My knowledge of quantum physics is limited, but there seems to be a debate among scientist as to whether the observer means conscious observation, or is simply an aspect of the formula. An atom is a particle or wave depending on how you look at it with mathematics, but this does not necessarily mean consciousness is responsible for the change. Many don't want to make that leap.

For the sake of conjecture, we'll go with consciousness for the cat experiment. There would be two cats simultaneously in parallel realities - one dead and one alive. From each perspective, that cat "collapsed the wave function." Its own observation took it to a reality where it lived or died. When you go to open the box, both cats exist, but you will only tune into one reality.

The paradoxes dissolve when you understand infinity. All possible realities exist simultaneously. There are an infinite number of cats, but you only see one's based on your point of view. To the cat, there are an infinite number of you, but it only sees the one based on its point of view. Thus you can see how you create your reality, since you have infinite possibilities from which to draw.