•.

It is now being increasingly realized that nothing can be observed in the pure state. Not only do the senses modify reality but the things we see are not the same for other creatures observing them. A further interesting problem arises from an analysis of the nature of observation itself. The very act of observing an object alters it to an appreciable extent. We distort and are ourselves often distorted by the impact of what we see. [ . . . ] In a microphysical event the presence of the observer and his apparatus have to be taken into account since they deflect the agents being observed and interfere with the experiment...[In natural science] 'the object of research is no longer nature itself, but nature subjected to man's questioning'.

𝔞 𝔴𝔬𝔩𝔣 𝔦𝔫 𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔢𝔭'𝔰 𝔠𝔩𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤

To many death seems to be a brutal and meaningless end to a short and meaningless existence. So it looks, if seen from the surface and from the darkness. But when we penetrate the depths of the soul and when we try to understand its mysterious life, we shall discern that death is not a meaningless end, the mere vanishing into nothingness—it is an accomplishment, a ripe fruit on the tree of life. Nor is death an abrupt extinction, but a goal that has been unconsciously lived and worked for during half a lifetime.