Title: Q & A: Observer Effect? | Department of Physics | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Headings: 
Q & A: Observer Effect?
Follow-Up #1: quantum
Follow-Up #2: observation and light
Follow-Up #3: measurement and consciousness?
Follow-Up #4: free-will?
Follow-Up #5: confusion between the uncertainty principle and the observer effect
Follow-Up #6: Quantum for the non-scientist
Follow-Up #7: Unconscious observers
Follow-Up #8: Bell's Inequalities and free will
Follow-Up #9: free will and quantum mechanics
Follow-Up #10: what collapses wavefunction?
Follow-Up #11: What causes quantum interference loss

Content: measurement and consciousness? Q: Are electrons conscious i.e. do they know that they are being observed? Secondly, do they change their behaviour when someone tries to watch it? - Indrajit Kuri
New Delhi, India
A: It would be extremely surprising if anything as simple as an electron could have any sort of consciousness. However, when someone tries to watch an electron, they usually do something to the electron to make its behavior more evident. That something (e.g. shining a light on it) changes the electron's behavior. Mike W.
(published on 08/20/2010)
Follow-Up #4: free-will?