[murftown]

Hmm. Maybe what "counts as an observer" is relative to your reference frame, and so is the concept of "superposition". And thus, though the cat is making observations within its environment, since the environment is sealed off, the cat is not "an observer" from our reference frame because there is no interaction between us and the cat. From the cat's reference frame it is probably not in a superposition - If it is observing anything, it is alive, and if it is dead, it is not observing anything. But if we observe the cat, the wave function is collapsed from our reference frame and the cat is in one or the other state.

My understanding of quantum mechanics is pretty shallow so take this with an ocean of salt.

[theGnuMe]

That would mean we are all alive and dead.

[dTal]

Well yes. That is many-worlds.