11:II:11 Navigating the Vortex: our Quantum Leap

Vortex, maelström, whirlpool: Nature's basic mechanism for transporting mass and energy effectively

“Nature seems to be a Book written in the Language of Mathematics” Galileo (1564-1642)

As communicators, we bloggers may sometimes feel we have been speaking but the words are not coming from inside our bodies. The words have been coming from somewhere else…

“For several months, we have been moving forward and are being released in small increments. We are in the birth canal –the tunnel– and in that space it is near impossible to ‘see’ anything. We feel we are not connected to anything. Alone in the tunnel, we have been traveling on a raft with no wind behind us, no oars and in still waters, with no-one to left or right. But now we are moving forward and this new movement is creating the strange feeling of being in two places at once.” Karen Bishop Emerging Earth Angels

Lightworker Karen Bishop suggests that the sensation of being lost, disconnected and alone will pass as humanity moves through this intermediary stage and into the great mass awakening to follow. This new sensation of bliss and purpose comes as soon as we “are enmeshed in our new spaces in a higher dimension.”

Schrödinger's Cat: quantum uncertainty principle (1935) reduced to the absurd

Higher dimensions, Alternate Reality, parallel Universes; the quantum paradox of ‘many worlds’: an unending conundrum of being in two places at the same time. Particle physicists pursuing the ‘God’ particle, Higgs-Boson, endlessly around circular underground tunnels on two continents. What do these concepts have in common?

Uncertainty principle: math simplifies quantum reality

Higher dimensions –or alternate ones– are presently the preoccupation of particle physicists, quantum cosmologists and proponents of the holographic universe in our search for the meaning of Reality. Physics, cosmology and mathematics are crossing the boundaries between science and philosophy.

New Age lightworkers are becoming more assured and vocal in their prediction of a mass awakening in human consciousness. And it looks as if science is beginning to agree.

Max Tegmark, astrophysicist, cosmologist and professor in the physics faculty at MIT in Cambridge, Mass likes the idea of parallel universes: the quantum mechanics (QM) paradox of a particle’s ability to be in two places at the same time. He sees mathematics as our ultimate connection to reality. “Math is not something we invented, but something we are continually rediscovering.”

“We now have equations that describe how light behaves, how gravity behaves, how atoms behave. We can express the speed of light in mathematical terms. It is beautiful. In math we capture the essence of a very complicated Universe out there.”

“What if we were to see the Universe not as an entity that exists inside space and time, but that space and time exist inside it?” Max Tegmark, Prof. of Physics, MIT

Anton Zeilinger, author of Dance of the Photons 2005, translated into German as Einsteins Spuk, ‘Einstein’s Spook’ or ‘Ghost’, has a different view. He currently heads a team at the University of Vienna who have ‘teleported’ light photons 600 meters under the river Danube. He and his Austrian team of photon-busters have proved (in their ‘double-slit’ particle experiment) a basic quantum theory that we change the nature of reality simply by observing it.

“(Quantum Theory of Reality) is exciting, it is extremely precise, it is mathematically beautiful; and it describes everything. It just doesn’t make sense.” Anton Zeilinger

Quantum cosmologist, Leonard Susskind, professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University since 1979, says the beauty of math’s connection to reality is its simplicity. It becomes easier to describe reality with mathematics. “As you probe deeper, mathematics becomes the ONLY reality.”

But in sounding the depths of the cosmos, he uncovered many unanswered questions, e.g., the popular assignment of black holes as the bad guys of the Universe. He and Stephen Hawking discussed the black hole theory in 1988 when Hawking first published his Brief History of Time. “It changed my life.”

” I believed he was wrong. I spent the next 20 years working through the evidence to prove lt.”

Hawking suggested black holes were places in the cosmos which swallowed everything. Nothing escapes after it has breached the rim — event horizon — of a black hole. All light, matter, energy, information is sucked in by its (theoretical) huge gravitational pull and is lost. Nothing comes back out.

“Hawking had to be wrong. I refused to believe everything could disappear. We can’t allow information to be ‘lost’. Instead, how about if the horizon of a back hole is 3D like a hologram capturing 3D reality of everything that falls into it?”

