Avengers: Endgame - How Thanos' Snap ACTUALLY Worked
3. The Space And Time Stones
In scientific terms, an object cannot truly exist without a relationship with both space and time. An event cannot truly happen if not in three dimensional space. And since the Space and Time Stones control those aspects of existence, they are key to allowing Thanos to manipulate all matter in the universe simultaneously.
In effect, because all objects and events are defined by how they move through spacetime as a unified material (which is what Einstein defined in his general theory of relativity), Thanos needs to control both in order to make ANYTHING happen using the Gauntlet. It's almost best to consider the unified Space and Time Stones as the Gauntlets grip on every single piece of matter in the universe for that brief moment that Thanos snaps his fingers.
2. The Mind And Soul Stones
It seems that the relationship between the Mind and the Soul Stones is what allows Thanos to choose his targets and also to snuff out their life force.
The Mind Stone can control consciousness, which is clearly a major part of living. It is not entirely a scientific concept, though there are lots of strains of Quantum Theory that deal with consciousness that would require lots of impenetrable language and several degrees to decipher in any meainingful way. The important thing is that there is some thinking to suggest that consciousness is a direct response to neurological energy and the interaction of particles, like all physics.
The Mind Stone seemingly works like Cerebro in X-Men, locking onto those signatures to control them and identifying which half of the targets will be wiped out. It effectively chooses half of consciousness to take away.
The Soul Stone is linked with more of a metaphysical element, but we know that it is linked to the soul. It not only grants the user some control over life and death, but it also contains a pocket dimension where the user can communicate with the souls of the dead. This pocket dimension, presumably, is another of the MCU's "afterlife" constructs, like Valhalla, which are essentially other dimensions, to give them scientific grounding. If the exchange between Thanos and Gamora is anything to go by, this Soul World is the means through which Thanos send his victims from the living realm to the dead once the Mind Stone has targeted them.
Together they fundamentally control the two sides of conscious life - neurological consciousness and the essence of life, as embodied by the Soul.
And finally, the Reality Stone...
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