In classical physics, a particle cannot pass through a barrier unless it has enough energy to overcome it. But in quantum mechanics, particles sometimes appear on the other side of a barrier they seemingly shouldn’t be able to cross. This is quantum tunnelling.
But in our relational cosmology, the universe doesn’t contain particles moving through space as billiard balls do. Instead, reality unfolds as actualisations of potential through construal. So how can we reframe tunnelling?
Potential Isn’t Blocked by Barriers
From a relational standpoint:
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A “barrier” (like a potential wall) is not an object in space but a constraint on potential.
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What exists is not a particle approaching a wall, but a landscape of meaning potential in which one possible actualisation involves appearing on the other side.
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The actualisation of that potential happens through the construal enacted by a meaner, whether conscious or notional (as in an experimental apparatus).
In this view, tunnelling isn't a movement through space—it is a shift in what is instantiated from the field of potential. The “impossible” event is made actual because it remains part of the potential landscape, and the construal (via observation or interaction) selects that path.
The Leap of Meaning
This invites a metaphor:
Tunnelling is a leap in meaning across a constraint that would appear impassable in a classical frame.
In meaning-making, we do this all the time:
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A poem jumps to an unexpected insight.
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A dream bypasses logical resistance to uncover a deep truth.
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A paradigm shift in science tunnels through centuries of blocked assumptions.
In each case, a rigid constraint on meaning (a “barrier”) is not destroyed—it is simply circumvented because the relational context instantiates a different potential that was previously unactualised.
Constraints Are Not Absolutes
Crucially, in this cosmology:
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Constraints do not block potential.
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They only shape the likelihood of different paths being actualised.
This makes tunnelling not a violation of reality but a relational reconfiguration: what gets instantiated depends not just on local energy but on the relational web of meaning. Sometimes, the context favours what classical logic would rule out.
Dreams, Myths, and Meaning Leaps
In the same way a particle tunnels through a barrier, we may:
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Dream of a loved one long gone and instantiate meaning from emotional potential that feels more real than any waking memory.
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Leap from scattered observations to a transformative insight that rewrites our world.
Tunnelling, then, becomes a semiotic event—a sudden actualisation from within the relational cosmos that bypasses constraint not by brute force, but by accessing deeper dimensions of potential.
Closing Thought
Quantum tunnelling is not a ghostly cheat code in the game of physics. It’s a reminder that:
Reality does not unfold along a single route—it leaps, resonates, and reorganises through acts of meaning.
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