In 1993 he and his graduate students announced their holographic principle of the Universe: that if all reality were indeed a hologram — a 3D model of everything captured as an image of our reality — maybe black holes were images of events taking place very far away: back in time; that our reality is a projection of a holographic record stored at the outer reaches of the Universe. The team became bold. They called a consortium of the world’s top physicists to a conference at Stanford in November 2009 and Susskind invited Stephen Hawking to speak. By then, Hawking was talking about ‘sideways’ or lateral time. But he was interested in Susskind’s holographic theory. And Susskind’s team was about to put it to the test.

“He didn’t get it. You don’t get it. Nobody gets it. But we may be about to prove that the whole of creation is a hologram.”

If the Stanford team is right, their model brings quantum cosmology, the ‘Many Worlds’ interpretation and New Age spiritualism into the same arena: We are what we believe, what we think and how we see our own Reality.

Or even more spiritual in concept, that Susskind’s ‘something stored at the outer reaches of the Universe’ might be the Intelligent Being/Source from whom mystics and devotees seek enlightenment.

Does this mean that the Cosmos is coming full circle?

We are having an intelligent conversation with the Universe.

The Universe may be providing its own answer to the question.

The Sun and solar system gravitate each year to and from Galactic center (of the Milky Way), coming closest in mid-December. It is a point on the ecliptic roughly in the constellation of Sagittarius from which (in the view of many esoteric disciplines and world religions) we emerged in the dark recesses at the beginning of time. In the view of some (physicists, cosmologists) Galactic Center is a black hole. To others (esoteric/New Age science), it is the source of a massive emission of photons, beaming information towards us, a ‘photon belt’ affecting Earth and human DNA. And we are circling in an irrevocable spiral back towards the point where on December 21, 2012 Earth’s orbit in the Solar System, the Sun’s position on the ecliptic and the center of our Galaxy will line up as one.

We may reach this galactic vortex unscathed. In the mythology of the Maya, this is Hunab Ku, our galactic heart; a sign that the Mayan Long Count Calendar is complete and that Mankind will start a new Count of Time.

In world mythology, earth was ground out from the mill of the Vortex, the great Maelström, the cosmic whirlpool. And so, in the eyes of the Maya at least, we are returning to that vortex, that pool of creation.

According to some Mayan scholars, we entered the last Underworld (phase of human evolutionary Consciousness), the Universal Underworld yesterday.

In the eyes of Karen Bishop and other New Age lightworkers who have been working tirelessly to prepare for the ‘Shift’ (in human consciousness), the runup to our rendezvous with the heart of our Galaxy is a sign of our Ascension, ‘coming home’, maturing as a species. To the fearful, solstice 2012 could mean chaos, collapse of Earth systems, erratic solar and stellar behavior; even a physical shift in earth’s poles.

The Sun, our partner up there in the immediate galactic neighborhood, has indeed been leading us a dance lately. Solar activity is on the increase.

Tiny solar burst crop circle in rice at Magelang, Java January 29th, 2011

We are currently headed for solar maximum, but it’s not sunspots –traditionally seen as the barometer for solar minima and maxima— that have featured, but strong warnings of solar flares disturbing our geomagnetic field.

NOAA’s solar X-ray alert system [view sidebar at right] has been signaling ‘major storm’, ‘active’. Twin crop circles* in Java in late January were followed by a third small design reminiscent of last season’s Wiltshire solar flare warnings.

Spaceweather alert.

And last weekend the Sun itself joined the 3D holographic universe.

Last Sunday, dubbed Superbowl SUNday by NASA and the media, February 6th 2011 marked the day when the space agency’s twin STEREO satellites locked into orbit round the sun and started projecting 3D pictures of both sides of the sun back to Earth.

Affectionately known as STEREOAhead and STEREOBehind, the craft were launched in 2006 on a mission to study solar flares [coronal mass ejections, CMEs] to predict solar storms headed towards earth. The two craft reached their final position [in ‘opposition’ to each other, 180ºdegrees apart] so NASA, SOHO, and SDA are now combined to beam a wholistic continuous view of the sun back to earthbound systems.

“We expect great advances in theoretical solar physics and space weather forecasting.”

Heliophiles are jumping for joy. The 3D stereo images arrived just in time to document new coronal holes forming on the sun’s far side, which are heading to face towards us.

