26
votes
Has quantum mechanics destroyed the fundaments of logical reasoning?
The idea that quantum mechanics fundamentally challenges the rules of logic was popular for a while, but has fallen out of favor in recent years.
While intuitively it might seem that quantum ...
- 26.8k
20
votes
What is unique about the quantum state of superposition?
I recently answered a similar question on physics.SE here. What is special about the probabilities of quantum mechanics is that the randomness cannot be explained by a theory of nature that is both ...
- 408
16
votes
"God doesn't play with dice": does QM's randomness really contradict religion?
Chance is the pseudonym of God when he did not want to sign.
- Théophile Gautier
came to my mind. It is a view that you can sometimes encounter in the Catholic Thinking. Quantum randomness would ...
- 160
13
votes
Has quantum mechanics destroyed the fundaments of logical reasoning?
Let me clarify a confusion first. Logic applies to sentences, not to objects, so object's ability to be in two places at once is not a contradiction, unless definition of "object" rules out such a ...
- 42k
9
votes
Accepted
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
The OP quote draws a distinction between determinism ("hard determinism"), and causal completeness ("less absolute determinism"). The former means that the current physical state ...
- 42k
9
votes
"God doesn't play with dice": does QM's randomness really contradict religion?
Einstein was a proponent of hidden-variable theory. The gist is that, if something appears random, then it's really just chaotically dependent upon information we don't have.
So, God (the universe) ...
- 1,930
9
votes
Accepted
Philosophical implications of entangled states (and the 2022 physics nobel prize)
In the high-level summary and explanation I've read/watched… this means or confirms that everything… is probabilistic.
This is wrong. Bell's Theorem and the experiments that won this years Nobel ...
- 804
8
votes
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
First a point of clarification, from what you are describing, you are talking about libertarian freewill, not compatibilist freewill. More on that later.
At the heart of your question is a confusion ...
- 26.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Is the delayed choice quantum eraser a refutation of principle of causality? How does contemporary philosophy make sense of it?
One of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics is the principle of superposition. Its most simple application reads: If two paths exist to move from state A to state B, then the transition ...
- 20.7k
7
votes
Does ones interpretation of quantum mechanics alter one's moral philosophy?
Your question relies too much on there being only two worlds - one where the 1% event happened, and one where it didn't. I think the more reasonable many-worlds interpretation is that out of the ...
- 2,062
5
votes
Has quantum mechanics destroyed the fundaments of logical reasoning?
Logic is an abstract concept which does not necessarily directly tie to reality. We like to argue that there is at least a very solid indirect relationship, in that logic does a good job of ...
- 17.3k
5
votes
Is the delayed choice quantum eraser a refutation of principle of causality? How does contemporary philosophy make sense of it?
Delayed choices undermines past to future causality only if one assumes that the initial state of a system must directly determine measurement results, and that wave functions represent our ignorance ...
- 5,812
5
votes
What is the most commonsense interpretation of QM for the layman?
This question presumes not only the existence of common sense, but that two individual's common sense about a very peculiar topic might somehow coincide.
As Einstein categorized it, there were four ...
- 17.3k
5
votes
How can we take the ontologies of our best physical theories seriously?
For a rather technical book in philosophy of quantum mechanics and QFT you can read Laura Ruetsche "interpreting quantum theories".
You will also find numerous articles there (I link to subject ...
- 5,812
5
votes
Plato meets Quantum Mechanics
The book "Große Physiker" by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker deals with this question in the chapter "Platon" pp. 48-72 (which discusses the Timaios dialog), but already the preceding chapter "...
- 3,889
5
votes
What is unique about the quantum state of superposition?
The "classical" form of quantum mechanics (no hidden variables or "pilot waves") maintains that a state exists as a superposition of all possibilities until the act of measuring ...
- 6,470
5
votes
What is unique about the quantum state of superposition?
The key characteristic of a quantum superposition is that all superposed states are equally real (or potentially real) at the physical level. This is quite different from a classical probability, ...
- 2,507
4
votes
Many-worlds interpretation of QM and modal realism
What today is named many-world interpretation of quantum mechanics goes back to Everett's doctoral thesis 'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics, Reviews of Modern Physics. Vol. 29, 1957, p....
- 20.7k
4
votes
How does Quantum Mechanics affect the modern account of free will and determinism?
The way quantum mechanics is commonly discussed makes this a very confusing issue. I will discuss this problem first and then move on to free will. People like to say there are multiple ...
- 7,227
4
votes
Has quantum mechanics destroyed the fundaments of logical reasoning?
Einstein's theory of relativity shattered physicists' conception of the universe. It was no longer as simple as F=ma or any of the other further derivations made.
Yet, a hundred years later, ...
- 241
4
votes
Accepted
How can we take the ontologies of our best physical theories seriously?
On philosophy of renormalization specifically the canonical reference is Cao-Schweber's Conceptual Foundations and the Philosophical Aspects of Renormalization Theory, see also Butterfield's Reduction,...
- 42k
4
votes
Is the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics philosophically untenable?
The numbered objections given on your question don't take account of the actual literature on quantum mechanics without collapse.
In the MWI systems exist in different versions that can interact ...
- 7,227
4
votes
Computer vs brain in many-worlds interpretation of QM
But classical computers rely on quantum processes too, which underlie the function of semiconductors. You can't just say 'wooo quantum things are weird the brain is weird, therefore they are the same,...
- 16.3k
4
votes
How come when theories of concepts are made, there is never an agnostic point of accepting that there may be things we will never know?
I think what you mean is that there is a difference between how we perceive reality and how it actually is.
The most important and unbreachable dividing line is in your head. There are also dividing ...
- 7,368
3
votes
Does running a program about quantum mechanics on a quantum computer count as an experiment or a simulation?
The concept of simulation and experiment are not mutually exclusive: When a biologist performs a biochemistry or molecular biology experiment in a lab setting, they are also simulating a process that ...
- 26.8k
3
votes
Are QM interpretations physics or philosophy?
Of course also philosophers are interested in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. But in general, there task is to collect and to survey the interpretations developed by physicists. E.g., see the ...
- 20.7k
3
votes
Plato meets Quantum Mechanics
Plato situated the real as an essentially mental experience. There are no perfect physical circles, only mental ones. So I think he would have no problem with QM, relating reality to the ...
- 16.3k
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