Some people are disappointed by that. They shouldn’t be. The real magic of the world is that it isn’t magical. For the reasons I discussed earlier, locality is a precondition for our existence. Any nonlocality must remain safely tucked away, emerging only under certain conditions, or else our universe would be inimical to life. What nonlocality gives us is much more impressive than any paranormal phenomenon: a window into the true nature of physical reality. If influences can leap across space as though it weren’t really there, the natural conclusion is: space isn’t really there. The Columbia University string theorist Brian Greene wrote in his 2003 book, The Fabric of the Cosmos, that nonlocal connections “show us, fundamentally, that space is not what we once thought it was.” Well, what is it, then? Investigating nonlocality may clue us in. Many physicists now think that space and time are doomed—not fundamental elements of nature, but products of some primeval condition of spacelessness. Space is like a rug with ragged edges and worn spots. Just as we can look at those frayed areas to see how the rug is woven, we can study nonlocal phenomena to glimpse how space is assembled from spaceless components.

Some people are disappointed by that. They shouldn’t be. The real magic of the world is that it isn’t magical. For the reasons I discussed earlier, locality is a precondition for our existence. Any nonlocality must remain safely tucked away, emerging only under certain conditions, or else our universe would be inimical to life. What nonlocality gives us is much more impressive than any paranormal phenomenon: a window into the true nature of physical reality. If influences can leap across space as though it weren’t really there, the natural conclusion is: space isn’t really there. The Columbia University string theorist Brian Greene wrote in his 2003 book, The Fabric of the Cosmos, that nonlocal connections “show us, fundamentally, that space is not what we once thought it was.” Well, what is it, then? Investigating nonlocality may clue us in. Many physicists now think that space and time are doomed—not fundamental elements of nature, but products of some primeval condition of spacelessness. Space is like a rug with ragged edges and worn spots. Just as we can look at those frayed areas to see how the rug is woven, we can study nonlocal phenomena to glimpse how space is assembled from spaceless components.