STEREO went into orbit round the SUN last Superbowl SUNday

STEREO is an acronym for Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory. The two satellites now join forces with SOHO [NASA’s Solar & Heliospheric Observatory] which has carried the load of solar projections to date.

“In the past an active sunspot could emerge on the far side of the sun completely hidden from Earth. Then, the sun’s rotation would turn that region towards our planet, spitting flares and clouds of plasma, with little warning.”

Now, in the runup to solar maximum, 2012, these first 3D stereo images bring into focus our need to prepare for possible solar disruption to the geomagnetic field and earth’s electromagnetically-powered systems.

Coronal Holes, imaged from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

Coronal holes on the sun’s surface are the source of open magnetic field lines from which high-speed solar wind particles stream out into space. This fast solar wind travels at approximately 800 km/s [about 1.8 million mph].

When this surge reaches Earth’s magnetosphere, predictably three or four days later, some spectacular fireworks can occur. Usually the spaceweather team tries not to alarm earth populations more than they really have to. So electromagnetic disruptions to power supplies and weather systems are downplayed. Aurora borealis –northern lights– are emphasized instead.

UV image of same solar holes: coronal flares heading earthwards

“After traveling through space for a few days the particles will impact the Earth and may spark the formation of some auroral activity for lucky spectators” NASA

In NASA’s study ‘of the nature of coronal mass ejections’ the agency is not responsible for reporting on physical repercussions strong emissions [M-class flares] may have on communications, logistical and transportation systems. There are three categories of flares, X-class, M-class and C-class. C-class flares are small, with few noticeable consequences in the geomagnetic field. M-class flares are medium-sized, capable of causing brief radio blackouts, affecting Earth’s polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. The largest, X-class, flares are ‘Superstorms’, major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. Earth’s last major Superstorm blackout was the Carrington Event of 1859 when telegraph systems behaved erratically. But at the time the electric light had not yet been invented. **

150 years later our systems are massively dependent on NOT having magnetic surges play havoc with our electrical supply. Not to mention our telephone, television, cells, blackberries, macBooks, iPods, iPads… you get the picture.

So, is our Universe shaking its quantum hologram fist in our faces and saying ‘shape up or else…’? [In that context, we, reflections of the Intelligent Source, may be setting ourselves the test to see if we are ‘intelligent’/evolved enough to pass it].

Maelström, vortex of the Norwegian Sea

Or, is the vortex going to win? Is the black hole going to pull us in? Are we navigating the cosmic whirlpool alone with no-one to save us from drowning?

Mythology and spiritual belief predict Mankind has enough presence of mind to make a quantum leap in consciousness, to save itself. History says it’s never too late to start anew. Native American and Maya traditions say now is a good time.

I hope we’re listening.

©2011 Marian Youngblood

*more on the January Java crop circles here.
**Two days after this blog was posted, the Sun issued a “Valentine’s Day” X-class flare. There have been several large flares since then, along with some disturbing volcanic eruptions. Siderealview apologies for any suggestive content within this blog. No harm was intended.
MY 03/10/11

10/10/10 Holographic Universe and Us

The PACMAN message

Comet Hartley passes in front of the Pacman nebula headed for close encounter with Earth on October 20

GREEN comet 103P/HARTLEY 2 is fast approaching Earth, on course for a close encounter on October 20th – ten days from now – en route for its six year rendezvous with the Sun. At that time the periodic comet (its P designation indicates it is a regular orbiter within the solar system) will come within 11 million miles of Earth. Plainly put, that’s half way between us and Mars. By contrast, our orbit round the sun keeps us at a safe distance of 93 million miles (or one Astronomical Unit — 1AU) from our star. So Hartley is technically a NEO (near-earth object) originating in the vicinity of Jupiter and its ‘grazing’ path to the sun will brush past our celestial neck-of-the-woods both coming and going. As periodic (and other) comets orbit the sun tangentially, it is technically possible for our orbits to intersect, but we are in no danger from Hartley. Because of its close passage, however, it is becoming a naked-eye object in the night sky with binoculars and amateur telescopes beginning to enjoy great sightings. NASA also has great interest in Hartley: its ‘‘Deep Impact’ orbiter, bristling with instrumentation to measure such icy visitors, will fly within 435 miles of the comet on November 4th. That’s closer than the distance between London and Edinburgh. The same orbiter studied comet Tempel on July 4, 2005, after launching an impactor into its icy nucleus and, after its flyby of Hartley, Deep Impact will set out on a mission to study exosolar planetary systems. To date, 492 planets have been discovered orbiting stars outside our solar system.

