HYPNOTIC REPETITION

Making Certainty Uncertain and Unpredictability Definitive

“Uncertainty about what?

While the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle (HUP) does not mean “there are some things you can never be sure of”, it does imply “you can never be sure of everything.” How can this be? If you can never be sure of everything, doesn’t that mean there are some things you can never be sure of? Surprisingly, no.” 

(Wiseman, 2012)

Fundamental certainties of the past have become the greatest uncertainties of the future. The most significant uncertainties of the past have evolved to become almost certain today and definitive tomorrow.

In reflection to my experiences in Haiti, I am experimenting with removing my certainties from the certainly uncertain world there!  Through these image manipulations, I am questioning what is uncertain?  Can the removal of certainty create anxiety of unpredictability?

My certainties are their uncertainties!  I am certain of having a meal and they are never sure of what will happen; what to expect – moment after moment, day after day, year after year.

The world of certainties is totally denied to some unfortunate people, both physically, emotionally and in the sphere of dreams, aspirations and ambitions.  Their focus of poverty is completely different, placed on survival rather than luxuries and unnecessary commodities.  This is in contrast to the superficial and trivial obsessions of the “Western World”!

I am watching their uncertain world through the “removed” certainty on my afternoon beer.

I am staring with uncertainty at the certainty of my luxury meal.  The table is set up and ready, but the food has been removed.  What is on my plate, in the bowl?  How am I going to satisfy my hunger for security and thirst for predictability?

Everett argues that we live in a Universe of multiple space-times and each spacetime is governed by Lorenz contraction of time (Barrett, 2011). Therefore time is perhaps the key factor, which forms our perception of certainty and uncertainty.  Both feelings belong to parallel yet distinctly different worlds: prosperity and poverty; the arrogance of confidence and hesitant insecurity.

Heisenberg implies that uncertainty is often a result of a measurement (Wiseman, 2012). The act of measuring an object’s position changes its speed or vice versa. Perhaps the real origin is much deeper.  The uncertainty principle exists, because everything in the Universe behaves as a particle and a wave at the same time.  In quantum mechanics, the exact position and speed of an object have no meaning.

To explore this idea further and visualise this concept, I need to experiment with images by manipulating them into “behaving” simultaneously like a particle and a wave.  Particles exist in a single place at any instance in time and waves are disturbances spread out in space.