What quantum physics seems to be saying is our reality is far weirder than we realized and far stranger than we can imagine!
Nevertheless, physicists continue to work with quantum theory, even though they don’t understand it.
Quantum theory describes the micro world (small things like atoms and photons) but some scientists have speculated it must apply to the macro world (big things from Abaca virus through to zebras and beyond). They ask where does the micro world end and the macro world begin, and like Fedrizzi (Professor at Institute of Photonics and Quantum Sciences) and Leggett (Professor of physics at the University of Illinois), want to know why particles are so weird. “It’s far more important to me to find out what’s behind all of this,” Fedrizzi says?
Nearly one hundred years after the shocking discovery of quantum theory still it just doesn’t make sense. Most scientists ‘shut up and calculate’ and don’t try to think about the deeper implications of quantum theory. The hard math has shown us how to develop computers, space travel and mobile phones, but when it comes to the meaning of the theory it’s best not to think about it because it could lead to some pretty scary and nonsensical conclusions about the nature of reality.
At the Quantum Physics Party no-one wants to acknowledge the 'elephant in the room': the couple Mr. and Mrs. Problem (Hard and Measurement) who are helping themselves to the Ritz crackers:
MR HARD PROBLEM and MRS MEASUREMENT PROBLEM
The Measurement Problem put simply (!?) is that particles come into existence only when we watch!
In other words; the scientist’s consciousness is somehow involved in, and effects, the experiment he or she does at the extreme microscopic or ‘microcosmic’ level.
(If you want know more about the Measurement Problem (or wish to fry your brain!) this YouTube video gives a good explanation.)
Her partner, Hard Problem is consciousness; a phenomenon that cannot be explained scientifically and is regarded by most scientists as non-causal and/or an illusion.
(For an explanation of the Hard Problem click on this YouTube link.)
You’d have thought that our scientists couldn’t ignore such elephantine intrusion at their jolly party, but they do, and more so - there’s a third guest guzzling the Pinot Noir who goes by the name of BIG BANG: Presently, most scientists believe that about 13.7 billion* years ago a ‘singularity’ (an ifinitely small point) containing all the matter in the universe appeared out of nothing and exploded. At that moment, through sheer chance, all the finely tuned laws that made the universe habitable for life were set!
BUT THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM WITH THE BIG BANG THEORY!
The Big Bang theory is based upon the a priori assumption that matter is the prime substance in the universe, in other words, scientist believe that the universe and everything in it is made out of stuff!
This causes a serious problem because consciousness is not made of stuff! Scientists and some philosophers claim, therefore, that because consciousness cannot be measured with instruments, put in a jar or used as a material to make things out of, then it either cannot exist (Peter Carruthers, Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland) or it is an illusion (Daniel Dennett, Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University).
Most people would claim that consciousness feels very real to them and that they use it to measure things, put things in jars and make things!
THE STARTLING FACT IS THAT OUR SCIENTIST ARE AFRAID !
As in 'The Emporer's New Clothes' fable, our scientist and philosophers all avoid the conundrum of consciousness for fear of being ostracised or appearing unfit for their positions.
When our scientists begin to acknowledge that instead of matter it is consciousness that is the fundamental energy from which both mind and matter emerge, then the way we see our life, its’ meaning and value, will begin to change.
Then the Big Bang, (if it ever happened) could be seen as an idea in an infinitely vast sea of consciousness that came into being and then differentiated into mind and matter!
Such a fundamental shift in our understanding will result in many cherished belief systems rendered non-viable, others will have to adapt and new ones adopted.
Most importantly, what will this mean for you and me?
It will be extraordinarily liberating for us at a personal level and also for our scientists as it will open up a whole new field of research and experiment!
John Archibald Wheeler (1911-2008); professor of physics at Princeton University; scientist-philosopher:
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"Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it - in a decade, a century, or a millennium - we will all say to each other, how could it have been otherwise? How could we have been so stupid?"
@2019 David A Leach | Designer: David A Leach (davidaleach@hotmail.co.uk)
