The Reality Trap

Does the outcome exist before you look at it? Or do you create the outcome just by looking?

I want you to close your eyes for a second and think back to the most terrifying morning of your teenage life. The day the SEE results came out.

You are sitting with your family. You're annoyed of all the calls you've received regarding your result. Or maybe you are huddled over your phone with slow data, your heart pounding against your ribs. You type your symbol number. Your finger hovers over the "Submit" button.

In that split second, before the page loads, a strange thing is happening. You are simultaneously a topper with a 4.0 GPA and a failure who has to retake the exams. Both realities exist at the exact same time in that frozen moment. It is only when the screen loads that one reality becomes real and the other disappears forever.

🔮 The Big Question

We think this feeling of uncertainty is just in our heads. But physics tells us it is actually how the universe works. The world is fluid. It only takes a shape when you decide to look at it. Today, we are going to learn how to hack this glitch to change your career.

Part 1: The Glitch in the Universe

Let's start our journey with the science. Don't worry. I will keep it simple.

For a long time, scientists thought the world was like a clock. It ticked the same way whether you were watching it or not. But then they looked at the smallest building blocks of reality, like electrons. They found something that scared them.

They found that when nobody is watching, an electron acts like a wave. It is not in one place. It is everywhere at once. It is a cloud of possibility. But the moment a scientist puts a camera or a sensor to "watch" it, the electron snaps into position. It becomes a solid particle. It picks a spot.

"Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real."

Visual Reference: The Double Slit Experiment

Double Slit Experiment Diagram showing wave vs particle behavior

Look at the diagram above. On the top, when no one is watching, the particles behave like a wave (fluid). On the bottom, simply because an 'Observer' eye is added, they behave like bullets (solid). Your attention literally changes the laws of physics.

This is called the Observer Effect. Think of the universe as being lazy. It is like a video game that only renders the graphics when you look at them. It doesn't decide what to be until you force it to decide by looking at it.

Part 2: The Visa Waiting Room (Real Life Application)

Now, let's leave the laboratory and walk into the streets of Kathmandu. Let's apply this to a classic scenario every Nepali understands. The Visa Application.

You have applied for a visa to the USA, Australia, or Canada. Your passport is gone. It is at the embassy. For those two weeks of waiting, you are living in a quantum state.

Possibility A: The Victim Observer

You observe the fear. You think "I won't get it." Because you are observing failure, you stop studying. You don't buy clothes. You freeze your life. You stay in your room.

The Result:

If you get rejected, you are devastated because you have no skills and no backup plan. You wasted two weeks in fear.

Possibility B: The Growth Observer

You observe the success. You act as if you are going. You learn to cook dal bhat perfectly. You improve your English slang. You research the city map.

The Result:

Even if the visa is rejected, you are now a better cook with better English. Your observation of "success" actually created real-world skills that stay with you.

Part 3: The Cat That Is Both Dead and Alive 🐱

If you thought the visa example was interesting, this next part is going to bend your mind. There was a physicist named Erwin Schrödinger. He wanted to show just how absurd this concept is.

He proposed a thought experiment: Imagine you put a cat in a steel box. Inside the box, there is a tiny bit of radioactive material and a bottle of poison. If the atom decays, the bottle breaks and the cat dies. If it doesn't, the cat lives.

Schrödinger's Thought Experiment

Until you open the box, the cat is neither dead nor alive. It is in a state of Quantum Superposition. It is both realities at once.

Part 4: The Entrepreneur's Box 🚀

This is where we connect the physics to your mindset. This concept is the absolute foundation of Entrepreneurship.

Imagine you have an idea to start a clothing brand in Nepal. You tell your friends. You buy a domain name. But you haven't launched yet.

Right now, your business is Schrödinger's Cat. It is a Multi-Crore Company and it is a Total Failure. Both are 100% true right now. The outcome depends on which one you stare at.

The Tale of Two Founders

1
The Average Person (Dead Cat Observer): They look at the box and think, "What if I lose money? What if my relatives laugh at me?" By observing the failure, they create fear. They delay the launch. The cat dies because they never opened the box.
2
The Visionary (Alive Cat Observer): They act as if the success is already real. Steve Jobs called this the "Reality Distortion Field." They obsess over the "Alive" version. This makes them work harder, pitch better, and design better. Their observation forces the universe to align with them.

Part 5: The Intrapreneur's Superposition 💼

"But Shrijal," you might say, "I don't want to start a business. I have a job." This applies to you too.

Let's say your boss gives you a messy project. It is chaotic. It has no clear instructions. It looks like a disaster.

The Employee View

They observe "Stress." They see a burden. They complain to their colleagues. They do the bare minimum to survive the day.

The Intrapreneur View

They look at the same mess and observe "Opportunity." They see a chance to fix a system and prove they can lead. The project didn't change. The perception changed the outcome. One gets fired, the other gets promoted.

The Final Dilemma: The Unopened Letter

We have been on a long journey together. We went from the SEE exam hall to quantum physics labs, and then to the boardrooms of startups. Now, I want to leave you with a story to think about. This will challenge everything we just talked about.

Imagine there is a letter sitting on your dining table right now. It is from the person you loved most in the world, who left you years ago. Or maybe it is from your dream university.

"As long as the envelope is sealed, you are loved. You are accepted. The possibility is beautiful. You can sleep with a smile, imagining the good news."

But the moment you tear that paper, you collapse the wave function. You force the universe to decide.

So, here is the dilemma for you:

👁️

Choice 1: The Observer

You rip the letter open immediately. You demand to know the truth, even if it hurts. You believe that reality, no matter how painful, is better than a dream. You kill the possibility to find the truth.

💭

Choice 2: The Dreamer

You leave it sealed. You live in the "Superposition." You choose to live with the hope of what could be, rather than the pain of what is. You protect your peace, but you live a lie.

Most of us think we want the truth. But do we? Or do we just want the version of the truth that matches what we hope for?

Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is look the universe in the eye and force it to decide. Even if the cat is dead. Even if the letter is a rejection. Because only then are you free to find a new cat, or write a new letter.

The letter is sitting on your table right now.
Will you open it?

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