radarmark
Quaker-in-the-Making
Let me lead off the discussion by noting that a lot of you (including those who claim “matter is > 99% empty” are making a fundamental mistake thinking the Kosmos is made of material stuff (particles and mass and such). The Universe consists, as far as hard-core physics goes, on only potentialities, measurements, and consciousness. It get complicated, but let me walk you through it.
In his “Physics and Philosophy”, Werner Heisenberg (he who discovered the uncertainty principle (look it up on wiki) and thus drove Einstein absolutely nuts for the next 30 years) explains first:
"[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts."
That is, laboratory physics experiments (up to and including the CERN supercollider they are using to search for the Higgs Boson (or god particle—actually named by Higgs because he could not find the “god d__n thing”), do not prove reality. Rather, based on certain potentialities (which are unknowable before gathering lots of data), they measure a potentiality turning into an event (actual occasion or experience in my nomenclature). Further,
"Whether we electrons, light quanta, benzol molecules, or stones, we shall always come up against these two characteristics, the corpuscular and the undular." (Emphasis added.)
The same principle applies to, well, everything (“stone” is here used metaphorically). Yep, ain’t no matter or little particles, only vast numbers of potentialities (one for each possible event every 5 to the -45 seconds—5 followed by 45 zeros times a second and there are 10 to the eightieth particles in the observable universe and the “real universe” at least 10 to the twenty third as big—about 5 to the 168th potentialities each second (5 followed by 168 zeros).
Now add in the fact that (to make Einstein’s Relativity Equations work) only 4% of the “real universe” is even visible, the other 96% made up of Dark energy and Dark Matter (look up on wiki), Which means there are really about 1.2 followed by 170 zeros events per second).
That is a lot of “stuff”, but none of it is matter. Bernard D’espagnat (kinda the Philosopher of Physicists—the equivalent of three PhDs, I think), winner of the 2009 Templeton Prize says in his "Philosophy and Physics":
"The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment."
See, it’s not just me or crazy old Werner—all quantum physicists know this.
One last proof. There is a very good current analysis at http://www.vixra.org/pdf/1011.0009v1.pdf (look at it only if you dare) that ends (Generalized Uncertainty Principle; Dwivedi; 2010,;updated 2012):
In objective vision we can learn about a system without interacting with it. It is similar to paint a portrait in a dark room. In this context objective reality seems orthodoxical. We ought to change the definition of reality, rather than fitting a theory with element of reality previously defined. Heisenberg called his quantum theory non-objective. In quantum domain measurement occurs via interaction with the system. The fundamental entity of interaction is a signal, which is quantized. A reality comes out to be what we observe, not what exists. In this connection, observation with observer itself is not separate from the system being observed. An observation depends upon the frame of experiment (explicitly on observer), not system's state of being. Epistemology changes. The fundamental physical entities are actions, operations and processes, not state of being. Instead of claiming incompleteness of the wavefunction, we emphasize that state can not be constructed out of it. Wavefunction is a catalogue of knowledge (probability) not objective reality.
The wavefunction (that which quantum physics is about) is not reality, but a “probability” for “measurement” via “interaction” with our “consciousness”.
In his “Physics and Philosophy”, Werner Heisenberg (he who discovered the uncertainty principle (look it up on wiki) and thus drove Einstein absolutely nuts for the next 30 years) explains first:
"[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts."
That is, laboratory physics experiments (up to and including the CERN supercollider they are using to search for the Higgs Boson (or god particle—actually named by Higgs because he could not find the “god d__n thing”), do not prove reality. Rather, based on certain potentialities (which are unknowable before gathering lots of data), they measure a potentiality turning into an event (actual occasion or experience in my nomenclature). Further,
"Whether we electrons, light quanta, benzol molecules, or stones, we shall always come up against these two characteristics, the corpuscular and the undular." (Emphasis added.)
The same principle applies to, well, everything (“stone” is here used metaphorically). Yep, ain’t no matter or little particles, only vast numbers of potentialities (one for each possible event every 5 to the -45 seconds—5 followed by 45 zeros times a second and there are 10 to the eightieth particles in the observable universe and the “real universe” at least 10 to the twenty third as big—about 5 to the 168th potentialities each second (5 followed by 168 zeros).
Now add in the fact that (to make Einstein’s Relativity Equations work) only 4% of the “real universe” is even visible, the other 96% made up of Dark energy and Dark Matter (look up on wiki), Which means there are really about 1.2 followed by 170 zeros events per second).
That is a lot of “stuff”, but none of it is matter. Bernard D’espagnat (kinda the Philosopher of Physicists—the equivalent of three PhDs, I think), winner of the 2009 Templeton Prize says in his "Philosophy and Physics":
"The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment."
See, it’s not just me or crazy old Werner—all quantum physicists know this.
One last proof. There is a very good current analysis at http://www.vixra.org/pdf/1011.0009v1.pdf (look at it only if you dare) that ends (Generalized Uncertainty Principle; Dwivedi; 2010,;updated 2012):
In objective vision we can learn about a system without interacting with it. It is similar to paint a portrait in a dark room. In this context objective reality seems orthodoxical. We ought to change the definition of reality, rather than fitting a theory with element of reality previously defined. Heisenberg called his quantum theory non-objective. In quantum domain measurement occurs via interaction with the system. The fundamental entity of interaction is a signal, which is quantized. A reality comes out to be what we observe, not what exists. In this connection, observation with observer itself is not separate from the system being observed. An observation depends upon the frame of experiment (explicitly on observer), not system's state of being. Epistemology changes. The fundamental physical entities are actions, operations and processes, not state of being. Instead of claiming incompleteness of the wavefunction, we emphasize that state can not be constructed out of it. Wavefunction is a catalogue of knowledge (probability) not objective reality.
The wavefunction (that which quantum physics is about) is not reality, but a “probability” for “measurement” via “interaction” with our “consciousness”.
