I think sanguinariness may have found what the author meant by "centipede" but I don't see anyone commenting on the several allusions to quantum mechanics.
"Every time I move I'm in another dimension
Everything I do changes what I want
I see a choice I make explode in thousands of pieces
Every time I choose I become a choice"
This references Erwin Schrödinger's popular interpretation of quantum mechanics in which, when there is a "choice" to be made at the quantum level, ALL possible choices happen. Schrödinger is popular for his "Schrödinger's Cat" hypothesis in which a cat is contained in a box from which no light (or information) can escape. A 50%-likely quantum event either triggers the release of poison or does not and, Schrödinger says, neither happen until we observe the outcome -- in which case the probability wave collapses in our universe a certain way and, in another just-created universe, the probability wave collapses the other way. Until we open the box, the cat is both alive AND dead. Each is a "ghost of potential" as he calls it in the song. Because our minds are only high-level abstractions of quantum mechanics, every "choice" we make is subject to this forking-universe hypothesis. There are universes in which you never read this webpage because you at some point made a choice which prevented you from reading this.
"I could step outside and walk in any direction
Everything I choose erases ghosts of potential
But it makes some new ghosts that I can fill
I can just choose one as far as I can tell "
By "ghosts of potential" he's personifying the different future universes in which quantum "choices" have not been made or observed, therefore all possibilities exist. When a choice is made, then more "ghosts" or possibilities are created which he can (supposedly) choose to fill. The last line, "I can just choose one as far as I can tell" seems to suggest he doubts his own perception of reality since, after all, his consciousness is still subject to the laws of physics. Is reality and choice actually real? It is "as far as I can tell" though we have no extra-dimensional perspective to decide definitively.
That all being said, I should note that Schrödinger's interpretations of quantum mechanical choices is not the only one and several others exist. Since his Schrödinger's Cat experiment so easily conveys the very abstract concept of probability waves (and it's very sensational), his seems to have caught on the most.
It's bizarre to see music these days popularizing science. As an atheist, I've found that the splendor of science is an amazingly satisfying replacement for the pseudo-splendor of a contrived religion. If one is to be so openly against religion in an album (e.g. Machine in the Ghost), it's consistent to also express one's perspective of life in a modern scientific context.
I think sanguinariness may have found what the author meant by "centipede" but I don't see anyone commenting on the several allusions to quantum mechanics.
"Every time I move I'm in another dimension Everything I do changes what I want I see a choice I make explode in thousands of pieces Every time I choose I become a choice"
This references Erwin Schrödinger's popular interpretation of quantum mechanics in which, when there is a "choice" to be made at the quantum level, ALL possible choices happen. Schrödinger is popular for his "Schrödinger's Cat" hypothesis in which a cat is contained in a box from which no light (or information) can escape. A 50%-likely quantum event either triggers the release of poison or does not and, Schrödinger says, neither happen until we observe the outcome -- in which case the probability wave collapses in our universe a certain way and, in another just-created universe, the probability wave collapses the other way. Until we open the box, the cat is both alive AND dead. Each is a "ghost of potential" as he calls it in the song. Because our minds are only high-level abstractions of quantum mechanics, every "choice" we make is subject to this forking-universe hypothesis. There are universes in which you never read this webpage because you at some point made a choice which prevented you from reading this.
"I could step outside and walk in any direction Everything I choose erases ghosts of potential But it makes some new ghosts that I can fill I can just choose one as far as I can tell "
By "ghosts of potential" he's personifying the different future universes in which quantum "choices" have not been made or observed, therefore all possibilities exist. When a choice is made, then more "ghosts" or possibilities are created which he can (supposedly) choose to fill. The last line, "I can just choose one as far as I can tell" seems to suggest he doubts his own perception of reality since, after all, his consciousness is still subject to the laws of physics. Is reality and choice actually real? It is "as far as I can tell" though we have no extra-dimensional perspective to decide definitively.
That all being said, I should note that Schrödinger's interpretations of quantum mechanical choices is not the only one and several others exist. Since his Schrödinger's Cat experiment so easily conveys the very abstract concept of probability waves (and it's very sensational), his seems to have caught on the most.
It's bizarre to see music these days popularizing science. As an atheist, I've found that the splendor of science is an amazingly satisfying replacement for the pseudo-splendor of a contrived religion. If one is to be so openly against religion in an album (e.g. Machine in the Ghost), it's consistent to also express one's perspective of life in a modern scientific context.
Just another reason to love The Faint. :)