Chapter 11: (What’s) The Matter With Babel?

In Judaism and consequently Christianity, the story of the Tower of Babel is presented. Though presented with no context and only containing nine verses, this short story has been recanted for thousands of years. Humans seek to describe the state of confusion (and unproductivity) that ensues when people are unable to communicate effectively. Genesis Chapter 11, verses 1–9 in the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible read as follows:

An essentially similar story occurs in the Holy Qur’an, the sacred scriptures of Islam. In the Holy Qur’an (28:38–40) the writer shares an order that Pharaoh gave one of his subjects:

This chapter presents metaphor’s importance for effective human communication about individually and collectively perceived realities by applying quantum mechanics to the communication process. Its eventual goal is to show that when matter or “reality” is seen accurately in its fluidity, instead of in an oversimplified state of static reality, our hopes for more effective communication and collaboration can be better realized.