She was the kind of girl who would go to parties, get drunk, and go home by taxi.
The student party would be a welcome distraction for her… she needed a distraction. There was too much going on in her life right now. Too many decisions to make. Too many choices. Her best friend had said she should give herself a break from it all. “Look, you should just let it all go” she said. “Just jump in the car; come over and chill out for a while.” So, that’s what she did.
When she arrived it was all in full swing. Some dozen or so were dancing to music inside, while a group of students were gathered around a small bonfire in the back garden. Her friend got up and hugged her saying “Jeromy’s here, pontificating as usual.”
“What’s he on about?”
“He’s saying that electrons are both particles and waves. It’s quantum mechanics… I think.”
Her friend poured her a large cocktail. “Here, I’ll leave the bottle with you. Remember, let it all go.” She hugged her again and went back inside.
She joined the group with nods and smiles. She found a spot and sat cross-legged sipping and listening. He was expounding on the double slit experiment. She listened with an uncertain fascination. Half an hour and half a bottle of vodka later she plucked up the courage to join in.
She suddenly piped up. “Are you saying that the wave creates this interference pattern, with the result being that the electron approaches the two slits and goes through both, is that what you’re saying?
Jeromy looked across, pleased that somebody was challenging and not just listening. He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. “Yep. That is what I’m saying.”
Her head shook slowly. “Sorry, but that really is hard to believe.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Sure I do.” He paused, then threw his hands up saying. “It gets a lot worse when you consider that whenever the electron is observed it only passes through one of the two slits, in the same way that a particle would.”
“Now you’ve really lost me” she said.
“It’s simple” he went on, “you could say that the wave signifies all possibilities. On the other hand, when the electron is observed it is seen to make a choice.”
“Choice?” she echoed.
“Sure, one slit or the other.”
“OK. Are you saying that when something is observed you think it has a choice?”
“Sure, one slit or the other.” he repeated.
The group went on discussing and occasionally arguing the merits of what Jeromy was preaching for quite some time, while she sat pondering the whole idea and steadily emptying the bottle. When the fire had burned out and the band broke up she staggered to her feet and immediately fell over.
They put her in a taxi.
All the way home she was wondering, was she a wave or a particle?
She looked up to find the driver peering at her in the mirror.
“Oh! No!” she thought. “I’m being observed…”