A "poor understanding of quantum mechanics" is seen in the exaggeration of the observer's role. But also some confusion from history and philosophy of science. Since antiquity construction tasks have been discussed in geometry, without anybody asking silly questions about the imputed constructor. The coordinate system, a cartesian invention par excellence, has been seen (notably by Kojeve) to embody this otherwise absent subject. Einstein in his youth was an eager positivist and Special relativity became known for its insistence for the presence of an "observer"; actually this is a misnomer. Special Relativity mimicks the ruler-and-compass limitation and it still is mostly geometry while QM is not. There is an unsolved problem about the border separating the quantum domain from the classical. The hazy realm where to it can be conveniently located is consciousness or subjectivity.
Positivistic science which tries to construct "observables" without observers understandably runs into trouble. Philosophers have dabated to no end where is the border between subjective and objective: the observed by many people, by one or by no one.