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There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding quantum mechanics. This pseudoscientific nonsense is propagated by snake oil salesmen just trying to capitalize on people's desire to think they have some type of control in their lives. I don't think these ideas have any place in an atheist world view.

First, a little background for those who aren't aware of the insanity that is the quantum realm, the grandfather of all quantum experiments: the double-slit experiment.
The setup is this: an electron or photon source shoots particles through a barrier with two narrow slits in it. Across from the source is a wall that reacts to interaction.
When the experiment is run, an interference pattern emerges, indicating that photons or electrons are waves. If two lines emerged then the particles would be corpuscular (point like), similar to what would happen if you did this experiment with marbles.
Now the first mind boggling part. The scientists running the experiment figured that the particles were bouncing off each other, so they lowered the voltage on the gun to only shoot 1 electron or photon at a time. An interference pattern emerges again, indicating they are waves.
Now the crazy part. The next step is the "which way" experiment. This time detectors are set on the slits to determine which hole the photons or electrons went through, by detecting them via photo-electric interaction. Instead of getting the interference pattern, a two-band pattern emerges! This result has confounded countless people since it's discovery. It seems to indicate that just by taking measurement on the path changed the state of particles.

What it seems to be is not necessarily the case.

With this much confusing information all flavors of malicious actors come out of the wood work after your hard-earned cash. The popular idea they draw you in on reads something like this: "Scientists now confirm that conscience changes reality- read about it in my book, I'm a philosopher"

The problem with this theory is this- the results are exactly the same if nobody is present to witness the experiment, therefore it isn't the fact that people are watching the experiment that changes the system, or in other words a tree that falls in an empty forest does make a noise.

Think about it like this: If you are in a dark room and someone throws a ball in your direction, you can't know where it is unless it hits you. After it hits you, it becomes impossible to know how fast it was moving because just by it hitting you its' speed is changed. So just by knowing which slit the particle went through you fundamentally change its state, causing the variation in the experiment.

No mysticism, no magic, just a lot of confusing facts about the fundamental nature of reality to make your head spin.

"If anybody says he can think about quantum physics without getting giddy, that only shows he has not understood the first thing about them.” ~Niels Bohr

Happy_Killbot 7 Apr 19
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15 comments

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0

Anything quantum seems like a bunch of woo to me. I avoid it until more is known and demonstrated.

0

I tend to agree but woo peddlers have the same options available to us all, formulate a hypothesis and design experiments that can confirm their predictions. Personally I don't believe in free will so natural events would determine consciousness, not the reverse. So like phlogiston, the divine spark of life, and the immortal soul, there is no vital principle of consciousness. Once again we'll be finding that the cosmos does not revolve around us.

1

Woo peddlers long ago discovered that sprinkling the word "quantum" into their deepities provides a pseudoscientific aura of credibility. They are just trading in the often weird and counterintuitive implications, plus often the complexity makes it hard to even check out claims. If you're pushing mystery, what better way to make it seem scientific than to associate it with scientific mystery (that last word could be in or out of scare quotes at times).

The same is true of Creationists.

They deny science, but they try to co opt it in their effort to give their religious beliefs legitimacy. And, they do this despite the fact that they supposedly believe that they are saved by faith.

If this is so, they are saved by faith, why do they so desperately want to try to "prove" that what they believe is scientific fact?

I think it is the rational side of their brains screaming out at them; but, because they are blinded by their religion, they are satisfied/placated with the pseudoscience that does nothing but reaffirm their beliefs.

3

The realities of quantum physics/mechanics are so amazing in reality it's a shame the purveyors of woo have used them to their own ends.

3

Anybody who uses the word "quantum" should be forced to read this.
PS, the whole concept of "Quantum Physics for Dummies" makes me giggle.

0

"What seems to be is not necessarily the case" Would that assertion include Werner Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle?

1

Very much agree. QM has become the last best hope of religionists now that science has left religion in the dust; they hang on to this notion that QM and QT will somehow vindicate them. Pathetic. They think that maybe they'll see God at the quantum level and then proclaim they were "right" all along. The New Age peddlers got into it first. Now it has seeped into the periphery of mainstream religions. I've had religionists try it on with me, and I tell them to read real scientists with real Ph.ds. I won't have it. The attempted supernaturalizing of these fields of science should be called out vigourously. My own brother (who is religious) attempted to peddle this crap in a speech/sermon at our mother's funeral recently. I was not pleased.

The phrase quantum mechanics does not belong at a funeral unless the desceased was a physicist. The supernatural always sits right at the edge of our understanding, right now that edge is the quantum world.

@Happy_Killbot it was a ham fisted attempt to talk about transfer of energy, and transfer of soul after death, and how quantum science is revealing these mysteries. I stood there, looked up and down, and shook my head, but not enough to draw attention.

0

I guess coming from the North Pole it must be very cold there for you and perhaps there are things that you have been "stuck" on. I mean with all that cold weather, it would be easy to just wish that you were in Hawaii. Quantum mechanics is confusing so I can see your dilemma, not only do you have to put up with the cold but all this ever so confusing thinking. Just imagine you are on holidays in a very warm place, in a hammock with one of those nice drink with an umbrella in it and a cherry. That should make you happier. And no need to worry about if others believe it or even think about it.

I prefer it here. The colder temperature means I can run my circuits at higher efficiency, meaning I can simulate Hawaii Vacations anytime I please.

@Happy_Killbot Oh, you dreamer in that fridge.

2

Someone,who shall be nameless 😉, wrote on this site yesterday that Schrodinger's cat has had kittens.

