Demystifying Quantum Mechanics

There's a lot of disinformation floating around the internet about quantum mechanics, specifically regarding the famous double-slit experiment.

In the double-slit experiment it has been shown that a single electron, when fired at a barrier containing two slits will magically pass through them both simultaneously.

But when we start observing the path the electron takes as it goes through the barrier it will then "choose" to go through only one or the other slit, leading some people to assume that human consciousness itself somehow plays a role in determining reality at a quantum level.

It's a counter-intuitive concept for people to get their heads around and unfortunately the assumption that something "mystical" is happening has become popularised by a number of inaccurate videos on YouTube.

The problem is with the term "observing". In the double-slit experiment, a single electron will act as a wave, passing through both slits at the same time until it is 'observed' by bouncing another electron off it, (this is how we 'observe' its movements) at which point it collapses from a wave into a single particle and passes through only one slit in the barrier, so the act of 'observing' is causing it to pick a path.

The video below goes some way to showing how the effect can be observed on a macro level and also shows how an object can exist as both a particle and a wave simultaneously.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIyTZDHuarQ

And here's one of the videos that misunderstands the experiment and claims that "consciousness creates reality":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfPeprQ7oGc

Where's the blonde?