This is a misconception. When you read about quantum things (superposition, for example), it's convenient to replace "observe" with "interact with." Without in

This is a misconception. When you read about quantum things (superposition, for example), it's convenient to replace "observe" with "interact with." Without interacting with the universe, it's probabilistic. The problem being that a lot of things in the universe interact with each other as a matter of course. A particle bumping into another particle breaks the probabilistic state that you're talking about – regardless of whether that particle ends up in the view of a conscious observer.