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Islam and quantum theory: from signs or symbols to science

Cemil Akdoğan

Published Jun 12, 2012• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Islam and quantum physics are compatible due to a shared phenomenological approach which denies that we can know the substance of anything or that matter has a substance at all. In other words, both entirely depend on "Ayat" (sign), appearances (phenomena) or symbols that cannot have any substance or corresponding reality as independent, material entities in the external world. It is through the elimination of material substance that human consciousness has gained its pivotal and fundamental position and placed science into its proper place

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The symbolic and mental nature of science that had been divulged for the first time by the Qur'an has also been recognized by quantum physics thirteen centuries later, i.e., in the first decades of the twentieth century. Isl (a) over barm and quantum physics are compatible due to a shared phenomenological approach which denies that we can know the substance of anything or that matter has a substance at all. In other words, both entirely depend on signs ((a) over bary (a) over bart), appearances (phenomena) or symbols that cannot have any substance or corresponding reality as independent, material entities in the external world. It is through the elimination of material substance that human consciousness has gained its pivotal and fundamental position and placed science into its proper place. Although quantum physics does not depend on the unity and oneness of God, such a religious basis can easily be supplied by Islam.

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Islam and quantum physics are compatible due to a shared phenomenological approach which denies that we can know the substance of anything or that matter has a substance at all. In other words, both entirely depend on "Ayat" (sign), appearances (phenomena) or symbols that cannot have any substance or corresponding reality as independent, material entities in the external world. It is through the elimination of material substance that human consciousness has gained its pivotal and fundamental position and placed science into its proper place
The symbolic and mental nature of science that had been divulged for the first time by the Qur'an has also been recognized by quantum physics thirteen centuries later, i.e., in the first decades of the twentieth century. Isl (a) over barm and quantum physics are compatible due to a shared phenomenological approach which denies that we can know the substance of anything or that matter has a substance at all. In other words, both entirely depend on signs ((a) over bary (a) over bart), appearances (phenomena) or symbols that cannot have any substance or corresponding reality as independent, material entities in the external world. It is through the elimination of material substance that human consciousness has gained its pivotal and fundamental position and placed science into its proper place. Although quantum physics does not depend on the unity and oneness of God, such a religious basis can easily be supplied by Islam.
Throughout the 20 th century, quantum mechanics was celebrated as the ultimate proof that modern science is leaving behind deterministic mechanical materialism and admitted that it is dealing with non-material entities; moreover, the notion that our reality takes place through being observed opens up to a subjectivist denial of objective reality.Some quantum scientists themselves claimed that the only way to account for our entire universe is to presuppose a global external observer (i.e., God).The text rejects not only this direct theological solution but also the traditional "realist" stance which secretly relies on a divine dimension (the divine status of natural laws).It proposes a reading of the ontological implications of quantum physics which opens up the way for a consequent materialism, even if, from a traditional reading, this may appear to be an odd materialism without matter.
Most interpretations of quantum theory fail to provide a fundamental, complete, self-consistent account of nature describing physical reality itself, as opposed to merely yielding predictions about results of experiments and observations. A paradigm providing a self-consistent foundation for quantum theory and a description of the reality it refers to, generalized to a worldview, is a Quantum Paradigm, where ‘paradigm' is defined as structure of experiential reality. We assert that the fundamental obstruction in the quest for a quantum paradigm is the assumption of objectivity. The subject-object distinction, drawn within experience, has within the natural sciences degenerated into a dichotomy-an absolute split into separate realms-with scientists adopting the classical paradigm where the object pole of experience ("objective reality") can be studied independently from the subject pole ("the experiencer"), with a presupposition that this procedure yields a fundamental description of nature. In fact, the subjective is often eliminated altogether as a fundamental category, and reduced to an epiphenomenon of objective processes. We claim this objectivity assumption precludes a full comprehension and a paradox-free formulation of quantum theory. By challenging this presupposition, i.e. leaving the question open, a coherent understanding of quantum nature falls naturally into place, providing appropriate foundation for quantum theory and an associated world-view. The resulting Quantum Paradigm is "realist" in the sense that it provides a description of what is actually happening: namely the arena of all happening is Mind or Consciousness-from which mind and matter, subject and object, individual and collective, and time and space co-dependently arise. The subject matter of quantum theory then becomes the fundamental mind-function of distinction ("measurement"), resulting in information and its statistical correlations. The message of quantum mechanics is surprising: the basic components of objects-the particles, electrons, quarks, etc.