Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physics World

A universal theory of matter and mind

Tushna Commissariat

Published Feb 1, 2021• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Physicist and author Paul Halpern explores intuition and other themes in his latest popular-science book, Synchronicity: the Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect.
DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/33/12/30

Related papers

From Atoms to Higgs Boson

C. Rangacharyulu, Christopher Polachic

The announcement in 2012 that the Higgs boson had been discovered was understood as a watershed moment for the Standard Model of particle physics. It was deemed a triumphant event in the reductionist quest that had begun centuries ago with the ancient Greek natural philosophers. Physicists basked in the satisfaction of explaining to the world that the ultimate cause of mass in our universe had been unveiled at CERN, Switzerland. The Standard Model of particle physics is now understood by many to have arrived at a satisfactory description of entities and interactions on the smallest physical scales: elementary quarks, leptons, and intermediary gauge bosons residing within a four-dimensional spacetime continuum. Throughout the historical journey of reductionist physics, mathematics has played an increasingly dominant role. Indeed, abstract mathematics has now become indispensable in guiding our discovery of the physical world. Elementary particles are endowed with abstract existence in accordance with their appearance in complicated equations. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, originally intended to estimate practical measurement uncertainties, now bequeaths a numerical fuzziness to the structure of reality. Particle physicists have borrowed effective mathematical tools originally invented and employed by condensed matter physicists to approximate the complex structures and dynamics of solids and liquids and bestowed on them the authority to define basic physical reality. The discovery of the Higgs boson was a result of these kinds of strategies, used by particle physicists to take the latest steps on the reductionist quest. This book offers a constructive critique of the modern orthodoxy into which all aspiring young physicists are now trained, that the ever-evolving mathematical models of modern physics are leading us toward a truer understanding of the real physical world. The authors propose that among modern physicists, physical realism has been largely replaced—in actual practice—by quasirealism, a problematic philosophical approach that interprets the statements of abstract, effective mathematical models as providing direct information about reality. History may judge that physics in the twentieth century, despite its seeming successes, involved a profound deviation from the historical reductionist voyage to fathom the mysteries of the physical universe.

•Jun 14, 2019•5 citations

Quantum theory and the relation between the conscious mind and the physical world

Euan J. Squires

Synthese•Oct 1, 1993•34 citations

Quantum humanism: the reality of the atom and the mind through a Dooyeweerdian lens

Kamaran Fathulla, Dannie Jost

While physicists pursue the search for the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the expedition to find the Higgs that ought to solidify the Standard Model, philosophers keep inquiring as to what the nature of matter and mind might be and propose various theories. At first sight, the high energy physicist or the philosopher, both human, and the elementary particle seem to have nothing in common, however we contend and argue in this paper that we are looking at different scales of what constitutes universal behaviour and use Herman Dooyeweerd's theory of Modal Aspects to bridge the particle to the mind. To other than a physicist the dual nature of the atom or the so-called elementary particles may be difficult to comprehend and certainly appears unfathomable to intuit. This is due to the fact that the dual nature of matter finds its anchoring within the theoretical and mathematical frameworks provided by quantum mechanics, the latter tends to not be easily accessible to most individual's intuition. What would the consequences be if human nature itself had a dual character? We all know that human nature is both egoistic and altruistic, however it is not often that one considers the fact that egoism is an individual behaviour, while altruism is a collective behaviour. Likewise a particle is an individual manifestation of what we call matter, while wave nature can be considered characteristic of collective behaviour of the same matter. Recent advances in experimental physics—the queen of reductionist science—aimed at solving the mysteries of the quantum world has led to a deepening of the mystery rather than easing it, dispelling the EPR paradox and pointing out a conceptional error in this now famous gedanken experiment, while lending some authority and validation to quantum mechanics. The strange features of the quantum world are founded on what Bohr dubbed complementarity, or the way a sub-particle entity can behave either as a wave or as a particle; and on Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which says that a quantum entity such as an electron does not avail itself to a deterministic exact measurement of both position and momentum simultaneously. Such postulates seem to contradict deeply held assumptions by the deterministic and materialistically oriented world of experimental physics where everything, including the atom, can be reduced to a single aspect. There are mounting calls for newer ways of understanding reality that are capable of handling these apparently strange incomprehensible phenomena revealed through the classical observation of the microscopic quantum world. There is also fundamental progress made in bouncing cosmology theories that bridge general relativity to quantum mechanics and provide some insight into the nature of the universe and its transition and pre-history through the big bang. The thrust of this paper evolves around two pillars. One, is that that the apparent logical fissure emergent in reductionist thought, coming from orthodox science and the application of the scientific method that is manifest in what we know and do not understand in quantum mechanics, can be liaised to our intellectual understanding through the perspective offered by Herman Dooyeweerd's theory of Modal Aspects. The other, is the central and special role humans have in relation to the universe. Through this approach, we will argue that the dual nature of the atom or elementary particles is, rather than being a strange phenomenon, in fact an essential characteristic of what constitutes its nature

•Jul 13, 2008•0 citations

Synchronicity, Quantum Mechanics, and Psyche

Françcois Martin, Giuliana Galli Carminati

Springer eBooks•Sep 19, 2008•9 citations

Philosophy of Physics by Tim Maudlin Science & Nature

Tim Maudlin

•Jul 22, 2012•0 citations

The New Physics And Cosmology

Abstract What happens when the Dalai Lama meets with leading physicists and a historian? This book is the carefully edited record of the fascinating discussions at a Mind and Life conference in which five leading physicists and a historian (David Finkelstein, George Greenstein, Piet Hut, Arthur Zajonc, Anton Zeilinger, and Tu Weiming) discussed with the Dalai Lama current thought in theoretical quantum physics, in the context of Buddhist philosophy. A contribution to the science-religion interface, and a useful explanation of our basic understanding of quantum reality, couched at a level that intelligent readers without a deep involvement in science can grasp. In the tradition of other popular books on resonances between modern quantum physics and Zen or Buddhist mystical traditions--notably The Dancing Wu Li Masters and The Tao of Physics, this book gives a clear and useful update of the genuine correspondences between these two rather disparate approaches to understanding the nature of reality.

