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"Experiment" "Proves" "Non-Realism"

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Qwertz

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To quote my quantum physics textbook:

"Thus determinism is a dehumanizing philosophy. It describes a universe that is infinitely predictable, holding few surprises. All can be known; nothing is unexpected. Determinism is boring. It is also wrong."

--Understanding Quantum Physics by Michael A. Morrison (pg. 6).

If that doesn't shake you to the bone, I dont know what will.

The "boring" part is opinion. The "wrong" part is a matter of experimental fact. A scientist should keep side evaluations out of his science. Only predictions and experiments matter. Strict determinism is incompatible with quantum physics which is known to be accurate from experiment.

Bob Kolker

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Of course determinism is wrong--but that refers to the idea that everything that happens in the world has been pre-determined (by God, by The Spacetime Continuum, or by something similar). What the quantum mystics mean by "determinism" being wrong, though, is that things do not act according to their nature--in other words, that the Law of Identity is wrong. They aren't bold enough to say "A is not A"--that would give their game away. So they have to resort to roundabout ways of denying identity, which the above is a fine specimen of.

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Of course determinism is wrong--but that refers to the idea that everything that happens in the world has been pre-determined (by God, by The Spacetime Continuum, or by something similar). What the quantum mystics mean by "determinism" being wrong, though, is that things do not act according to their nature--in other words, that the Law of Identity is wrong. They aren't bold enough to say "A is not A"--that would give their game away. So they have to resort to roundabout ways of denying identity, which the above is a fine specimen of.

The underlying theory of quantum physics (based on Hilbert Space) is consistent. There is no denial of identity. It is very simple. The theory predicts X under given circumstances and so far X is the result to twelve decimal places when tested experimentally. How is this a denial of identity? An inconsistent or incoherent theory cannot keep giving results of this accuracy for over 80 years if it is totally nonsensical.

Bob Kolker

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The theory predicts X under given circumstances

The theory predicts that X cannot be predicted. Ever. Because X is not X but some kind of indeterminate "probabilistic" quantity that randomly picks a value when it reaches our consciousness.

Even Immanuel Kant's fantasy world of mind-created phenomena does not include this kind of indeterminacy. But I'm sure the master would be proud of his pupils: the basic premise (the mind creating the reality it observes) is clearly the same, and so is the objective of eradicating the primacy of existence and the Law of Identity from men's minds. Only Kant found it necessary to maintain the possibility of a complete and meaningful physics in his world of phenomena--since not doing so would have discredited his theory--while his contemporary soulmates, thanks ultimately to Kant's influence, face no such constraint.

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