39:32,039 --> 00:39:30,609
measuring 50 samples per second we're

990
00:39:34,140 --> 00:39:32,049
getting fringe visibility out of the

991
00:39:36,599 --> 00:39:34,150
system 50 times a second but sometimes

992
00:39:40,349 --> 00:39:36,609
we presented to people very very slowly

993
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:40,359
like one out of every 200 samples and

994
00:39:43,829 --> 00:39:42,130
then sometimes a little bit faster like

995
00:39:45,839 --> 00:39:43,839
one out of every 50 samples and then

996
00:39:48,450 --> 00:39:45,849
even faster so there's four different

997
00:39:50,999 --> 00:39:48,460
levels of speed in this experiment

998
00:39:53,279 --> 00:39:51,009
systems just keeps pumping out data but

999
00:39:57,059 --> 00:39:53,289
there's an observer of what's happening

1000
00:39:57,539 --> 00:39:57,069
at different time scales so this is the

1001
00:40:00,180 --> 00:39:57,549
result

1002
00:40:03,559 --> 00:40:00,190
so you see 14 controls heston sessions

1003
00:40:06,749 --> 00:40:03,569
14 also with humans observing a system

1004
00:40:08,999 --> 00:40:06,759
the variance for the results with the

1005
00:40:10,530 --> 00:40:09,009
humans is very statistically significant

1006
00:40:13,350 --> 00:40:10,540
and for the control it's not

1007
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:13,360
so this is a suggestion that may be

1008
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:14,890
what's going on here is that there are

1009
00:40:18,660 --> 00:40:17,410
different modes of observation going on

1010
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:18,670
and the different experiments that we

1011
00:40:22,380 --> 00:40:20,130
did which we didn't even think of

1012
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:22,390
originally which may be accounting for

1013
00:40:26,250 --> 00:40:23,890
the fact that we're sometimes freezing

1014
00:40:27,780 --> 00:40:26,260
the system and sometimes accelerating it

1015
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:27,790
and that's why we're getting flip-flops

1016
00:40:32,430 --> 00:40:30,010
it is also the case that individuals

1017
00:40:35,070 --> 00:40:32,440
observe in very different ways and so

1018
00:40:36,510 --> 00:40:35,080
even the same exact experiment you can

1019
00:40:38,670 --> 00:40:36,520
have people doing something different in

1020
00:40:40,110 --> 00:40:38,680
their head and ending up with different

1021
00:40:44,070 --> 00:40:40,120
results because the nature of the

1022
00:40:45,630 --> 00:40:44,080
observation is different so whatever we

1023
00:40:47,610 --> 00:40:45,640
learned so far we've learned that

1024
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:47,620
attention affects behavior of light and

1025
00:40:52,170 --> 00:40:50,410
quantum optics systems it's somewhat

1026
00:40:54,150 --> 00:40:52,180
consistent with von neumann's proposal

1027
00:40:56,940 --> 00:40:54,160
especially the ones involving continuous

1028
00:40:59,070 --> 00:40:56,950
lasers and also that some crazy ideas

1029
00:41:00,990 --> 00:40:59,080
might be correct so how does this

1030
00:41:03,900 --> 00:41:01,000
particular crazy idea fit into the rest

1031
00:41:05,190 --> 00:41:03,910
of science well in the big jigsaw puzzle

1032
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:05,200
we're trying to understand the universe

1033
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:08,410
maybe three places one is that it it is

1034
00:41:13,260 --> 00:41:10,690
sigh like I mean it's involving some

1035
00:41:15,690 --> 00:41:13,270
kind of mind matter interaction it

1036
00:41:18,690 --> 00:41:15,700
probably fits into this rising interest

1037
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:18,700
in information physics and also probably

1038
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:20,530
with quantum biology like there's

1039
00:41:24,510 --> 00:41:22,930
something about those three areas will

1040
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:24,520
probably fill in the jigsaw at some

1041
00:41:32,420 --> 00:41:28,450
point maybe consciousness is fundamental

1042
00:41:35,550 --> 00:41:32,430
after all and I'll end with

1043
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:35,560
acknowledging many fine collaborators

1044
00:41:40,230 --> 00:41:38,170
who helped in this design and execution

1045
00:41:41,970 --> 00:41:40,240
and also this work which could not have

1046
00:41:44,490 --> 00:41:41,980
been done without our funders the BI

1047
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:44,500
foundation in Portugal Fetzer Memorial

1048
00:41:48,420 --> 00:41:47,050
Trust and Michigan mental insight

1049
00:41:50,460 --> 00:41:48,430
foundation in California and the

1050
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:50,470
Federico and Elvia fijian foundation

1051
00:42:06,420 --> 00:41:54,690
here in Silicon Valley and with that I

1052
00:42:16,710 --> 00:42:10,390
thank you very much Dean fascinating we

1053
00:42:23,470 --> 00:42:19,930
Dean regarding the observers themselves

1054
00:42:25,900 --> 00:42:23,480
is that the act of simply concentrating

1055
00:42:29,890 --> 00:42:25,910
or is it the act of concentrating

1056
00:42:32,650 --> 00:42:29,900
specifically on the the area where the

1057
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:32,660
slit is because I've noticed I don't

1058
00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:34,490
know if you're familiar with a new toy

1059
00:42:41,020 --> 00:42:37,490
called a mind flex where you actually

1060
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:41,030
can change this little device based on

