Noble Prize Winning Principle Will Help You Get Clarity On Choosing A Path

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How many times have you asked yourself -- is this really the right path for me? This is especially true when people are faced with career-related questions. Oftentimes we want to go to point X but sometimes we are derailed to point Z or Y. So, naturally, we begin to question: should I really be going to point Z if I have sights on X and will I ever get there? After all, when things are nonlinear we get scared because the direction is not always upward or known. Although many individuals have spoken about the path of their career being nonlinear, this may still not be enough reason to believe that our particular path to success is also going to be non-linear just because theirs was. There is no hard data or evidence to support that claim. Or is there? If we turn to science, which describes the physical laws that govern our universe, we may find some answers.

When we think about physics or mathematics, we often think about it in a very concrete, black and white way -- the answer is some well-defined, exact quantity we can point to, such as a number. It is very concrete and precise.  However, even in physics, where observations and trajectories and supposed to be well -defined, we sometimes have to consider not just one possibility, but an infinity of them. This is where one of the most groundbreaking discoveries of 20th-century physics comes in to play, which is known as the Path Integral formulation of Quantum Mechanics. The idea was so incredible that it won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

(GERMANY OUT) single fibers of a fiber optic cable, they enable extremly fast data transfer (Photo by Oed/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

So what is this idea? Well, before we talk about that, let"s try to understand the difference between quantum physics and classical physics. Classical physics

studies the motion of large bodies and their behavior. An example of a large body is the motion of train or the way our body moves or the way our planets move in space. Quantum mechanics on the other hand studies the motions of small bodies, things we can"t see. These things are known as subatomic particles. An example of that would be an electron. These small particles make up mater, hence large bodies. The big difference between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics is that in the quantum world, we look at things in terms of probabilities, as in what is the probability that an event X will happen. This is due to the fact that mathematically speaking objects such as electrons and atoms can be thought of both as a particle and a wave.

Paths from A to B

Paths from A to B

In quantum mechanics, we look at particles to be present at distinct states |i> representing the initial state, and |f> representing the final state. It is possible to get from one state to another with a  certain probability. We use the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics to calculate this probability mathematically. What the path integral formulation essentially says is that to get from one state to another, we sum all the paths that lead from |i> to |f>. This indicates that to get from state |i> to |f>, not only one path is possible, but an infinite number of paths must be considered, each with a slightly different probability. 

If we relate this back to life decisions and career paths, we realize 

that there is not just one path for each destination, but an infinite 

a number of paths. And this is encoded in the laws of the universe. Thus 

next time you are looking to make a decision, take a deep breath and 

realize that there are so many ways to get to the destination.