Wired News: Will Biology Solve the Universe?
People who, ah, want to have more control over their lives like to believe that Quantum Mechanics says that by thinking positive thoughts you can live a better life.
Personally, I believe that by thinking positive thoughts you can live a better life. However, making the connection to Quantum Mechanics has been a stretch. One of the more famous books on this matter, The Dancing Wu Li Masters interleaves modern scientific thought with mumbo-jumbo resulting in an entertaining but totally bogus argument as to how one's thinking affects one's place in the Universe.
Now, this Wired article at least raised the issue in a way that got me thinking about it again. Interestingly, the author doesn't say that he has the answer - just that certain holes in the way our theories are described, especially as relates to the notion of an "observer", leaves open the possibility that a connection could be made in the future between biology and awareness and how the world works.
More: Wikipedia article on Wheeler's Choice Experiment.
Wikipedia Article on the amazing Double Slit experiment (with pictures!).
Amit Goswami, in his book The Self Aware Universe, published in 1993, proposed that consciousness creates the universe rather than the other way around. In it he talks about the same quantum phenomena as the Wired article mentions, so this idea of life creating the universe sounds like a rehash of Goswami's writing. I did find Goswami's book very interesting and worthwhile reading.
ReplyDelete- Vincent
The idea that consciousness creates the universe goes back to Plato. As someone raised as a Christian Scientist I got a heavy dose of it growing up.
ReplyDeleteIt might even be true. But there's still a big gap, explanation-wise, and scientific-wise, about how that could be.
As an article of faith, I have no problem with the notion. It's quite energizing and even if it is not how things really work, the exercise of thinking through what one really wants in life is certainly worth the effort.