What is the relationship between quantum physics, consciousness, and the ego? This dialogue explores where scientific inquiry ends and self-enquiry begins. Through Vedanta, Acharya Prashant explains why the ego clings to its own existence, how beliefs and superstition shape our lives, and why lasting freedom lies beyond conditioned thinking.
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Questioner: Hello sir, I am Pratik. I am a master’s student in quantum technology here. From childhood, I have seen science as a very great subject for me. So, my meaning for moving in life was science. Because of that, I also took admission in ISC. I have also been part of the Gita community with you for around 3 years.
So, I have one question here. I found that in physics we have inertia. Ego also is very similar; it does not want to change. But if it has to change, it takes the easiest path. The corresponding analogy I can see is the law of least action here. In maths, we also see that ego has an illusion of choices; it does not really have choice, but it thinks it has some choices. In maths, we try to remove all the paradoxes which we find. In paradox also, I see we kind of have an illusion of choices, like I can go either this way or that way, and I do not know, so I can take any choice as I am standing here. Because of this subjectivity, I think that maths removes all the paradoxes, and science does not talk about ego or something. Still, I have a question: why do we have these two different kinds of curiosities? Why are science and philosophy different?
Acharya Prashant: Because the inertia that you are talking about is fundamentally different. You tried to set up an analogy, and to some extent that is alright, but there is a great difference between the inertial nature of matter and the inertial nature of ego. When you talk of the inertial nature of matter, what you want to say is that it wants to continue in its state unless an external force is applied on it. Resting, it wants to stay in rest; if moving, it wants to stay in continuous uniform motion. That is what material inertia is about, the continuation of one’s state.
