I first became acquainted with quantum soup during a visit to the planet Modnar with my friend and associate, E Eieoe. We dined at the Kzog E957 Restaurant. Since I wasn’t familiar with the regional specialties, I wasn’t sure what to order. Using my translator to make sense of the obscure symbols on the menu, I could make out several strange and interesting dishes.
“You’ve been here before, right? What should I get?” I asked.
E shrugged. “Well, almost everything on the menu is good. That is, except for the refried ekosv. You should definitely stay away from that.”
“Well, I’m not familiar with most of this stuff. Is there anything you’d like to recommend?”
“Sure. There’s the quantum soup.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, they serve you soup in a steel container. You can’t see what’s inside. The idea is that you don’t know whether there really is soup in it or not. The chance of there being soup in it is the same as that of there not being soup. No one really knows whether there’s actually soup in the container or not. Only when you open it will you find out.”
“Sounds like a rip-off,” I said.
“Well, not actually. You see, the soup exists in two quantum states at once. It’s both there and not there. It’s going to stay in two quantum states until you observe what’s in the container. Observation affects the observed, so it’s really you, the observer, who determine whether you get soup or not. The restaurant’s only serving you the uncertainty.”
“That’s interesting. What makes the Modnari like it so much?”
“Well, it’s a part of their culture, you know. Randomness is a part of their everyday lives. They believe the universe is chaotic, full of randomness.”
“But what makes quantum soup so special?” I asked.
“Well, part of it is the thrill of getting the soup. You don’t know whether it will be there or not, so there’s a moment of suspense right before you open it. You know it’s you who are causing the soup to exist or not, not the restaurant, so you can blame yourself if it comes up empty.”
“Interesting.”
“Well, that’s quantum soup. Just my suggestion, of course. You can order whatever you want.”
Enthralled, I considered the possibilities. I had never encountered such a bizarre idea as this. Soup that was both there and not there until you took a look at it. The idea itself was tempting, regardless of the exact contents of the soup.
“Well, why not?” I said. “I’ll get the quantum soup.”
* * *
When the ebeb, a domestic reptile the Modnari typically used as a food server, brought the food we ordered to our table, I regarded the inconspicuous steel container in front of me with a mixture of surprise and curiosity. What exactly was in there? Soup? Or no soup? According to my friend, it was both.
Deciding to suspend the suspense, I looked at what E had ordered. “Say, what is that?”
“Refried ekosv.”
“But I thought you told me to stay away from that.”
“Well, my species’s digestive system is different from your species’s.”
“Oh.”
I looked back at the quantum soup before me.
“E, what do you think I’m going to get?” I said. “Soup or no soup?”
“Well, I can’t say, can I? There’s an equal probability for each. By opening it, you’ll determine what you’re going to get. The two quantum states it’s in now will collapse into one. You’ll either get soup or no soup.”
Well, was I going to get soup or not? There was only one way to find out. The suspense intensified every moment I delayed.
“Soup or no soup?” I said, reaching toward the container. “Let’s observe and find out.”
Copyright © 2003 by The Invincible Spud