Superposition isn’t just quantum weirdness—it’s a modern take on an ancient idea. Aristotle spoke of potential versus actual reality—a seed isn’t a tree, but it holds the potential to become one.

In quantum mechanics, a particle doesn’t exist in multiple places at once—it exists as pure potential. We don’t see its exact position until we measure it. Until then, it’s just a range of possibilities. However, many physicists don’t see it as potential—they argue that reality exists in all states at once, something like a multiverse.

The reality is, we don’t know. Was the particle in a state before we looked, fixed as a potential (as I like to think of it), or does it choose a state only when observed? For me, the concept of potential is most accurate to the human experience.

This challenges our entire view of reality. Is the universe set and predetermined, or is it a field of possibilities taking shape only when observed?

Superposition suggests that at the deepest level, reality may be made of potential, not certainty. Does the universe exist as a field of potentials, only taking form when observed?

Although I doubt that, quantum physics does suggest that the universe may be more fluid and indeterminate than we ever imagined.