1061
00:42:44,340 --> 00:42:43,130
whether you're concentrating or not if

1062
00:42:47,710 --> 00:42:44,350
your mind is just kind of you know

1063
00:42:49,390 --> 00:42:47,720
drifting so did you try that two

1064
00:42:51,970 --> 00:42:49,400
separate whether they're concentrating

1065
00:42:54,970 --> 00:42:51,980
specifically on tasks or just

1066
00:42:56,890 --> 00:42:54,980
concentrating that's a very good

1067
00:42:58,420 --> 00:42:56,900
question and actually it was addressed

1068
00:43:00,670 --> 00:42:58,430
somewhat in the the quantum Zeno

1069
00:43:03,730 --> 00:43:00,680
experiment because in that experiment

1070
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:03,740
the only instruction is look at the dots

1071
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:06,410
on the screen and they and I mean they

1072
00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:07,610
knew that it had to do with a double

1073
00:43:12,430 --> 00:43:09,530
slit but I didn't say very much about it

1074
00:43:14,290 --> 00:43:12,440
so simply just pay attention to the fact

1075
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:14,300
that things are happening so that's

1076
00:43:18,940 --> 00:43:17,090
attention without any any knowledge of

1077
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:18,950
the system and all of the other systems

1078
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:21,530
we did tell people what it's about you

1079
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:22,970
know this is a double slit and there's

1080
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:24,890
this theory and so on when you ask

1081
00:43:29,860 --> 00:43:26,690
people after the experiment what did you

1082
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:29,870
do for about 20 seconds they followed

1083
00:43:34,270 --> 00:43:31,970
instructions and then they found it was

1084
00:43:36,250 --> 00:43:34,280
too difficult to do that so they did a

1085
00:43:39,370 --> 00:43:36,260
huge range of different kinds of

1086
00:43:42,550 --> 00:43:39,380
strategies so in that respect it's kind

1087
00:43:44,230 --> 00:43:42,560
of a miracle that the the continuous

1088
00:43:47,170 --> 00:43:44,240
laser experiments worked as well as it

1089
00:43:48,940 --> 00:43:47,180
did so maybe it doesn't matter the exact

1090
00:43:51,070 --> 00:43:48,950
form of concentration doesn't matter too

1091
00:43:52,690 --> 00:43:51,080
much and I think that is also now what

1092
00:43:55,770 --> 00:43:52,700
we see in this quantum Zeno type of

1093
00:43:57,970 --> 00:43:55,780
experiment that it's it's more about

1094
00:44:00,010 --> 00:43:57,980
observing that something is happening

1095
00:44:02,530 --> 00:44:00,020
and not the details and in particular

1096
00:44:04,090 --> 00:44:02,540
for people doing this over the web they

1097
00:44:05,770 --> 00:44:04,100
don't they don't see anything about a

1098
00:44:09,300 --> 00:44:05,780
double slit they just see a squiggly

1099
00:44:12,670 --> 00:44:09,310
line and it works for them too so

1100
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:12,680
extending that point we know that inside

1101
00:44:16,590 --> 00:44:15,650
experiments our intention affects the

1102
00:44:22,890 --> 00:44:16,600
outcome

1103
00:44:24,870 --> 00:44:22,900
being affected via the mechanisms that

1104
00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:24,880
you're suggesting in terms of collapse

1105
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:27,250
of wavefunction as you know we've done

1106
00:44:31,770 --> 00:44:28,690
experiments at the University of

1107
00:44:33,930 --> 00:44:31,780
Colorado with intention on reflection of

1108
00:44:35,810 --> 00:44:33,940
light and we find that there is an

1109
00:44:39,150 --> 00:44:35,820
effect on reflection of light and

1110
00:44:41,160 --> 00:44:39,160
moreover the more lability we give to

1111
00:44:45,380 --> 00:44:41,170
the system the more noise there is in

1112
00:44:48,330 --> 00:44:45,390
the system the greater the effect and so

1113
00:44:52,170 --> 00:44:48,340
how do we know what part of it we're

1114
00:44:54,030 --> 00:44:52,180
affecting I don't think there's a clear

1115
00:44:56,460 --> 00:44:54,040
answer to that yet I mean in particular

1116
00:44:58,950 --> 00:44:56,470
because the delayed choice version of

1117
00:45:00,980 --> 00:44:58,960
this worked there's always the

1118
00:45:03,350 --> 00:45:00,990
possibility that the analyst is

1119
00:45:06,480 --> 00:45:03,360
collapsing the system backwards in time

1120
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:06,490
so there are ways to get around that of

1121
00:45:09,510 --> 00:45:07,810
course you have different analysts

1122
00:45:11,250 --> 00:45:09,520
involved and one of them one of my hopes

1123
00:45:12,930 --> 00:45:11,260
in this kind of experiment since we've

1124
00:45:15,210 --> 00:45:12,940
gotten such good and relatively

1125
00:45:17,610 --> 00:45:15,220
consistently good results is to inspire

1126
00:45:19,020 --> 00:45:17,620
others to do something like it because

1127
00:45:20,460 --> 00:45:19,030
that's really the only way of knowing

1128
00:45:22,350 --> 00:45:20,470
whether it's an analyst effect and

1129
00:45:24,090 --> 00:45:22,360
eventually we'll get clever enough and

1130
00:45:26,670 --> 00:45:24,100
figure out ways of answering that very

1131
00:45:30,540 --> 00:45:26,680
important question at this point I don't

1132
00:45:32,790 --> 00:45:30,550
know that's all the time we have for

1133
00:45:34,890 --> 00:45:32,800
questions right now but you may proceed

1134
00:45:37,500 --> 00:45:34,900
to rush Dean with your myriad questions

1135
00:45:42,490 --> 00:45:37,510
at the lunch break thank you very much