Comet McNaught was a brilliant object in July's southern hemisphere skies

With the appearance of another comet in our skies, hard on the heels of comet McNaught which shone brilliantly in the southern hemisphere during the July 11th total solar eclipse, there’s just a chance that Hartley’s passage may not be totally without incident. Why otherwise do you suppose we have been treated to a little cosmic reminder of celestial phenomena, fully a month after the end of the 2010 crop circle season?

Does Baltic Farm crop circle depict comet Hartley passing in front of the 'Pacman' nebula on its way to the Sun ?

Hartley is currently passing in front of NGC281 nebula — affectionately known as the Pacman nebula — in constellation Cassiopeia, whose gaping mouth seems about to swallow the comet. It’s not unlike our playful higher consciousness — or Circlemaker-ETs; call them what you will — to use humor to get our attention. So, is there something in the (late) Baltic Farm crop circle of September 26th — when few except NASA and JPL knew about Hartley — that forewarns us of a spectacular display; another Heavenly Sign, perhaps?

Crop circles for several years now have reminded us to look to the heavens rather than stay stuck in our earthbound rut. During summer 2010 our consciousness has been expanded as we were gifted pictures in the corn hinting at dimensions beyond our comfortable 3D world. And the 2010 season didn’t just expand our consciousness arbitrarily. As we discussed in a previous blog, dimensional research has been running neck-and-neck, trying to keep pace with crop circle concepts!

Our consciousness has been tweaked by and is tweaking our own higher Self. We are beginning to see how much our own psychic generator affects the quantum field in which we live, breathe, think, love, expand.

Through 2010 crop circle imagery not only did we see our concept of dimensional reality challenged, but were led seductively and with great gentleness through the next phase in our DNA activation, our passage through the stars — guided by crop picture code — as we reconnect with our divine Creative Consciousness, seated, some believe, at the Hunab Ku, heart of our Galaxy; others within our hearts, the seat of the Soul.

A visible bulge at the center of the Milky Way is where our Galactic center, Mayan Hunab Ku, radiates from constellation Sagittarius. Galactic counter-center focuses on the Pleiades, Orion and Gemini. The Pleiades have long been associated in traditional mysticism with higher consciousness. Ancient wisdom of the Hindu, Maya and Egyptians all had focus on the Pleiades and Orion. Such cultures built pyramids which aligned with these constellations. Not only might this section of the sky be seen as the symbolic crown chakra of the galaxy, but it coincides with the New Age interpretation that the Photon Belt or surge of cosmic energy particles is increasingly churning through the galaxy from galactic center to counter-center, a belt through which Earth is starting to pass and will become totally enfolded by 2012.

“If Quantum Theory hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet” Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Danish physicist, first to apply Quantum Theory, Nobel Physics Prize 1922

Michael Talbot, author of The Holographic Universe, died in 1992 aged 39. [Ed. Why is it some of our most enlightened visionaries give us a taste and then shuffle off this mortal coil?] He was a major proponent of intellectual parallels between ancient mysticism and the quantum field, believing firmly that — unlike the uncertainty of quantum physics — our physical Universe behaves like a giant hologram. He supported quantum physicists American David Bohm and Parisian Alain Aspect who proved in 1982 that, contrary to Einstein’s principle of relativity which stated that light had a finite speed (c=186,000 miles per second), subatomic particles like electrons are capable of transmitting information instantaneously, whether they are 10 feet or a million miles apart. Recent Russian research by molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev suggested that our human DNA behaves similarly — communicating instantaneously with another particle of fellow DNA in another room, another town, on another continent; another planet?

Talbot likens our brain to a miniature Universe, thoughts as ‘pebbles in the electromagnetic pool of our mind’. He says: ‘Nature uses mathematical underpinning; so does the brain.’

