The Zeno Effect

Maybe it's time to take a break

(For the audio version, click above)

In the weird world of quantum physics, there’s something especially mind-bending called the Zeno Effect. Scientists have discovered that (at least at the level of ridiculously small things) the mere act of measuring something can slow down its natural evolution.  In other words, the more often a subatomic particle is observed, the more slowly it changes. The reason for this seems to be that, when measured, whatever process of natural change the particle is undergoing has to stop for a nano-moment, kind of like pausing for a photo.

I came up with the following way of imagining it (and if you’re an actual scientist, who actually gets this stuff, please feel free to roll your eyes and correct me)…let’s say someone rides a bicycle from Point A to Point B.  If they stop every so often to take a selfie, it takes a little longer to get there.  If they stop for a selfie every two seconds, they barely move at all.  The Zeno Effect seems to suggest that constant scrutiny has a way of slowing down something’s natural progression. It’s the scientific explanation for what your grandmother always knew: a watched pot never boils.

My point?  Well, I wonder if, in these post-election days, the best thing we could all do is pay a little less attention. What might happen if we dared to put down our phones, close our laptops, and go for a long walk? My bet is it would almost certainly be good for our individual health.  And the wisdom of the Zeno Effect suggests that, counter-intuitively, it might also be good for the health of the world. 

As much as our need for control hates to admit it, sometimes the best thing we can do is do a little less.  How many parents would have been better parents if they had backed off now and then?  How many relationships might have survived had the couple given each other a little more space?   

When something is going wrong, it’s hard for us to believe the solution isn’t to press harder. But when we are stretched thin, emotionally-drained, and not operating at our best, we can end up doing more harm than good.  

I know we’ve all grown accustomed (aka addicted) to a steady IV-drip of breaking news, latest updates, and dopamine inducing self-righteousness. But my gut tells me it’s time to pull the plug for a while and get back to things we did before everything we did felt political. It’s time to go to a concert, play with the dog, invite friends over to not talk about politics. If we can extrapolate anything from the Zeno Effect onto a human scale, it might be to have a little more faith. Faith that there are larger forces than us at work. Faith that all of this is held by a Mystery much bigger than we can imagine. And faith that sometimes our job is to just get on the bike and ride.