KARL JASPERS FORUM

TA77 (Järvilehto)

Commentary 13

QUANTUM THEORY AND CONSCIOUSNESS
by Adhanom Andemicael
10 June 2005, posted 25 June 2005

<1>
Are subatomic particles extensionless points ? If they are, the argument presented below is worth considering:

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<2>
In the double-slit experiment, a photon strikes the second screen (i.e., the film) at a particular location. When it hits the screen, it leaves a small visible "spot" at the place of contact. We say that the photon has a definite position when it hits the screen. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, the photon is real at the moment of contact.

<3>
However, a photon is thought of as being a *point*-particle -- i.e., as a particle that has no extension in space. A photon is supposed to be physically real when it hits the screen. But how *can* this particle be real if it has no extension in space?

<4>
And what about the photon detector ? The particles that make up the detector (i.e., the film) are also point-particles. These particles are invisible. (They have no spatial extension.) Yet we do see a small spot appear on the film (i.e., we see a whitening of the film at the location of impact). Atoms and molecules are collections of point-particles. If we cannot see these particles individually, we should not be able to see collections of these *invisible* particles: We should not be able to see atoms and molecules.

<5>
Yet, in the double-slit experiment, we do notice a spot appear on the film. (We see a localized whitening on the film).

<6>
What exactly are we looking at when we see this "spot"?

<7>
We know that the mind cannot perceive objectively existing physical entities: The mind can only perceive the world of sense perceptions or qualia. (Note: We see the "whitening of the film" ecause this "whitening" is a sense perception. We would not see the whitened spot if this "spot" were an objectively existing entity.)

<8>
Physicists claim that quantum mechanics describes an objective universe of physical structures. However, if the world is made up of *extensionless* particles, the world cannot be physically real.

<9>
So the question arises: What exactly does quantum theory describe?

WHAT IS QUANTUM MECHANICS?

<10>
QM is a useful tool that describes the mental world of sense perceptions.(1)

<11>
It is not a "physical theory." (A theory of the physical world has to define real particles -- i.e., particles that have an extension in space.)

NOTES

1. All observed phenomena are sense perceptions within the mind of the observer.

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Adhanom Andemicael