-cannot be thought of as ‘self-existent'. The reality that they, and hence all objects, are components of is ‘empirical reality', of experience."The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine."-James Jeans Anomalous phenomena such as ESP and psychokinesis, collective consciousness, and synchronicity that are considered impossible in the context of the classical paradigm, fit naturally in, and can in turn provide evidence for the Quantum Paradigm. Spirituality and science are shown to be complementary approaches referring to the same reality, Mind, while each discipline retains its integrity. The Quantum Paradigm can be intellectually comprehended, as well as embodied: one can live in quantum reality. A good metaphor for this is "life as a dream": with no "real" objects as distinguished from experienced objects. Experience is "empty" of self-nature in the Buddhist sense, with everything interconnected and co-dependently arising. Experiencing the world by "embodying the Quantum Paradigm" is transformative, healing, and an antidote to alienation resulting from embodying the classical paradigm. Embodying the Quantum Paradigm and living in the Oneness of all creation can help humanity-increasingly lost in the materialism and individualism reinforced by our embodiment of the classical paradigm-and restore intimate connection and harmony with Spirit, Nature and fellow humans; we need such a transformation to survive and thrive in our technological society.
During the past two or three centuries western philosophy and science have confirmed each other in their ontological attitude towards external reality. The particular opinion that physical objects have an existence completely independent of observation was established as the necessary basis for all scientific investigation. The discovery in quantum physics that the phenomena ultimately constituting the stability of the material world cannot be separated from the instruments of observation was necessarily felt disastrous to the scientific world-picture, and many philosophers and scientists, including celebrated physicists, are still trying by all means to save ontology in quantum physics. The motive power behind this activity is the belief that the objectivity of science can be maintained only if the elementary particles of matter can be objectified in the usual way. The present chapter deals with the fundamental conditions in quantum physics which entail a complete breakdown of the conceptual frame of classical mechanics
Introduction We saw in Part I that in addition to explaining consciousness there is another hard problem for the modern scientific worldview – understanding what quantum physics is telling us about reality. And if anything this one is harder. In philosophy of mind there is at least consensus enough for an orthodox position to exist (materialism), and a widespread expectation that it will be vindicated by future neuroscience. By contrast, in philosophy of physics all sides understand that quantum theory is compatible with a variety of metaphysical interpretations, and have little hope that new empirical discoveries will settle the matter. But both problems are “hard” in the sense that, despite tremendous intellectual effort over many decades, no clear progress has been made toward solving them. The basic idea of quantum consciousness theory is that bringing the two problems into contact may be the key to solving both (though I will be addressing only the mind–body problem in what follows). That this could be a novel idea attests to the fact that their philosophical discussions have evolved quite separately. While philosophers of physics have long been interested in the role of consciousness in the measurement process, they have engaged little with the mind–body problem per se; and philosophers of mind have been almost unanimous in dismissing the suggestion that consciousness has anything interesting to do with quantum physics. Social scientists might echo such skepticism, wondering how adding the problem of interpreting quantum theory to the problem of consciousness will help them . Besides piling up jargon and arcane debates, in moving to the sub-atomic level we are now even farther removed from the human world, and seemingly poised to engage in the most vulgar reductionism. Yet, naïvely one might expect the two problems to be related, for two reasons. The first is the intriguing analogies mentioned in Chapter 1 between the mental and quantum domains.
The experimental results of quantum physics were manipulated by empiricists to forward some philosophical notions, which are in conflict with common sense and religious convictions. Most seriously, the notion of observer-created reality questions the independent reality of subatomic particles and endows divine qualities on observers who presumably determine their status. Moreover, the seemingly spontaneous electronic transitions were used to shed light as to whether the universe has a stationary configuration. In this article, both notions are analysed in terms of the logical consistency of their arguments and the scientific approach they adopt. The same arguments are also examined in light of the Islamic conceptual framework pertinent to how the universe is like. The article starts by delineating the logical framework of classical physics through discussing three energy-related concepts. A more objective approach that emerges from the positions of rationalists, such as Faraday and Einstein, is proposed. It is argued that despite the peculiarities of quantum physics, drawing parallels between classical and quantum physics is possible, and following the same analytical approach in both is imperative.