•Mar 25, 2004•16 citations
The announcement in 2012 that the Higgs boson had been discovered was understood as a watershed moment for the Standard Model of particle physics. It was deemed a triumphant event in the reductionist quest that had begun centuries ago with the ancient Greek natural philosophers. Physicists basked in the satisfaction of explaining to the world that the ultimate cause of mass in our universe had been unveiled at CERN, Switzerland. The Standard Model of particle physics is now understood by many to have arrived at a satisfactory description of entities and interactions on the smallest physical scales: elementary quarks, leptons, and intermediary gauge bosons residing within a four-dimensional spacetime continuum. Throughout the historical journey of reductionist physics, mathematics has played an increasingly dominant role. Indeed, abstract mathematics has now become indispensable in guiding our discovery of the physical world. Elementary particles are endowed with abstract existence in accordance with their appearance in complicated equations. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, originally intended to estimate practical measurement uncertainties, now bequeaths a numerical fuzziness to the structure of reality. Particle physicists have borrowed effective mathematical tools originally invented and employed by condensed matter physicists to approximate the complex structures and dynamics of solids and liquids and bestowed on them the authority to define basic physical reality. The discovery of the Higgs boson was a result of these kinds of strategies, used by particle physicists to take the latest steps on the reductionist quest. This book offers a constructive critique of the modern orthodoxy into which all aspiring young physicists are now trained, that the ever-evolving mathematical models of modern physics are leading us toward a truer understanding of the real physical world. The authors propose that among modern physicists, physical realism has been largely replaced—in actual practice—by quasirealism, a problematic philosophical approach that interprets the statements of abstract, effective mathematical models as providing direct information about reality. History may judge that physics in the twentieth century, despite its seeming successes, involved a profound deviation from the historical reductionist voyage to fathom the mysteries of the physical universe.
While physicists pursue the search for the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) and the expedition to find the Higgs that ought to solidify the Standard Model, philosophers keep inquiring as to what the nature of matter and mind might be and propose various theories. At first sight, the high energy physicist or the philosopher, both human, and the elementary particle seem to have nothing in common, however we contend and argue in this paper that we are looking at different scales of what constitutes universal behaviour and use Herman Dooyeweerd's theory of Modal Aspects to bridge the particle to the mind. To other than a physicist the dual nature of the atom or the so-called elementary particles may be difficult to comprehend and certainly appears unfathomable to intuit. This is due to the fact that the dual nature of matter finds its anchoring within the theoretical and mathematical frameworks provided by quantum mechanics, the latter tends to not be easily accessible to most individual's intuition. What would the consequences be if human nature itself had a dual character? We all know that human nature is both egoistic and altruistic, however it is not often that one considers the fact that egoism is an individual behaviour, while altruism is a collective behaviour. Likewise a particle is an individual manifestation of what we call matter, while wave nature can be considered characteristic of collective behaviour of the same matter. Recent advances in experimental physics—the queen of reductionist science—aimed at solving the mysteries of the quantum world has led to a deepening of the mystery rather than easing it, dispelling the EPR paradox and pointing out a conceptional error in this now famous gedanken experiment, while lending some authority and validation to quantum mechanics. The strange features of the quantum world are founded on what Bohr dubbed complementarity, or the way a sub-particle entity can behave either as a wave or as a particle; and on Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which says that a quantum entity such as an electron does not avail itself to a deterministic exact measurement of both position and momentum simultaneously. Such postulates seem to contradict deeply held assumptions by the deterministic and materialistically oriented world of experimental physics where everything, including the atom, can be reduced to a single aspect. There are mounting calls for newer ways of understanding reality that are capable of handling these apparently strange incomprehensible phenomena revealed through the classical observation of the microscopic quantum world. There is also fundamental progress made in bouncing cosmology theories that bridge general relativity to quantum mechanics and provide some insight into the nature of the universe and its transition and pre-history through the big bang. The thrust of this paper evolves around two pillars. One, is that that the apparent logical fissure emergent in reductionist thought, coming from orthodox science and the application of the scientific method that is manifest in what we know and do not understand in quantum mechanics, can be liaised to our intellectual understanding through the perspective offered by Herman Dooyeweerd's theory of Modal Aspects. The other, is the central and special role humans have in relation to the universe. Through this approach, we will argue that the dual nature of the atom or elementary particles is, rather than being a strange phenomenon, in fact an essential characteristic of what constitutes its nature
Abstract What happens when the Dalai Lama meets with leading physicists and a historian? This book is the carefully edited record of the fascinating discussions at a Mind and Life conference in which five leading physicists and a historian (David Finkelstein, George Greenstein, Piet Hut, Arthur Zajonc, Anton Zeilinger, and Tu Weiming) discussed with the Dalai Lama current thought in theoretical quantum physics, in the context of Buddhist philosophy. A contribution to the science-religion interface, and a useful explanation of our basic understanding of quantum reality, couched at a level that intelligent readers without a deep involvement in science can grasp. In the tradition of other popular books on resonances between modern quantum physics and Zen or Buddhist mystical traditions--notably The Dancing Wu Li Masters and The Tao of Physics, this book gives a clear and useful update of the genuine correspondences between these two rather disparate approaches to understanding the nature of reality.