So there. As we say in Scotland "That's put your gas at a peep"

It was actually the fact that I couldn't find any information on the thought experiment described in that book that lead me to write this post. If it isn't something that academia talks about, it's most likely BS.

P.S. also a certain unnamed someone may have blocked my access to a certain post

@Happy_Killbot Possibly the same person. She posted a ludicrous tale about having the ability to make dice land on a certain number using mind control and she also can read minds. All those abilities from an early age and this could all be explained by quantum physics. Hence the Shrodinger's kittens. All I did was suggest she gets in touch with James Rani who is offering $1 million for anyone who can prove that they have paranormal abilities and she blocked me. This money has been on offer for years and no one has claimed it.

@Moravian That's the one. My comments to here were mostly about the misuse of science to explain things it has nothing to do with.

@Happy_Killbot That's a relief then. I am not alone 🙂

4

Deepak Chopra immediately came to mind with his woo.

gearl Level 8 Apr 20, 2019

Ab-so-lu-t-ely! Saw a video of him peddling this crap at a seminar at Caltech. He got told he was full of woo. He didnt like it.

There’s a whole crowd of What The Bleep Do We Know idiots.

@Matias That just made my day!

3

In my opinion, if you’re a theist and have to go towards quantum mechanics for your apologetics, then you’ve already lost.

3

Yes, there has been a lot of woo propagated about this. It is not the witnessing itself, per se, but the interaction that alters the quantum state. (BTW, it is consciousness, not "conscience". Guilt has nothing to do with it, either) 🙂

I think witnessing is considered to be the same as interaction in quantum mechanics – at least in terms of perceiving an overview of the situation. But how can seeing something affect the nature of a thing? I think the answer might lie in a concept that will be explored in Iain McGilchrist's new book which will deal with the idea of matter being no more than a manifestation of process. If matter is a manifestation of process, why would seeing it change its nature? Perhaps because it would place us outside ‘real’ life, having thoughts we would usually only think a god might have. We know the idea of Schrodinger’s cat that was alive and also dead depending on whether we viewed the reality of the cat’s situation as snap-shot or video. Snap-shot would place the cat in specific circumstances at specific times but the video would tell the whole story.

@brentan there is some merit to this but it is a little convoluted. In order to see something, light had to hit it, changing its state as described above. What that implies is that what you see is the only thing that doesn't exist.

@brentan That's because in quantum physics it is impossible to witness/observe without interaction occurring at the quantum level. There is no way for such interaction NOT to affect the quantum state of a particle. It is perfectly natural and expected, though not at the time it was first discovered decades ago. But, that is confusing to the uninitiated mind which leads to speculative and supernatural woo. There is no reason to resort to "having thoughts we would usually only think a god might have."

@Heraclitus There is good reason to speak that way because for centuries God was the only being thought to exist outside of creation.

@brentan Well, but that was then. This is now.
But, if you are making a religious/supernatural argument for this phenomenon, that is different.

@Heraclitus No, I'm not making a religious argument. I'm just using words that I think best express the idea I want to convey.

@brentan Well, since I don't know what kind of thoughts that only a god might have, you have lost me. In fact, I don't know how anyone could know what kind of thoughts only a god might have, having never had them. In you could explain it in more secular terms I'd appreciate it.

The notion of thoughts a god might have comes from my years as a Christian studying scripture to try to understand the way God might think and copy him. In this context, I wanted to get across the old idea of the divine nature that I think comes closest to describe the ability to experience the' past, present, future, here, there and everywhere' aspect of quantum mechanics. I get the feeling that you don't want me to express myself in terms of my own life experience because it isn't secular enough to suit your way of thinking. We have to live and let live and allow people to express themselves on their own terms and not our own.

@brentan Nope, not as all. Used to be a Christian myself. Just don't understand what you meant, that's all. Can't read minds. Still don't really understand how that relates to quantum mechanics and the double-slit experiment. But if you are not comfortable explaining what you mean, that's fine.

@Heraclitus I did explain it. You didn't get it. No big deal in that but telling me how to speak, that's not on!

@brentan False accusation. Just because somewhat doesn't understand your meaning doesn't mean they are telling you how to speak. I am a naturally curious person and would like to understand more. That is not an insult. That is a complement.

@Heraclitus Maybe it would be enough if I could convince people that I am not 'Jesus-smuggling' when I bring my religious past to bear on a topic.

Sorry for being testy!

@brentan No problem. I do the same thing sometimes. I was once accused of being a "religiot" just because I corrected an atheist's misconception of Christianity and scripture.

BTW, you got me curious about Iain McGilchrist.

1

If they can vastly increase the power of a computer's processor because they engage all the positions of the electron in relation to the neutron, we'll have to accept something real is going on there.

4

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. By measuring the speed, the simple interaction between the particle and the equipment changes its course and its location. To locate its location, the interaction with the equipment alters its speed and is unmeasurable.

@johnprytz so what? The original post talk about how the experimental equipment demonstrated the duality of light. The uncertainty only applies to mankind's attempt to measure and understand. The particle could care less about our uncertainty. But thats a complete nonsequiter and irrelevant.

@johnprytz Thanks for the spell check. Typing on my phone I occasionally miss those errors until I revisit them. Glad you had something positive to contribute.

5

I know enough about that stuff to know I have NO business fucking with any of it.
Also know enough not to buy into most of what many people are trying to sell.

Sadly it's often the people who know a little bit who get suckered into this stuff because, damn, is there ever a lot going on there. It's easy to start filling in your own gaps or letting other people go it for you.

Shoulda scrolled to the bottom and read your reply first. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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