To make a hologram, the object to be photographed is first bathed in light of a laser beam. A second laser beam is bounced off the reflected light of the first and the resulting interference pattern where the two laser beams commingle is captured on film.
When the film is developed, it looks like a meaningless swirl of light and dark lines. But as soon as the developed film is illuminated by another laser beam, a three-dimensional image of the original object appears.
Three-dimensionality of such images is not the only remarkable characteristic of holograms. ‘If a hologram of a rose is cut in half and then illuminated by a laser, each half will still be found to contain the entire image of the rose.’

Along with Stanford neurophysiologist Karl Pribram, b. 1919, Talbot says we think with holograms inside our head, using standing waves, interference patterns in the brain just like a TV set lodged in our mind. Together they figured the holographic model explained several phenomena, including:
– telepathy
– precognition; mystical feeling of oneness with Universe;
– psychokinesis — mind’s ability to move objects without physical touch.

Others joined them, agreeing that the holographic model explained near-death experience, OBEs (out-of-body states), archetypal experiences, encounters with Collective Unconscious, altered states of consciousness, psychic ‘coincidences’, the paranormal. In 1987 Robert G. Jahn and clinical psychologist Brenda Dunne, both of Princeton University, announced after a decade of rigorous experimentation by their Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research Lab (PEAR), they had unequivocal evidence that the mind can psychically interact with physical reality.

Talbot encourages everyone — even those who may not have mathematics or physics training — not to be afraid of the concept of quantum physics: anyone who can approach the subject with an open mind can understand the concepts, he says.

“Don’t be afraid. Once you’ve overcome your ‘fear of the water’, you’ll find quantum physics’s strange and fascinating ideas much easier than you thought.” Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe

The hologram starts to explain everything: that the way we think affects everything within our sphere of consciousness, i.e. We are the Whole.

“Quantum physics: the dreams that stuff is made of” Isaac Asimov

Most verbal, contemporary and charismatic of all believers in the Holographic Universe is Nassim Haramein, born 1962, a budding genius, self-taught physicist and Director of Research at the Resonance Project, in Boulder Colorado. He goes beyond holographic theory, beyond Einstein’s unified field, sees the universal hologram as sacred geometry, taking his Universal scaling Law for Organized Matter as a model for ‘whole’ structures, from subatomic particles to complete galaxies. His approach in this seminar, illustrated with loving devotion to his pyramids, sacred tetrahedra, torus spirals, fractal curves and spheres, is lengthy in form, but is worth watching because, with a little application, concentration, his breezy approach makes it so simple to grasp. His theory is that the Universal Intelligence is constantly creating fractals, generating spheres, and that these creations are held together by the ‘glue’ of gravity. Links above show some of his series of 45 talks, and videos 11 and 12 focus specifically on crop circle messages.

Haramein’s Resonance Project Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit group that studies the magic of ‘collective resonance’, encourages intra-disciplinary scientific residential collaboration and operates within a self-sustaining wholistic facility, using permaculture and gray water recyclng, soil and water conservation, alternative fuels within native and edible landscaping, pollinated by on-site bees.

Whatever your favorite way of believing in what’s to come, it is certain that the beings we were before summer 2010 have moved into a new level of reality. We are being led by avatars, contemporaries, new thinkers — and crop circles — to become our higher, nay, highest selves.

And the fun is just beginning.

Dabbling in the Quantum Field

Spiritual novel 'SHASTA: Critical Mass'

 

In quantum physics, the act of Observation changes the object observed.  

 

Writers, especially novelists, beware. 

 

It is a truth worth remembering when knuckling down to the synopsis.  A necessary evil, some say;  but it is really important to remind yourself, when you lift your head up again after you’ve sent the ‘hook’ off to your editor/publisher/reading group that it was an exercise in stepping into the quantum field.  That’s all.  It isn’t really you.  You were acting as a mere observer presenting an object as you saw it to an outside agency.  The real you in still in there, champing at the bit, ready and waiting to get back to REAL writing.

 

I’ve been asked a few times: ‘So, what is your novel about?’  an open-ended – but natural – question from a reader.  The answer varies with the mood of the request.  Which got me thinking about queries in general and query letters in particular: oh, no, not again, sounds the imaginary chorus of rejected authors in the agent/publisher debate.

 

Any excuse will do.

