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CRC Press eBooks

Personal Conclusions

Jonathan Allday

Published Mar 3, 2009• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

One of the main aims of this book has been to give you a sound understanding of quantum theory and its implications for our view of the world. If you have followed the technicalities through to the end, then you will now have an appreciation not far short of a rst-or second-year undergraduate. From a philosophical point of view, you will be well ahead as undergraduate courses tend to dwell on the mathematics, rather than the meaning.

DOI
10.1201/9781584887041-39

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One of the main aims of this book has been to give you a sound understanding of quantum theory and its implications for our view of the world. If you have followed the technicalities through to the end, then you will now have an appreciation not far short of a rst-or second-year undergraduate. From a philosophical point of view, you will be well ahead as undergraduate courses tend to dwell on the mathematics, rather than the meaning.
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The content of the present book is the result of a work developed over a period of more than fifteen years, to which many students and collaborators, as well as renowned philosophers and physicists, have contributed in various aspects, as the references testify. The aim of this work has been to present the MHI in a systematic and organic way, incorporating recent discussions and making explicit its underlying motivations. I have tried to show that the proposal does not address isolated interpretative topics, but provides a broad, articulated, and consistent view to make sense of the quantum world. Throughout the chapters, I have argued in favor of the reasonableness and fruitfulness of the proposal. Of course, the reasons put forward are not directly empirical, but this does not make them any less sound. The main arguments presented in the text can be summarized in the following points: Three more general aspects can be added to these advantages:
Introduction Chapter 1 dealt with one of the deepest mysteries in modern science: how to explain consciousness. This Part deals with another mystery: how to make sense of quantum mechanics. Both involve a problem of reconciliation with the classical worldview, which is one hint that the two mysteries might be related. A second is that, unlike classical physics, which makes no reference to or allowance for consciousness, quantum theory raises the issue of consciousness and its relationship to the physical world in a very direct way. These hints do not necessarily mean there is a connection between the two mysteries, but by the end of this Part I hope to have shown why it would be natural to look for one. My more immediate aim here is to give the social scientific reader an introductory understanding of the experimental findings of quantum theory, its key concepts, and the debates about its interpretation. The discussion assumes no prior knowledge of quantum physics and makes no use of mathematics. Quantum theory without equations might seem like an oxymoron, and certainly reading this Part will not enable anyone to use quantum theory. But to a perhaps surprising degree it is possible to understand quantum theory without being able to use it. Its findings can be communicated in ordinary language, and the same goes for its main concepts and interpretive debates. One consequence of this has been the emergence of a virtual cottage industry of books on quantum theory for a lay audience. Most are written by physicists, and many are quite good. However, it is not just popular treatments that do without equations: much of the professional philosophical literature does as well. (I draw on both kinds of literature below.) Philosophers of physics are trained to understand the math, of course, which is necessary for a full appreciation of the issues.