When two observers perceive what is regarded as one occurrence, there
are certain similarities, and also certain differences, between their
perceptions. The differences are obscured by the requirements of
daily life, because from a business point of view they are as a rule
unimportant. But both psychology and physics, from their different
angles, are compelled to emphasize the respects in which one man’s
perception of a given occurrence differs from another man’s. Some of
these differences are due to differences in the brains or minds of
the observers, some to differences in their sense organs, some to
differences of physical situation: these three kinds may be called
respectively psychological, physiological, and physical. A remark made
in a language we know will be heard, whereas an equally loud remark
in an unknown language may pass entirely unnoticed. Of two men in the
Alps, one will perceive the beauty of the scenery while the other will
notice the waterfalls with a view to obtaining power from them. Such
differences are psychological. The difference between a long-sighted
and a short-sighted man, or between a deaf man and a man who hears
well, are physiological. Neither of these kinds concerns us, and I have
mentioned them only in order to exclude them. The kind that concerns us
is the purely physical kind. Physical differences between two observers
will be preserved when the observers are replaced by cameras or
phonographs, and can be reproduced on the movies or the gramophone. If
two men both listen to a third man speaking, and one of them is nearer
to the speaker than the other is, the nearer one will hear louder and
slightly earlier sounds than are heard by the other. If two men both
watch a tree falling, they see it from different angles. Both these
differences would be shown equally by recording instruments: they are
in no way due to idiosyncrasies in the observers, but are part of the
ordinary course of physical nature as we experience it.
The physicist, like the plain man, believes that his perceptions give
him knowledge about what is really occurring in the physical world,
and not only about his private experiences. Professionally, he regards
the physical world as “real,” not merely as something which human
beings dream. An eclipse of the sun, for instance, can be observed
by any person who is suitably situated, and is also observed by the
photographic plates that are exposed for the purpose. The physicist
is persuaded that something has really happened over and above the
experiences of those who have looked at the sun or at photographs of
it. I have emphasized this point, which might seem a trifle obvious,
because some people imagine that Einstein has made a difference in this
respect. In fact he has made none.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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