Word Gems
exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Quantum Mechanics
Einstein and Bohm:
revisiting the implications of EPR; as Wolfgang Pauli noted, "What Einstein just said isn't so stupid"
|
return to "Quantum Mechanics" main-page
from https://www.davidpratt.info/bohm.htm
"In 1951 [David] Bohm wrote a classic textbook entitled Quantum Theory, in which he presented a clear account of the orthodox, Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics... [Bohm] had difficulty believing that the quantum world was characterized by absolute indeterminism and chance, and that things just happened for no reason whatsoever. He began to suspect that there might be deeper causes behind the apparently random ... nature of the subatomic world.
"Bohm sent copies of his textbook to Bohr and Einstein. Bohr did not respond, but Einstein phoned him to say that he wanted to discuss it with him. In the first of what was to turn into a six-month series of spirited conversations, Einstein enthusiastically told Bohm that he had never seen quantum theory presented so clearly, and admitted that he was just as dissatisfied with the orthodox approach as Bohm was. They both admired quantum theory’s ability to predict phenomena, but could not accept that it was complete and that it was impossible to arrive at any clearer understanding of what was going on in the quantum realm."
cacophony vs symphony: viewing the hurricane from outer space
Einstein might still win the EPR debate; or, rather, paying homage to Bohr's "complementarity principle," the prize might be shared. Probability is embedded within quantum dynamics, but it's unlikely to issue as total randomness. David Bohm spoke of an underlying "implicate order" and Sheldrake talks of hidden blueprints, "morphic fields," directing and organizing energy.
This means that a concept of "structured randomness" might more accurately describe reality than pure randomness. Granted, all things are quantumly influenced, but many times the likelihood of an event occurring is very near 100%.
It's often necessary to view things from a higher perspective to see the order in apparent chaos. For example, a hurricane at street-level is just a big jumble, but from outer space it all looks like a well orchestrated and finely tuned symphony.
We will find it profitable to review the major tenets of David Bohm's teachings.
|