Homecoming
"Hey genius!" Doc yelled as soon as I walked in the door. "How's Berkley treatin' ya?" It felt so good to be back in the old drugstore, which by now had become a second home, so comfortable and familiar, with my trusted friend always busy behind the counter...though these days he seemed to work less in the back, preferring to hang-out in front, pouring sodas and reading books...talking with friends...schmoozin' and laughin'...teaching. "Are ya kiddin'?," I said with a mile wide grin. "the College of Letters and Science is as good as heaven to me. The world is my oyster, only better...more like steak and lobster!""Too good now for a burger and onion rings huh hot shot?" Doc laughed."Never!""So what are they teaching ya," Doc said, "Or maybe I should say, what are you teaching them?""Biology, chemistry, physics, geology...psychology and anthropology...all the sciences really...and a liberal dose of the arts. But my major is history, with an emphasis in philosophy, mostly epistemology.""Fully interdisciplinary then," Doc said. "That's my genius!""You know it.""So what do ya think of the campus?" Doc asked."It's great!" I said, "Beautiful buildings and scenery, I couldn't ask for more. Seems to be a bit of unrest though. A student group called SLATE is causing quite a stir.""Oh yeah," Doc raised an eyebrow, "There will be a lot to learn there too." "Yeah, I can see that," I said, with mixed feelings of excitement and trepidation. "I consider that my sociology practical. A lot of the hubbub seems to stem from mistreatment of minority groups and people who might disagree with the established authority.""True, that mess has been building for some time now, since the dawn of human exploitation I'd say. But in this country things got really ugly with the House Committee on Un-American Activities...ya know, the whole Communist witch-hunt of the late 40s and early 50s, the Hollywood blacklisting and all that censorship stuff.""I know, Dr. David Bohm---he got his Ph.D. at Berkeley and wrote our Quantum Theory textbook---the Committee kicked him out of this country for refusing to testify against his colleagues." "That's a damn shame kid," Doc shook his head. "There's a lot of irony in that story. Maybe one of these days we'll learn. Hey, speaking of which, have you given any more thought to quantum theory's "observer problem" and my answer of Purusha?""Uhhh...sure Doc," I said, caught a little off guard. "How 'bout if I make myself a chocolate malt, and then we'll talk about it.""Fair enough genius," Doc smiled. "I've got to get something in the back anyway."How many times had I done this by now...enjoying the simple pleasure of making a malted milkshake...mixing it up, stirring it around, slurping it down...no thought whatsoever...just pure pleasure and feeling, enjoyment, sensation, emotion. Experience at its finest! Slurp! How unlike the way my mind works most of the time...always thinking, analyzing...putting things together in patterns...attempting to make sense of that which does not. Yet that too, in its own way, is pure enjoyment! Slurp!"Not to interrupt your reverie," said Doc, coming back up front. "But what did you figure out?""Nothing exists until it's observed," I said, "That seems to be the foundation of the 'observer problem.' Which leaves us with the question, what or who is doing the observing?""Who or what is collapsing the wave function?""Yes," I said, "What sound can there be in the falling tree if there is no ear to hear it and no brain to explain it.""None.""And at this very moment, what music is in the air when no radio is present to catch the waves in it?""No music is heard, that's for sure.""And yet the waves are still there nonetheless," I said."Yes.""And what are these invisible waves but energy." "True, as we understand it, this energy exists as waves," said Doc."Now, a few things seem clear about these energy waves.""What's that?" Doc rhetorically asked."First of all, most of the waves, most of the time, are invisible to us. That is, we only see, hear, feel and so on, those energy waves that our bodies and brains are attuned to detect, much like a radio can only play the frequency to which it is attuned.""Yes, our bodies only detect and interpret a certain part, or range, of the energy spectrum," Doc said. "In this way our bodies and brains, or body-brains so to speak, are like extremely sophisticated and sensitive radios.""Yes, just as your friend Mr. Bob once said.""So what else can we say about these energy waves?" Doc asked as I started to ponder the past."Well, those waves that are normally invisible to us can become noticeable in two ways...either through instruments we make, like radios and television sets, Geiger counters and X-Ray imagery...or through other living beings, such as dogs, who for instance hear sounds and detect scents well outside the normal range of human perception.""Must be interesting to see the world through their eyes," mused Doc, "Dogs get so excited about the smallest things, at least they seem small to us anyway. Imagine feeling their bliss just by having your tummy scratched.""Mmmm, the bliss of a tummy scratch, might have to write about that one someday.""That would make a good exercise," Doc paused briefly, then returned to our train of thought. "So what else can we say about energy waves?""Well, the traveling waves sometimes stop traveling. That is, they somehow become trapped, either through detection by an instrument...or somehow being absorbed into a body. However put, the energy waves stop moving, at least moving in terms of radiating through space. Once they become "trapped," they become more like standing waves.""So you say these waves assume one of two forms, eitherradiating or standing.""That's right, radiation or....or matter. Energy moving or energy frozen.""Now you've got it Einstein!...or should I say Dr. Bohm?""In this nuclear age, it's impossible to not see this, as each bomb blast shows us the energy always trapped in matter.""So, after all this discussion and figuring out then, who's listening...who's tuned in? Who is doing the observing?"Of course by now Doc knew I knew the answer, so I didn't respond right away. Instead, I stirred the last bit of milkshake at the bottom of the cold stainless steel tumbler. Hmmmm...what could I say that would be clever?"Doc?""Yes?""How come you don't dispense drugs the way you used to? I mean, less and less I see you in the back. More and more you are up front. What gives?""I give," said Doc quite contently, "That is, I'm giving up on pharmacy, at least this new trend that modern pharmacy is taking on. Maybe this trend is for others, but it's not for me, not anymore. I'm heading in a different direction now. Some might say I'm going backwards. Some might say I'm going out of my mind. But in fact, I'm finding a bigger peace of it...mind that is.""Your piece of Purusha?""That's right genius, but how do you spell peace?""Does it matter? Lau Tzu makes maps few.""That reminds me," said Doc, "I realize your busy with school and all, but have you gained any ground on those assignments I gave you awhile back?""I'm making slow but steady progress.""Good. How goes your extra-credit assignment.""I work on that as much as possible.""Great! Now scram, I've got a class coming in.""Lot of the same kids you started out with?""Yeah, and a few more. Reading The Man in The Cave right now. Some have heard it before, some not at all. But eventually they get it.""That's one of my favorites, I know that.""Speaking of favorites," Doc grinned, "You know what's playing at the Paradise tonight don't you?""Rio Bravo," I said. "Classic Duke...and Dino too!"Ding."See ya tonight then."Ding.
