Quantum Touch - You May Figure out how to Heal Yourself Naturally

This is a review of a book by two physics professors titled, "Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness." I argue that to comprehend quantum mechanics you will need to comprehend the difference between science, metaphysics, and philosophy.

Human beings have a drive to learn and understand everything, and you will find two types of inquiry that stand side-by-side as equals: metaphysics and science.Quantum Interference Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness shows that a lack of understanding of metaphysics is just a stumbling block in understanding science. Metaphysical questions arise from our transcendence, that's, our ability to create ourselves the subject of our personal knowledge: What's the conscious understanding of humans as opposed to the sense understanding of animals? What's an actual being? What are mental beings (images, concepts, past, future, dreams)? What's truth? What's causality? What's free will? What does it mean to comprehend something? Is the universe intelligible?

Basically, the answer to every one of the above questions is that there surely is no answer. They're mysteries. We are able to comprehend what a person is really because we all know everything we do and everything that occurs to us, but we can't define or explicate what a person is. Quite simply, humans are embodied spirits. Utilising the kinds of metaphysics, the human soul is spiritual. Assuming or hoping that the universe is intelligible results in the existence of a transcendent reality that's called God in Western religions. God is not a free image, like Santa Clause, but an actual being, such as for instance a beloved friend who gets on your nerves from time for you to time.

In science, you will find no mysteries because science includes a tremendous track record of success. There are only unanswered questions. It may be said of metaphysics that there surely is no record of success. An example of metaphysical wisdom is that knowledge may be the openness to be to the self-manifestation of being. In metaphysics, whether the universe is intelligible can be an open question. But in science, it is not. If Johannes Kepler thought for one minute the universe wasn't intelligible, he wouldn't have spent 10 years trying to realize why the planets move as they do. What caused the Big Bang is not a mystery. What's consciousness is just a mystery. Calling both questions mysteries indicates you do not understand the difference between metaphysics and science.

A quantum enigma arises from the question of why the isotope cobalt-60 decays into nickel-60 with a half-life of 5.27 years. Utilising the probability waves of quantum mechanics, physicists can calculate the half-lives of isotopes. A particular cobalt-60 atom may decay in 10 minutes or 10 years. There's a 50% probability that it will decay in 5.27 years. This raises the question: What causes a certain cobalt-60 atom to decay at the specific time it will? With your present state of knowledge, there's no hope of answering this question. This is an enigma or puzzle because we understand so much about isotopes from quantum mechanics, but not this.

The authors agree with the nonsense that there surely is a connection between human rationality (consciousness and free will) and quantum mechanics. I do believe this idea arises from a lack of understanding of the difference between science, metaphysics, and philosophy. Philosophy is a way of inquiry that arises above another approach to inquiry. How should scientists do science is just a philosophical question. The scientific method is an answer to this question. The different interpretations of quantum mechanics are part of the philosophy of quantum mechanics since they are attempts to answer questions about quantum mechanics.

One of the ways we obtain knowledge and understanding is through analogies. If you poke a lion in a cage with a stick, it will roar and attempt to claw you. We realize by analogy that the lion is angry because this is how we would feel if it was happening to us. There's an analogy that's found in quantum mechanics to answer the question: What are quantum mechanical waves?

To answer this philosophical question, think about the decay of cobalt-60. If you observe a cobalt-60 atom for 5.27 years it could decay (D) or may remain stable (S). Repeated observations provides you with a series of S's and D's. You get, quite simply, a group: (S,S,D,D,D,S,..). The fraction of times you obtain S or D approaches 1/2 in the limit as the number of elements in the set increases. I am using set theory because you will need set theory to comprehend a statement analogous to the decay of cobalt-60: Flipping a coin saturated in the air together with your thumb and fore finger and getting heads (H) or tails (T). With coin tosses you obtain the same type of set as you obtain observing cobalt-60 atoms. The probability of getting heads or tails is 1/2 because that's the fraction you obtain from the set and all possible subsets. In the case of the coin, you will find two events (flipping and landing head or tails), the subtle proviso that the calculation is completed for several subsets to eliminate the possibility that there surely is a demon or hidden variable affecting the outcome, and the fact we realize why we get heads (or tails) half the time. In the case of cobalt-60, there's only 1 event: the decay of the atom. They're two different phenomena. Saying, "1/2 may be the probability of a cobalt-60 atom decaying in 5.27 years" is an analogy or even a philosophical comment. For me, calling the quantum mechanical waves probability waves is an example of philosophizing.

The foundation for thinking there's a connection between consciousness and quantum mechanics may be the double-slit experiment with particles (photons, electrons, or atoms). An edition of this experiment is on YouTube.com ("Double-Slit Experiment-Water Wave Interference Pattern"). The double-slit creates two water waves and a very visible interference pattern. The same interference pattern occurs with particles. The probability waves of quantum mechanics explain this and it is another triumph for quantum mechanics.

About This Author

Vertical Blinds Melbourne Joined: June 27th, 2018