Philosophical musings on Quanta & Qualia; Materialism & Spiritualism; Science & Religion; Pragmatism & Idealism, etc.
Quantum science merely shows that Materialism is an illusion
Post 27.04/01/2018 continued . . .
Quantum Idealism
Which is real, and which illusion?
As you might expect from a murky metaphysical concept, Philosophical Idealism is expressed in many different vocabularies. Subjective Idealists, such as Berkeley & Buddha believed that objective reality is an illusion. Transcendental Idealists only admit that knowledge about our percieved reality is questionable. Objective Idealists make specific claims about a trans-empirical reality. But, as a Pragmatic Idealist, I prefer to make no specific claims about such moot matters. I merely accept that all we know about reality is the model created by our minds to represent the source of incoming sensations. Besides, the empirical evidence from quantum research suggests that what we call matter seems to consist only of abstract information, such as location & velocity. So we never know fundamental particles as things, but only as sparse clues aboutmysterious intangible entities.
Nevertheless, I think it's safe to assume that our personal perceptions of reality are accurate enough for practical purposes. Only for theoretical considerations do we need to keep in mind that what we perceive may not be all there is. We are always quick to fill-in the blanks with hypothetical conjectures. But, philosophical Idealism is a more studious approach, which has concluded that there may be a bigger picture that we are missing in our materialistic presumptions. Indeed, any idealized theory allows us to connect the dots, to explore possibilities, and to discover new ways to see reality. But it also gives us more ways to go wrong, if we're not careful, and skeptical of our own reasons & rationalizations.
For example, when taken to an extreme, the idealistic worldview lends itself to some bizarre & unfounded magical notions. It has long been taught that the mind can create any reality it wants. But that assertion must be taken on faith, because it is impossible to demonstrate empirically. A popular New Age notion is that "we create our own reality". Which may be a form of optimistic positive thinking, but not literally true. You may believe you can fly, in your own personal bubble of ideality, but if you jump off a tall building, impersonal reality will burst your bubble.
Since there is no practical application of the idealist worldview, it is only useful for comparision, to evaluate reality by ideal standards. What-is can be contrasted to what-ought-to-be, in order to see where improvements can be made. Humans have the unique ability to see, not only what is actual, but to imagine what is possible. We can create ideal worlds in our minds, and may even try to re-create those fantasies in worldly Utopias. But if our idealism is not tempered with a touch of realism, our romantic naiveté will be crushed by pragmatic Nature.
The Enformationism worldview is idealistic, only in the sense that its model of mundane Reality assumes a sublime Ideality, which by its perfection & self-sufficiency can explain the existence of an imperfect & contingent world. So, I look at reality from an ideal perspective, not because ancient sages said so, but because the general concept is compatible with modern science. And because it makes sense that there is a more perfect possibility; that there is room for improvement. I don't need to quibble about the details, because the general idea of Idealism is close enough for my needs.
End of Post 27
Quantum theory is relativistic & probabilistic, whereas Newton's theories were absolute & predictable. Newton's worldview was on the macro scale of the naked eye, assisted by weak technologies. QT goes beyond the limitations of human senses, into the micro and cosmic scales of reality. There, we see intimations of ultimate reality, but only via mentally constructed models (theories).
Observing a quantum system requires acting upon it, which triggers a reaction. Hence, observation is inter-action, a new relationship. Quantum systems interact with each other randomly, hence the total system is neutralized, canceled out, for the moment. But human probes come from outside the system in question. So the observation is intentional, and the reaction is meaningful.
Quantum Theory : Click here for popup
Pragmatic Idealist : A compromise between the materialistic Realism of everyday life, and the spiritualistic Idealism of the contemplative life. Realism puts food on the table. Idealism puts wisdom in your mind. Together, they can nourish body & soul.
Refutation of Idealism : Philosopher G. E. Moore in “ . . . his famous piece from 1903, “The Refutation of Idealism,” to assuring the reader over and over that “I do not suppose that anything I shall say has the smallest tendency to prove that reality is not spiritual. … Reality may be spiritual, for all I know; and I devoutly hope it is. … It is, therefore, only with idealistic arguments that I am concerned; … I shall have proved that Idealists have no reason whatever for their conclusion” https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/idealism/#FatIdeTweCen The counter-arguments by Moore and Bertrand Russell, were directed against Bishop Berkeley’s 18th century theoretical arguments. But in the 21st century, Quantum Mechanics provides scientific evidence that can be inter-preted as supporting the notion that the reality of our senses is based on an invisible immaterial ideality. [ see Ideality ]
NEXT
BACK
Forum
