Is reality real?

Jan Westerhoff

Joshua D. Howgego

Aleksandar Perisic

Graham P. Smetham

As we shall illustrate in this paper, it appears that quantum ‘particles’ might be thought to have aspects of both reality and unreality, and this is a paradoxical viewpoint which leads us in the direction of some dramatic claims about the nature of reality made by Buddhist metaphysicians such as Dharmakirti and Nagarjuna, claims which move towards providing an answer to Penrose’s quandary: “can real objects be constructed from unreal constituents?” According to Nagarjuna: “everything is real and not real, both real and not real, neither real nor not real which is the Lord Buddha’s teaching”. The resolution of the apparent paradox will become clear as we explore the relationship between the implications of quantum theory and the Buddhist doctrine of the ‘two truths’, or ‘two realities’, in detail. In fact we will discover that an appreciation of the Buddhist perspective throws significant light onto quantum conundrums. We shall discover that Dharmakirti’s philosophical analysis, alongside other Buddhist insights, which lead to the ‘ultimate’ realm of ‘empty’ Mindnature, prefigures modern quantum discoveries, particularly the notion of an ‘Epiontic Universe’ which derives from the ‘quantum Darwinism’ perspective suggested by Wojciech H. Zurek.

Alfred W. Hubler, Vadas Gintautas

ecently researchers at the University of Illinois coupled a real pendulum to its virtual counterpart.They observed that the two pendulums suddenly start to move in synchrony if their lengths are sufficiently close [1].In this synchronized state, the boundary between the real system and the virtual system is blurred, that is, the pendulums are in a mixed reality state.An instantaneous, bidirectional coupling is a prerequisite for mixed reality states.In the experimental setup, a motor moves the pivot point of the real pendulum slightly whenever the virtual pendulum moves, and vice versa.This requires a fast probe, a fast motor controller, and a fast computer that can run the virtual pendulum in real time and accomplish the communication between the probe and the motor controller.When a real system is coupled to its virtual counterpart with a small, bidirectional, instantaneous coupling, the coupled system is an interreality system.A phase transition separates the two states of an interreality system: a dual reality state and a mixed reality state.In a mixed reality state, (i) the motion of the real system and the motion of the virtual system are in step and synchronized; (ii) the energy of the entire system is conserved; (iii) the amplitude of the motion increases to a large limiting amplitude; (iv) the real system strengthens the motion of the virtual system and vice versa; and thus (v) the interreality system can generate a large output signal.In a dual reality state, (i) the motion of the real system and the motion of the virtual system are out of step and not synchronized; (ii) if the energy loss due to friction is negligible, the energy of the real system and the virtual system are conserved separately; (iii) the amplitude of the motion decreases; (iv) the real system does not strengthen the motion of the virtual system and vice versa; and (v) the interreality system cannot generate a large output signal (see Figure 1).Synchronization between two real systems has been studied extensively in the past [2].For example, in a laser the dynamics of the electrons of different molecules can synchronize and thus produce a laser pulse of high intensity.Synchronization between real systems can be exploited for desirable effects.Lasers are used in CD players, laser pointers, and as energy efficient light sources.However, synchronization can also lead to destruction and catastrophes.At the opening of the Millennium Bridge in London to pedestrian traffic, the bridge started to sway sideways, which in turn caused the pedestrians to walk in step with the motion of In a mixed reality state, the motion of the real system and the motion of the virtual system are in step.