Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia;  Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.

  QUANTUM CAT

“. . . an experiment suggesting that a photon can be separated from its polar-ization . . . neutrons seemed to be separated from their spin (a property involving angular momentum). Aharonov's group called the effect a "quantum Cheshire Cat."

https://phys.org/news/2015-06-quantum-cheshire-cat-effect-standard.html

  Post 122.  January 29, 2022 continued . . .

  Unscripted Free Will

  Afterthoughts and End Notes 3

 These are some marginal notes to Self while reading the book by Peter Carter. They are my own thoughts regarding topics he mentions in his text.

• Un-Reality :
“But way down in Quantum Wonderland . . . The ultra-fine substructure of Creation might be nothing at all like anything we’ve seen before. That’s a problem if we can only think in similies, analogies, and metaphors.”

Quantum queerness14 has been reluctantly accepted as inherent to the statistical foundation of reality, because the numbers add-up, and their predictions pan-out. The problem is that the metaphors they take for real are actually abstract representations of mathematical models. Like ivory towers, such images are literally Ideal. Statistics are only possibilities.

• Un-Certainty :
“Many scientists have used Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle to bolster up human free will.” ___Louis deBroglie

The uncertainty of reality15 is due to its inherent randomness, which makes determinism somewhat indeterminate. Can the rational mind take advantage of those soft spots in the chain of causation to insert a willful or purposeful cause of its own? Does statistical Probability make room for gaps in Inevitability? Are you sure?

• Virtual Reality :
“Virtual particles are not literally particles . . . not particles at all; they’re a convenient mathematical fairly tale”.

If the physical foundation of reality is virtual16 (unreal) that means it’s a figment of our imagination. All we know of the real world is the model we construct in our minds. So, I can assume I know what’s real when my model agrees with my neighbor’s model. But what if we are both imagining an Ivory Tower?

• Rational Reality :
“Without free will, there could be no rational thought.”
___Nicloas Gisin, intuitionist mathematician

Human reason is the ability to infer causes from effects. Which allows us to willfully insert a personal purpose into the chain of causation in order to affect the future. Since our intentions 17 have measurable consequences in the real world, we infer that our willpower is free enough to overcome external determinants to that extent.

• Internal Motivation :
“It’s understandable that some serious and sincere investigators would speculate about a possible connection between quantum theory and human consciousness with its attendant intuition of free will.”

Opponents of the Free Will hypothesis assume that even our emotional drives are directly caused by external influences. That may be true, but our rational faculties seem to allow us to override our impulses. In fact, that is the primary function of Religion & Philosophy & Conscience. We may never know for sure if quantum indeterminacy18 has anything to do with our self-control, but it’s as good an excuse for rebellion against external domination as any.

                Blog Post 122 continued  . . .

14. Quantum Queerness :
As Alice said as she went down the rabbit-hole, “it just gets curiouser and curiouser” It’s so uncanny that we can only describe it in terms of analogies to reality.
“The quantum world is mind-bogglingly weird”
https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/quantum-world-mind-bogglingly-weird

15. Uncertainty :
“If an element of randomness is sufficient to account for free will, there is no need to search it into quantum uncertainty, because in a complex open system such as a human being there are already many sources of uncertainty, entirely independent of quantum mechanics.” ___Rovelli
https://www.edge.org/conversation/carlo_rovelli-free-will-determinism-quantum-theory-and-statistical-fluctuations-a

16. Virtual :
Literally means “the abstract form of something” or “not physically existing”. Virtual Reality goggles don’t show reality, but an abstract interpretation of the world.

17. Willful Intentions :
“Consequences are measurable outcomes that are a direct result of our actions. Intentions are the thoughts behind a person's actions. They are the reason that a person chooses to do something. Consequences and intentions both correlate with action”
https://www.123helpme.com/essay/The-Importance-Of-Intention-The-Consequences-Of-769252

18. Indeterminacy :
Literally means that its cause is un-known or un-certain. In quantum physics, some events are labeled as “acausal” because it seems to happen randomly and spontaneously without external causation or stimulation. This may indicate a gap in the chain of determinism.

The Single Simple Question
That challenges All Convictions

Peter Carter MD

Primary Care Physician

“Connecting the conundrums of God and Immortality, Free Will, the Strange Reality of Quantum Physics, and Finding Purpose in Existence”.

Quantum
Cheshire Cat

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