Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
Post 125. June 27, 2022 continued . . . .
Quantum Weirdness
No substance in Superposition
Speaking of Quantum mysteries, Erwin Schrodinger argued that “the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics, . . . is entanglement”. Which means that “a quantum object may have properties that are not entirely located on that object”. This implies that some quantum properties are shared with the whole (universal) system. I interpret that as Holistic Entangle-ment. Which may be the kind of interrelationship that causes systems of components to work together as one. Ironically, causation within a quantum system may not be linear & logical, but random & fuzzy. Which is why “quantum events don’t appear to have an explanation as such”.
Einstein, though, didn’t accept these mysteries without rational explanation. So he proposed “hidden variables”²⁶ that might yet be found, to reveal the cause of apparent paradoxes. But the EPR thought experiment was never implemented. So, we may just have to get used to the enigmas of quantum science. However, philosophically, a holistic approach might make the notion of entanglement more understandable. Maybe, in their entangled (whole) state, a system’s properties are shared among many possibilities, but an intentional probing measurement forces the system to spit-out polarized parts. In other words, a whole entangled system has statistically averaged values. But formerly undifferentiated particles, when pulled apart, instantly take on opposite values²⁷, in order to maintain overall neutrality. Yet, since they are still somewhat plugged-in (entangled) with the whole, no instantaneous communication is required. The “hidden value” is wholeness at 100% integration. This is just a layman’s hypothesis.
Ball has concluded that “everything that seems strange about quantum mechanics comes down to measurement”. The Latin word for “measure” is mensura, and the root is mens-, meaning Mind. So, it seems that a quantum scale measure-ment can be interpreted figuratively as an intrusive mind probing into matter, like an extraction needle . Which could explain why simply removing bits of location or velocity information from a superposed particle might dis-entangle it from the holistic system. Information is now known to be related to Energy²⁸, so it may have causal effects on the fragile super-posed system. But, since physicists are not usually looking for immaterial information-causation, they conclude that entanglement & collapse are “acausal”. Yet, the invisible workings of EnFormAction, may turn-out to be Einstein’s Hidden Variable. Again, that’s nothing more than a layman philosopher’s educated guess. But it fits neatly into the patchwork puzzle of generalized information theory.
Speaking of “location”, non-locality is another quantum paradox. The measured quanta are knowable only on the macro level, yet while in super-position, “there is no there there”²⁹, only wholeness. So, Ball says that there is “something uncanny about quantum entanglement – because it undermines our preconceptions about the here and now, the here and there”.
Blog Post 125 continued . . . .
26. Hidden Variables : Einstein assumed there was a piece of the quantum puzzle missing from the Copenhagen interpretation. A century later, that hidden piece still has not been found.
27. Decoherence : Collapse of the wavefunction. When entangled particles are disentangled, by a measurement, from the superposed (holistic) wave, each of the pair instantly displays a value or state (spin, etc) opposite to the other. As a whole system the overall value is Zero, hence neutral. Apparently, the pair act in unison to maintain the neutrality of the system.
29. No there there : “A descriptive phrase (originally coined by Gertrude Stein) now used to convey an utter lack of substance or veracity as it pertains to the subject under consideration.” On the topic of Quantum particles, it means that there is no material substance in the Field, just immaterial information about potential particles.
NEXT
BACK
Forum