 

There IS a case to be made for the poor, maligned, ever-hopeful, endless optimist writer; she does have to lay down all tools of the scribe and pick up tools of the adman to get her subject noticed.  Her query letter, synopsis and an impeccable first chapter are all she’s got.

 

But not today.   If she’s a trooper, then her Muse will return, the pen or keyboard will beckon and the wild ride will begin once more.

 

So what is my novel about?  The thing is: I didn’t think I was writing a fantasy adventure; I thought it would turn out to be an historical romance with some realtime spiritual insights; a kind of James Redfield-style handbook set in both past and present Scotland with a respectful nod to the New Age, California style.  I spent my childhood in Scotland, some early adult years in California and now swing between the two.  It made sense that I should draw on my own history to create an authentic atmosphere; I spent 20 years writing and giving lectures on the suppressed, unwritten history of my country. It wants to be told.

 

But my spirit soars when I step into the wild country of the Pacific Northwest and I guess my Muse knows that at her core.  So, let’s face it, after setting the romantic framework of ancient Scotland, my Muse was itching to get in there and change it all around.

 

As I began to relax and allow my characters to speak, Muse Girl (MG for short, thanks to S.King for his male version) wasn’t standing for any nonsense.  If it was authenticity I wanted, she would show me what the real message was in the book:  I am the instrument and she directs as the movie unfolds.  Drop the dry historical facts, castle interiors, ancient hunting forests, family lineages;  enter a succession of vivid past lives intermingled with a present day drama of a family caught up in cataclysmic events precipitated by a planet in environmental crisis.   

 

Even my title got changed:  it became SHASTA. You don’t want to know what it was before.  That got relegated to short-story-dom.

 

In some awesome way I could not (didn’t want to) control,  the 14,000-ft mountain colluded with MG to become the dominant presence.   And, gradually the historical corridor of my original vision morphed into a capsule which faded in and out, while a dormant volcano in the present-day Cascades proceeded to take over; create a tectonic miracle, and develop a scenario with potential to disrupt national and international communications. 

 

All right.  It’s true: a lot of writers see their novels as movies in their heads: it’s the way the right hemisphere transmits information.  Yet I was carried along on this visual current like a swollen river of ash and mud within a backdrop that was more than real. Daily reports issued by NOAA and the Global Volcanism Program were mirroring my scenes: Yellowstone, Mauna Loa, Kamchatka, Vesuvius.  There was no way I could put this down.

 

When each morning I went back to edit what I’d written the day before, the left hemisphere often had punctuation and grammar to correct, but the right hemisphere was right there (along with MG), ready to pick up where we left off.

 

Naturally Shasta saw to it that I learned Native American respect for her, researched her early history, became immersed in her volcanic past.  In process I discovered the difficulty humans faced constructing highways and railroads  in trying to tame her; her influence on local tradition, myths and legends surrounding her, filtered through New Age groups and sects that inhabit the valley at her feet. 

 

She is a rumbling giant; she never sleeps.   With or without a volcanic murmur, northern California suffers annual forest fires and spring deluge.   It’s what people live with all the time.  What I was being asked to do was to give it a little tweak to up the ante.  It all fit.  I had to move with the story.  It was telling itself.  And by setting the scene over one long weekend I simply brought the elements together to make it believable – in a fantastic sort of way. 

 

Ancient Scotland plays a part.  It has to.  In a quasi-science fiction way it becomes a timeline thread, interjected into the future-present narrative, meshing the background of the principal characters with a deeper element – I like to think.  Past meets present creates future earth where all is possible… of course I’m an idealist.   

 

So what is it about?  We should be grateful for the gentle reader, the well-meaning questioner.  It makes us look at genre (the agent/publisher’s tool) and in observing, perhaps changes us the writer from quantum instrument to quantum fly on the wall.

 

SHASTA made the decision for me: molded my characters, attached me to the project, wouldn’t let me go.  My historical journeys became woven through and around her, creating more substance than I originally planned.  But what story is not improved by a mystery weaving a web to pull one in, to keep up the pace, to NOT give away the ending?   

 

Quantum field? Personal movies or Images of this scale are beyond quantum physics, in my humble opinion.  A project guided from beyond? A spiritual adventure? Particle or wave, it chose me to put it into print, and I am the first to say that I, the observer, was changed by it. Not the other way around.