Quantum Theory

The Real Scandal of Quantum Mechanics

In a short, but important, article in Nature magazine, Richard Conn Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at John Hopkins University, concludes that in light of the findings of quantum theory, the universe is entirely mental. Continuing this theme, Professor Henry, in a letter to the editor of the American Journal of Physics, entitled, The Real Scandal of Quantum Mechanics,  writes that the “real scandal of quantum mechanics is that so many physicists still insist on thinking about quantum phenomena with classical ideas.” Professor Henry is exactly right.  Quantum theory teaches that the physical world is not made of things, but of dream-stuff; yet, we still are taught to view the world as consisting of “things” as if we are not quite ready to accept the reality that we dwell in a world of the mind, also known as a dream. In this blog, however, I want to comment upon a...

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News Flash: The World is Not Made Out of Particles

In a  recent article, What is Real?, published in Scientific American, Meinard Kuhlmann, Professor of Philosophy at Bielefeld University in Germany, breaks the news: the world is not made out of particles after all. This conclusion may come as a shock to the vast field of particle physics and the thousands of physicists working at the $6 billion Large Hadron Collider in Europe.  As Professor Kuhlman writes, “one must conclude that ‘particle physics’ is a misnomer: despite the fact that physicists keep talking about particles, there is no such thing.” Quantum theory, in fact, spelled doom for particles almost 100 years ago, but modern physics has not quite absorbed this point into its worldview.  Quantum theory, as Professor Kuhlman writes, is based upon on the fundamental precept that no such thing as a particle can be localized in a particular place or time; Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle forever dispelled the notion that we...

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