Tamsin Questions Reality
Most of the topical college gossip had been covered when Tamsin sat up and resting on one arm pointed out that there was something odd about the top floors of the college, the floors that housed the four dormitories. The college by the way was a huge gothic building built in the 18th century.
It was said to be haunted and was proved so quite recently when it was discovered that a young girl by the name of Sophie Rochefort who died in 1835 aged 10 of meningitis made contact with Jessica Wyndham when she was sick in the infirmary.
Nurse Mayo said Jessica’s account was triggered by the result of hallucinations following a food poisoning scare after eating toadstools in mistake for mushrooms. Even so, Jessica swore she had a number of conversations with Sophie after lights out. It was not nurse Mayo that had any conversations with Sophie but Jessica, so we had to believe Jessica and not Nurse Mayo.
Questioning Tamsin’s earlier comment I asked: “Tamsin what do you mean odd?”
She said, “Well on this side of the building we can see the six windows of each of two of the dormitories. Right”?
“Yes……. so”?
She continued “Well the two dorms on this side of the building also have six windows each, so the two dormitories have a total of 12 windows, right, plus the window in the middle which is Duty Matron’s room. That’s a total of 13 windows right?”
“Right Tamsin, but where is this leading?”
She continued. “The other dorms, Nightingale and Victoria, are the same. Looking up from the quadrangle one can see the 12 windows of the two dorms on the southside but there is no Duty Matron’s room on that side. The Duty Matron’s room has only one window in total. I am seeing one window too many”.
We leaned back and studied the windows.
I asked Tamsin “Do you normally pass your day counting windows, Tamsin?”
“We will ask Mr Crisis, the science teacher, on Monday. He knows everything. I found out he comes from Epsilon Bootis or thereabouts. I misled my readers earlier writing he came from Proxima Centauri. Hang on it really doesn’t matter, it’s immaterial”.
Sunday morning church service was held by Pastor Dickie. His congregation was sparse as most of the girls had returned home for the weekend but enough girls remained to start a collection for those that were ‘less fortunate than us’.
After church Tamsin and I explained to Mr Crisis about the anomaly of the number of windows in the main building.
He confirmed “you are certain there are 12 windows in total in both dorms plus the one in the Duty Matron’s - room that is a total of 13, but when viewed from the ground you see 14 windows, is that right?”
We chorused “Yes Mr Crisis”.
“Leave it with me”.
The following day after classes we met Mr Crisis who was just leaving the teacher’s common room.
“Bridgette, Tamsin come with me”.
We followed Mr Crisis over to the façade of the school.
“Right, sit down. From this vantage point, we see a total of 14 windows of the Boadicea and Pankhurst dorms. I accept your word that in the dorms there are only 13 windows, but what you see from BOTH perspectives can be right”.
Tamsin said “Mr Crisis that does not make any sense”.
“Your eyes see what it is you are seeing and send this information to your brain, but where does this ‘reality’ originate that your eyes see? You believe what your eyes tell you. Perhaps reality is projected as a hologram and it is the very nature of the whole universe. You coined the word ‘reality’ but reality might be very hard to explain”.
“What is reality? Maybe it does not exist; maybe it does but in different forms depending on where one is in the universe”.
“If you saw an oasis in the desert your eyes never saw it your brain imagined it. Elspeth ran from the infirmary across to the main building a few weeks ago because she thought she saw the end wall of the ward was on fire. It was her brain that told her so. She may have been hallucinating but it makes no difference. Her eyes told her the wall was on fire, but it wasn’t”.
“Neither was a reality. Jessica said she spoke to a Sophie Rochefort in the infirmary, Sophie who died hundreds of years ago. She lays in the chapel graveyard, so what is a true reality?”
“Let us take the ‘very small’ for instance or the ‘quantum’. Quantum Physics tells us that the way we look at something affects what it is. This means that at the quantum level ultimately THERE IS NO OBJECTIVE REALITY, and without an observer there is no reality at all. If the quantum field is scaled up; at what point do these properties still apply? By scaled up I mean scaled up to the vastness of the universe’’.
“They also found in the realm of the very small, things could be in two places at once, that their fates are dictated by chance and that reality itself defies all common sense. Everything you thought you knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong”.
“Don’t always believe what your eyes are telling you Tamsin. I have been around for a very long time. Your people arrived yesterday”.
He continued “An interesting point is an observer cannot observe in a microscopic system without altering some of its properties. A principle of Quantum Physics …’the way we observe the quantum field decide what we see’, thus your belief systems determine the reality you experience”.
“So in the real world, you have to believe what signals your eyes send to the brain. Do not be too concerned about the number of windows Tamsin. You have noticed just one anomaly. Believe me there are many”.
“A very famous person stated even the distinction between Past, Present and Future is only an illusion, however tenacious this illusion maybe, but that is not all”.
I said “Mr Crisis, we have not been taught anything about quantum physics”.
I like Mr Crisis. He explains things so well. The problem is I don’t understand what he is talking about and I am sure Tamsin feels the same way.
That ended the discussion on windows.
In conclusion Tamsin Lacey, my best friend since Patience left, has always been a trusting soul, but she has a propensity of being too trusting. Also being a Scottish girl, like myself she told me she met this boy at a Scottish dancing event at the Rickmansworth and Environs Home Counties Gaelic Appreciation Society, the (REHCGAS Club) in Canal Street. It was Burns night. He told her his name was Peter. Tamsin said he was ‘coming on to her’ whatever that means. She said he was very evasive about telling her his full name. She said he eventually ‘fessed’ up and told her his name was Peter, Peter Rabbit.
Angrily I told Tamsin “for heaven’s sake Tamsin, he just made that up”.
