Erwin Schrodinger — "In fact, I should say that the world is a picture drawn by ourselves, and that w…"
In fact, I should say that the world is a picture drawn by ourselves, and that we are ourselves part of the picture.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Erwin Schrodinger
"What we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning."
"The existence of life on Earth is just a fluke. There is no special reason for it."
"The idea that consciousness is a phenomenon of the brain is an illusion. Consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, and the brain is merely an antenna that tunes into it."
"If you are hungry, you can eat a carrot. If you are thirsty, you can drink water. If you are cold, you can put on a coat. But what do you do if you are lonely?"
"The world is a canvas, and we are the artists."
About Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)
Austrian physicist who shared the 1933 Nobel for the wave equation that bears his name and the famous cat thought-experiment. Closely associated with Werner Heisenberg (matrix-mechanics rival who reached the same physics by different math) and Albert Einstein (his pen-pal on quantum interpretation). For an intellectual contrast, see Niels Bohr, Danish physicist and architect of the Copenhagen interpretation — Schrödinger's cat thought-experiment was specifically designed to ridicule Bohr's 'observer-dependent reality' reading of quantum mechanics — Schrödinger thought the Copenhagen interpretation was absurd; the cat was meant as reductio ad absurdum.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Reality isn't something we passively observe — we actively construct it through perception, thought, and measurement. We don't stand outside the world looking in; we are embedded in the very picture we create. The observer and the observed are fundamentally inseparable. Our consciousness doesn't merely record an independent external world; it participates in shaping what that world actually is.
Relevance to Erwin Schrodinger
Schrödinger's 1926 wave equation described particles as probability waves that collapse upon measurement, making the observer integral to physical reality. His famous cat paradox forced physicists to confront how observation determines quantum states. He explored consciousness and reality extensively in 'Mind and Matter.' This quote mirrors his lifelong conviction: the physicist cannot be cleanly separated from the physics being studied.
The era
The 1920s–1950s saw quantum mechanics overturn classical physics, sparking fierce debate about the observer's role. The Copenhagen interpretation placed measurement — and implicitly consciousness — at the heart of physical reality. Einstein resisted, insisting the world existed independently of observation. Schrödinger lived through this revolution, and his paradoxes forced physicists to seriously confront whether reality is fundamentally observer-dependent rather than objectively fixed.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].