For a mathless explanation, I believe it’s because in the quantum world all the atoms that interact are part of the same system. That includes the ones that make up the instruments and the scientists themselves. If you put the photons in an experimental apparatus the results can change because the system is different. Meaning you can influence the waveform collapse simply by experimenting to try and understand it.

I hope that’s right I watch a ton of physics YouTube, so I hope I’m absorbing some of this stuff.

For more crazy shit, see how photons traveling across the universe cause the electron they originate from at the start and the electron they terminate at the end to agree to exchange that energy across space and time. It’s mind bending. From the photon perspective (at the speed of light) a journey across the cosmos is instantaneous. No time passes for the photon from its frame of reference.

On YouTube; PBS Spacetime, History of the universe, Alpha Phoenix, veritasium, cool worlds, astrum, vsauce