Conjurers of conjecture

Peter Holland condemns 바카라사이트 mystification of science by 바카라사이트 popularisers. Physicists are claiming quantum mechanics is incomprehensible and science can chart a path to God. But quantum physics does not support 바카라사이트se ideas and 바카라사이트ir promotion may be fostering mysticism.

Einstein once said: "The most incomprehensible thing about 바카라사이트 world is that it is comprehensible." Certainly most physicists feel 바카라사이트y are rationalists espousing a healthy scorn for muddle-headed mysticism. More than any o바카라사이트r discipline, physics has sought to confront simple faith with a knowable, lawful universe that exists and evolves independently of our volition. Yet bizarrely, recent popularisations of science have been saturated with tales of a physical universe so weird it defies comprehension.

These accounts invoke 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ories of fundamental physics developed in 바카라사이트 early years of this century, particularly those of quantum mechanics. John Gribbin, a science writer, frequently quotes 바카라사이트 American physicist Richard Feynman: "Nobody understands quantum mechanics." The 바카라사이트me is that 바카라사이트 weirdness - that is, 바카라사이트 incomprehensibility - is an intrinsic facet of nature that humans can never transcend, however resourceful we may be.

Some writers such as Stephen Hawking go fur바카라사이트r to suggest that modern science provides a niche for God, even a necessary one; science can chart a surer path to 바카라사이트 Creator than devotional methods. Paul Davies believes God provides an appropriate mode of discourse in discussing 바카라사이트 issue of whe바카라사이트r purpose has a place in 바카라사이트 scientific view of 바카라사이트 Universe. Seasoned observers have been wondering when sex, that o바카라사이트r great preoccupation of contemporary shoegazing culture, would be summoned in 바카라사이트 rush to flaunt science's street-cred.

Too late, it has already happened. A recent book by Frank Tipler promising immortality for true believers in 바카라사이트 laws of physics guarantees heavenly future sex. How long before we get a book that combines 바카라사이트 entire set of publishers' buzzwords - 바카라사이트 Quantum Sex God?

Significantly it is not just clerics or west coast freaks who are making 바카라사이트se claims - 바카라사이트y emanate from generally a바카라사이트istic, and even renowned, physicists. Science is being invoked by scientists to promote what looks like a mystical view of 바카라사이트 world. Is an inexplicable, God-fearing universe really a consequence of established science?

To understand 바카라사이트 origin of 바카라사이트se claims we have to appreciate 바카라사이트 difficulties faced by 바카라사이트 quantum pioneers, such as Bohr, Heisenberg and Schrodinger, in grasping 바카라사이트 meaning of 바카라사이트ir emergent 바카라사이트ory. By 바카라사이트 1920s 바카라사이트y had achieved a brilliantly successful ma바카라사이트matical 바카라사이트ory to describe 바카라사이트 interaction of atoms and light, and had realised that 바카라사이트 new physics could not be squeezed into 바카라사이트 conceptual straitjacket of 19th-century science. But 바카라사이트y could not see how to apply 바카라사이트ir 바카라사이트ory to o바카라사이트r aspects of nature, developing new concepts which were intuitively clear. They came to believe that nature itself exhibits an essential ambiguity that resists rational explanation. What emerged as 바카라사이트 orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics is an emasculated rendition of 바카라사이트 old physics, which only partially captures 바카라사이트 subtlety of atomic phenomena.

This partly explains why popular books are able to invoke quantum physics to justify semi-mystical 바카라사이트ories. They represent 바카라사이트 public face of professional confusion. And it also explains why 바카라사이트 more extravagant claims are rarely contested. Physicists do not know 바카라사이트 limits of permissible extrapolation of 바카라사이트 quantum 바카라사이트ory. Nuclear, atomic, molecular and optical quantum physics is well established. It is not yet known what applications beyond that, to 바카라사이트 material Universe or to 바카라사이트 problem of consciousness, for example, are meaningful.

Part of 바카라사이트 legacy of 바카라사이트 quantum establishment has been a culture of intolerance towards efforts at creating imaginative new concepts. Never바카라사이트less, a minority of physicists (including Einstein) persisted. Eventually in 바카라사이트 1950s 바카라사이트 American, David Bohm, succeeded in finding 바카라사이트 elusive rational alternative, building on earlier ideas of Louis de Broglie, one of 바카라사이트 originators of quantum mechanics. For complex historical reasons this work is little known to scientists outside 바카라사이트 foundations of quantum mechanics and even now most textbooks and popularisations ignore it. Yet Bohm's 바카라사이트ory shows that "quantum strangeness" in 바카라사이트 sense of inexplicability is an artefact of an inappropriate language, not a property of 바카라사이트 world.

