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Dialogo

Quantum mechanics as a theory that is consistent with the existence of God

Inge Svein Helland

Published Nov 27, 2023• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

I sketch the foundation of quantum mechanics as it is presented in various books and articles. Then a new approach to quantum foundation is described, a foundation that relies on 4 simple postulates related to the mind of an observer or to the joint minds of a group of communicating observers. One of these postulates may appear to be strong, but it turns out to be more natural when it is placed in a religious setting. This assumes the existence of an omnipotent God. These arguments are further discussed, and they are shown also to give a foundation of Quantum Decision Theory.

DOI
10.51917/dialogo.2023.10.1.9

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I sketch the foundation of quantum mechanics as it is presented in various books and articles. Then a new approach to quantum foundation is described, a foundation that relies on 4 simple postulates related to the mind of an observer or to the joint minds of a group of communicating observers. One of these postulates may appear to be strong, but it turns out to be more natural when it is placed in a religious setting. This assumes the existence of an omnipotent God. These arguments are further discussed, and they are shown also to give a foundation of Quantum Decision Theory.
A recent approach towards the foundation of quantum mechanics is described in some detail. This requires some mathematics, but it is claimed that this approach is easier to understand than the usual formal quantum foundation. Several consequences of the theory are described, consequences that for example also lead to a simpler and deeper understanding of Quantum Decision Theory, which has bearings both on our daily decisions and on the decisions made by political leaders. Another consequence is in the form of arguments for the existence of God, a God that is perfectly rational and has infinite knowledge. To understand these consequences, it is not necessary to understand all the mathematics, but simply to appreciate the fact that the theory is derived from 6 postulates, postulates that can be interpreted in several different directions. Two of these postulates, when interpreted in a very general setting, form the basis for my theological arguments. Finally, it is a hope that by reading this article, and then further discussing the mentioned consequences with other people, one may contribute to a better understanding between groups of people, groups that partly may have their basis in different cultures. These cultures may be of many kinds, also based upon different scientific communities. Or upon different religious groups.
On several levels, there is now a debate whether the concept of God can be made compatible with modern science. In an attempt to elucidate this debate, I give an account of my own experiences from writing a book on the foundation of quantum mechanics. In my opinion, one can give two independent arguments for the existence of God by taking as departure an epistemic (knowledge-based) interpretation of quantum theory. However, I also argue that any religious belief should be the result of an existential choice governed by each person’s own context (history and culture). In particular, I give my account of Christianity as a religion connected to our western culture, how one as a scientist can relate to the relevant dogmas.
On several levels there is now a debate whether or not the concept of God can be made compatible with modern science. In an attempt to elucidate this debate, I give an account of my own experiences from writing a book on the foundation of quantum mechanics. It turns out that one can give two independent arguments for the existence of God by taking as departure an epistemic (knowledge-based) interpretation of quantum theory. Nevertheless I argue that any religious belief should be the result of an existential choice governed by each individual’s own context (history, personality, culture). My own faith is that God is greater than Christianity, and that Christianity is greater than the dogmas claimed by the Church.
Abstract This article may be seen as a summary and a final discussion of the work that the author has done in recent years on the foundation of quantum theory. It is shown that quantum mechanics as a model follows under certain specific conditions from a quite different, much simpler model. This model is connected to the mind of an observer, or to the joint minds of a group of communicating observers. The model is based upon conceptual variables, and an important aspect is that an observer (a group of observers) must decide on which variable to measure. The model is then linked more generally to a theory of decisions. The results are discussed from several angles.
The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been discussed since this theme first was brought up by Einstein and Bohr. This article describes a proposal for a new foundation of quantum theory, partly drawing upon ideas from statistical inference theory. The approach can be said to have an intuitive basis: The quantum states of a physical system are under certain conditions in one-to-one correspondence with the following: 1. Focus on a concrete question to nature and then 2. Give a definite answer to this question. This foundation implies an epistemic interpretation, depending upon the observer, but the objective world is restored when all observers agree on their observations on some variables. The article contains a survey of parts of the authors books on epistemic processes, which give more details about the theory. At the same time, the article extends some of the discussion in the books, and at places makes it more precise.
In this article, the weakest possible theorem giving a foundation behind the Hilbert space formalism of quantum theory is stated. The necessary postulates are formulated, and the mathematics is spelled out in detail. It is argued that, from this approach, a general epistemic interpretation of quantum mechanics is natural. Some applications to the Bell experiment and to decision theory are briefly discussed. The article represents the conclusion of a series of articles and books on quantum foundations.