14th April 2010, 6:23 AM
I read a book by a British scientist named Vlatko Verdal discussing reality as it may be defined by quantum physics. It was pretty fascinating.
The gist, as I understood it, is that classical physics would demand determinism because Newton's idea of physics allows no room for truly random occurrences in the universe. Thus, every single event since the very beginning of time is directly and indirectly determined by all other events that have ever taken place since the beginning of time. Therefore, there is absolutely no place for the concept of free will, because anything we think is going to be pre-determined by an existing set of information. If this is the case, then there is a truly objective reality because every single idea and concept in the universe can eventually be boiled down to binary information, given enough time and energy to pursue each to its most basic elements. Everything is either true or false, and everything above it is based upon that true/false statement.
However, quantum mechanics allow for something to be true and false at the same time. An example offered is how a photon can be fired into a series of mirrors which are designed so that the photon will treat the surface as either reflective or transparent in theory, yet in practice, it is possible for the same photon to reflect and pass through simultaneously, and it is completely impossible to predict ahead of time if it will do one, the other, or both. Thus, there is true randomness in the universe, and if there is true randomness, then reality is still predetermined on the macro level, but down on the most basic levels, it is being influenced subtly by random events which have the ability to snowball as they influence factors up from microscopic to macroscopic.
Dr. Vedral goes on to postulate that the only concept which remains entirely constant between classical and quantum physics is information, and that information is a wholly physical concept which is the most fundamental force in the entire universe. Accounting for both classes of physics, it is conceivable that absolutely everything in existence can be quantified as data, and that the universe itself may be an enormous, all-encompassing quantum computer generating a program we call 'reality', which because of random possibilities, can never be totally objective.
The gist, as I understood it, is that classical physics would demand determinism because Newton's idea of physics allows no room for truly random occurrences in the universe. Thus, every single event since the very beginning of time is directly and indirectly determined by all other events that have ever taken place since the beginning of time. Therefore, there is absolutely no place for the concept of free will, because anything we think is going to be pre-determined by an existing set of information. If this is the case, then there is a truly objective reality because every single idea and concept in the universe can eventually be boiled down to binary information, given enough time and energy to pursue each to its most basic elements. Everything is either true or false, and everything above it is based upon that true/false statement.
However, quantum mechanics allow for something to be true and false at the same time. An example offered is how a photon can be fired into a series of mirrors which are designed so that the photon will treat the surface as either reflective or transparent in theory, yet in practice, it is possible for the same photon to reflect and pass through simultaneously, and it is completely impossible to predict ahead of time if it will do one, the other, or both. Thus, there is true randomness in the universe, and if there is true randomness, then reality is still predetermined on the macro level, but down on the most basic levels, it is being influenced subtly by random events which have the ability to snowball as they influence factors up from microscopic to macroscopic.
Dr. Vedral goes on to postulate that the only concept which remains entirely constant between classical and quantum physics is information, and that information is a wholly physical concept which is the most fundamental force in the entire universe. Accounting for both classes of physics, it is conceivable that absolutely everything in existence can be quantified as data, and that the universe itself may be an enormous, all-encompassing quantum computer generating a program we call 'reality', which because of random possibilities, can never be totally objective.
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