The Experiential Basis of Wave-Particle Duality and The Uncertainty Principle
Steven E. Kaufman
In this article, physical reality as a whole is defined, thereby revealing the actual nature of physical reality to be that of a boundary created by a relation, as that boundary is apprehended from one side of the relation that brings it into existence. The reason we can’t pin down a specific physical reality, i.e., completely define any physical reality, is because in doing so we are trying to pin down what is effectively a miniature rainbow, trying to pin down that which is actually only the product of a relation, trying to pin down something that, in the final analysis, is not at all or in any way what is actually there, but only seems to be what is actually there. However, while we cannot ever pin down any specific physical reality for the reasons mentioned above, we can pin down the nature of physical reality as a whole. We cannot get to the end of a rainbow, because rainbows only appear to have an end. However, we can understand the true nature of the rainbow and understand how it is created and why it appears as it does. In the same way, although we cannot pin down any specific physical reality, we can understand the nature of physical reality as a whole, how physical reality is created and why physical reality appears as it does, if we are able to understand what it is that the phenomena of wave-particle duality and uncertainty are actually telling us about the nature of physical reality.
Prespacetime journal•Jan 1, 2011•2 citations