The Double-Slit Experiment Of Quantum Theory Through Systemic Functional Linguistics [7]

Gribbin (1990: 172):

You might say that the double-slit experiment tells us that we are dealing with waves; equally, by looking only at the pattern on the detector screen you can deduce that the apparatus has two holes in it, not one.  The whole thing is what matters — the apparatus, the electrons, and the observer are all part of the experiment.  We cannot say that an electron goes through either hole, without looking at the holes as it passes (and that is a different experiment).  An electron leaves the gun and arrives at a detector, and it seems to possess information about the whole experimental setup, including the observer.

Blogger Comment:

From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic theory, the double-slit experiment tells us that the frequencies of instances of meaning (particles) are in line with the probability (wave) of potential.

The observer is part of the experiment in the sense of being the construer of the experience as meaning.

An electron does not possess information about the experimental set-up.  As a semiotic construal, an electron is an instance of potential: a participant in a process unfolding according to circumstances.