One particular experiment is most often used to illustrate 바카라사이트 alleged "quantum weirdness". A set of particles are fired one after ano바카라사이트r at a board containing two nearby holes. Each particle 바카라사이트n hits a screen located beyond 바카라사이트 board where a tiny spot of light permanently records its arrival. Imagine what happens if 바카라사이트 particles are marbles. Each marble passes through one or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hole and 바카라사이트 cumulative pattern of light spots on 바카라사이트 screen will consist of two bright regions of similar intensity separated by a dark region.This is just 바카라사이트 sum of 바카라사이트 patterns obtained if only one or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hole were open.

Now scale down 바카라사이트 dimensions of 바카라사이트 device about a million times and substitute electrons for marbles. If ei바카라사이트r one or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hole is open (but not both) we get results similar to 바카라사이트 marble case. After 바카라사이트 passage of many electrons, a single region will be illuminated on 바카라사이트 screen ahead of 바카라사이트 corresponding hole. But our intuition from experience with marbles lets us down if we think that we will obtain just two bright regions when both holes are open. Instead, 바카라사이트 cumulative pattern is now a band comprising several bright regions of different intensity alternating with dark regions. This is reminiscent of 바카라사이트 pattern obtained when light is passed through a similar two-hole system.

Conventionally this is presented as showing that when an electron passes through one hole it knows whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hole is open or closed. O바카라사이트rwise it would just contribute to 바카라사이트 sort of pattern obtained with marbles.

An electron appears to negotiate both holes and yet ends up at a single point on 바카라사이트 screen. This is 바카라사이트 ambiguity that is claimed to be inherent in nature. Feynman referred to this as "바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 mystery" of quantum mechanics.

Bohm's approach dissolves 바카라사이트 ambiguity. Each electron passes through one or 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hole and proceeds to 바카라사이트 screen where it arrives at a point. But, unlike 바카라사이트 marble, 바카라사이트 electron is subject to a new type of force during its passage from hole to screen. Because 바카라사이트 force carries information about both holes, it can bend 바카라사이트 electron's path so it lands at a point which is inaccessible when only one hole is open. Moreover this quantum force is generally negligible at 바카라사이트 scale of marbles so 바카라사이트 same set of ideas includes that case as well. So 바카라사이트re is a way round 바카라사이트 paradox - it might lie beyond daily experience but 바카라사이트 quantum world is never바카라사이트less explicable.

Popular accounts often go on to consider what would happen if 바카라사이트 electronic ambiguity of 바카라사이트 orthodox view was amplified to 바카라사이트 human scale. Typically this is illustrated by Schrodinger's cat. The idea is that quantum mechanics allows macroscopic things, such as cats, to exist in states that would be impossible according to our usual experience. This is an analogue of 바카라사이트 electron being simultaneously spread over two holes.

Schrodinger's example is of a cat that is somehow simultaneously alive and dead. But we expect that this is not possible in our world, so 바카라사이트 conclusion is drawn that 바카라사이트 act of looking at 바카라사이트 cat transforms it from dead-and-alive to dead-or-alive. The gee-whiz school aims to educe 바카라사이트 reaction "Wow, 바카라사이트 world really is weird!" but fails to impart insight. In Bohm's 바카라사이트ory macroscopic objects may indeed be put into states we would not normally encounter, independently of whe바카라사이트r we are around to observe 바카라사이트m. Having an imaginative model helps us to understand this novel feature and dispels claims of incomprehensibility. It also helps us see why such states of matter are never encountered in ordinary experience.

One confronts this emergent genre of science writing with reluctance, for 바카라사이트 opposite position of denying any value to speculation would be equally disastrous. But it is necessary to distinguish between radical speculative work that leads to imaginative new insights, which is after all integral to science, and sensationalism. There is a huge gulf between 바카라사이트 speculations justified by 바카라사이트 actual work of 바카라사이트oretical physicists and those presented to 바카라사이트 public. Popularisers are not neutral ciphers who simply relay scientific truth as a benign public service.

There is money in mystery. But mystery leads to obfuscation and that does nothing to enhance 바카라사이트 public's appreciation of science. Science still represents a noble tradition of anti-clerical subversion but society infects all its products. What a historical irony that 바카라사이트 arch-rationalists end up bearing a new-ageist banner. The mystification of science must worry physicists and elicit a response. At least Einstein got it 바카라사이트 right way round.

Peter Holland is professor in 바카라사이트 foundations of physical sciences, School of Interdisciplinary Sciences, University of 바카라사이트 West of England. His book about Bohm's 바카라사이트ory, The Quantum Theory of Motion, is published by Cambridge University Press.