I basically only know what I've read from A Brief History, and that was the conclusion I came to as well - I wasn't sure how 'literal' the observer effect (and its resulting chaos theory) was but I assumed that the scientific community actually took it pretty literally. Good to see otherwise. (This does point a little more towards predetermination, so here's hoping everyone views that in a healthy manner)

From what I know quantum mechanics is basically half understood, as the theory of relativity and the theory of gravity haven't been unified.

But here is something in the same vein that I found very interesting. Maybe you will too:

Planets don't really orbit around the sun... they move in a straight line.:surprised  Gravity literally bends the universe (and all light etc) around itself.

[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/12037-is-the-earth-travelling-in-a-straight-line/[/URL]

I can't picture this. Maybe no one in the third dimension can. But what it alludes to is very interesting, and gives light to the possibility that a presence / observer does affect things. After all, gravity dictates the form and function of how everything works together in the universe and the biological correlates of our consciousness (molecular activity in the brain etc) have mass :thumb_up: