The
quantum theory, as it is now constituted, presents us with a very great
challenge, if we are at all interested in such a venture, for in quantum
physics there is no consistent notion at all of what the reality may be
that underlies the universal constitution and structure of matter. Thus,
if we try to use the prevailing world view based on the notions of particles,
we discover that the 'particles' (such as electrons) can also manifest
as waves, that they move discontinuously, that there are no laws at all
that apply in detail to the actual movements of individual particles and
that only statistical predictions can be made about large aggregates of
such particles. If on the other hand we apply the world view in which the
world is regarded as a continuous field, we find that this field must also
be discontinuous, as well as particle-like, and that it is as undermined
in its actual behaviour as is required in the particle view of relation
as a whole. (David Bohm, On Quantum Theory, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)
In relativity, movement is continuous, causally determinate and well defined, while in quantum mechanics it is discontinuous, not causally determinate and not well defined. Each theory is committed to its own notions of essentially static and fragmentary modes of existence (relativity to that of separate events, connectable by signals, and quantum mechanics to a well-defined quantum state). One thus sees that a new kind of theory is needed which drops these basic commitments and at most recovers some essential features of the older theories as abstract forms derived from a deeper reality in which what prevails in unbroken wholeness. (David Bohm, On Quantum Mechanics, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)
One
is led to a new notion of unbroken wholeness which denies the classical
idea of analyzability of the world into separately and existing parts … We have reversed the usual classical notion that the independent ‘elementary parts’ of the world are the fundamental reality, and that the various systems are merely
particular contingent forms and arrangements of these parts. Rather,
we say that inseparable quantum interconnectedness of the whole universe
is the fundamental reality, and that relatively independent behaving
parts are merely particular and contingent forms within this whole. (David Bohm, On the Intuitive Understanding of Nonlocality as Implied by Quantum Theory,
Foundations of Physics, vol 5, 1975)
In
the Fifties, I sent my book (Quantum Theory) around to various quantum
physicists - including Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, and Wolfgang Pauli.
Bohr didn't answer, but Pauli liked it. Albert Einstein sent me a message
that he'd like to talk with me. When we met he said the book had done
about as well as you could do with quantum mechanics. But he was still
not convinced it was a satisfactory theory.
Einstein's objection was not merely that it was statistical. He felt
it was a kind of abstraction; quantum mechanics got correct results but
left out much that would have made it intelligible. I came up with the
causal interpretation (that the electron is a particle, but it also has
a field around it. The particle is never separated from that field, and
the field affects the movement of the particle in certain ways). Einstein
didn't like it, though, because the interpretation had this notion of
action at a distance: Things that are far away from each other profoundly
affect each other. He believed only in local action.
I didn't come back to this implicate order until the Sixties, when I
got interested in notions of order. I realized then the problem is that
coordinates are still the basic order in physics, whereas everything
else has changed. (David
Bohm, On Quantum Theory, Interview, 1987)
Classical
physics says that reality is actually little particles that separate
the world into its independent elements. Now I'm proposing the reverse,
that the fundamental reality is the enfoldment and unfoldment, and these
particles are abstractions from that. We could picture the electron not
as a particle that exists continuously but as something coming in and
going out and then coming in again. If these various condensations are
close together, they approximate a track. The electron itself can never
be separated from the whole of space, which is its ground. (David Bohm, On Quantum Physics, 1987)
Younger physicists usually appreciate the implicate order because it
makes quantum mechanics easier to grasp. By the time they're through
graduate school, they've become dubious about it because they've heard
that hidden variables are of no use because they've been refuted. Of
course, nobody has really refuted them. At this point, I think that
the major issue is mathematics. In supersymmetry theory an interesting
piece of mathematics will attract attention, even without any experimental
confirmation. (David
Bohm, On Mathematics & Modern Physics, 1987)
If man thinks of the totality as constituted of independent fragments, then that is how his mind will tend to operate, but if he can include everything coherently and harmoniously in an overall whole that is undivided, unbroken, and without a border then his mind will tend to move in a similar way, and from this will flow an orderly action within the whole. (David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)
The
notion that all these fragments is separately existent is evidently an
illusion, and this illusion cannot do other than lead to endless conflict
and confusion. Indeed, the attempt to live according to the notion that
the fragments are really separate is, in essence, what has led to the
growing series of extremely urgent crises that is confronting us today.
Thus, as is now well known, this way of life has brought about pollution,
destruction of the balance of nature, over-population, world-wide economic
and political disorder and the creation of an overall environment that
is neither physically nor mentally healthy for most of the people who
live in it. Individually there has developed a widespread feeling of
helplessness and despair, in the face of what seems to be an overwhelming
mass of disparate social forces, going beyond the control and even the
comprehension of the human beings who are caught up in it. (David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)
.. man's general way of thinking of the totality, i.e. his general world view, is crucial for overall order of the human mind itself. If he thinks of the totality as constituted as independent fragments, then that is how his mind will tend to operate, but if he can include everything coherently and harmoniously in an overall whole that is undivided, unbroken and without border (for every border is a division or break) then his mind will tend to move in a similar way, and from this will flow an orderly action within the whole. (David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980)
Bohmian mechanics, which is also
called the de Broglie-Bohm theory, the pilot-wave model, and the causal
interpretation of quantum mechanics, is a version of quantum theory discovered
by Louis de Broglie in 1927 and rediscovered by David Bohm in 1952. It
is the simplest example of what is often called a hidden variables interpretation
of quantum mechanics. In Bohmian mechanics a system of particles is described
in part by its wave function, evolving, as usual, according to Schrödinger's equation. However, the wave function provides only a partial description
of the system. This description is completed by the specification of
the actual positions of the particles. The latter evolve according to
the 'guiding equation,' which expresses the velocities of the particles
in terms of the wave function. Thus, in Bohmian mechanics the configuration
of a system of particles evolves via a deterministic motion choreographed
by the wave function. In particular, when a particle is sent into a two-slit
apparatus, the slit through which it passes and where it arrives on the
photographic plate are completely determined by its initial position
and wave function.
Bohmian mechanics inherits and makes explicit the nonlocality implicit
in the notion, common to just about all formulations and interpretations
of quantum theory, of a wave function on the configuration space of a
many-particle system. It accounts for all of the phenomena governed by
nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, from spectral lines and scattering
theory to superconductivity, the quantum Hall effect and quantum computing.
In particular, the usual measurement postulates of quantum theory, including
collapse of the wave function and probabilities given by the absolute
square of probability amplitudes, emerge from an analysis of the two
equations of motion - Schrödinger's
equation and the guiding equation - without the traditional invocation
of a special, and somewhat obscure, status for observation.
plato.stanford.edu/entries/qm-bohm/
Truth
Reality (Home)
Simple
Metaphysics
Mathematical
Einstein
Quantum Physics
Cosmology
Philosophy
Theology
Evolution
Health
Education
Politics
Share
Facebook
Connect
Google
Friends
Twitter
Tweets
Comment
Philosophy
Shop
Free
Postcards
RSS
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
(Mohandas Gandhi)
The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all spheres of cultural life. ... We must not conceal from ourselves that no improvement in the present depressing situation is possible without a severe struggle; for the handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. ...
Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive!" (Albert Einstein)
This is the profound new way of thinking that Einstein realised, that we exist as spatially extended structures of the universe - the discrete and separate body an illusion. This simply confirms the intuitions of the ancient philosophers and mystics.
Given the current censorship in physics / philosophy of science journals (based on the standard model of particle physics / big bang cosmology) the internet is the best hope for getting new knowledge known to the world. But that depends on you, the people who care about science and society, realise the importance of truth and reality.
It is easy to help - just click on the social network sites (below) or grab a nice image / quote you like and add it to your favourite blog, wiki or forum. We are listed as one of the top philosophy sites on the Internet (300,000 page views / week) and have a wonderful collection of knowledge from the greatest minds in human history, so people will appreciate your contributions. Thanks! Geoff Haselhurst - Karene Howie - Email
"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing."
(Edmund Burke)
Connect with Geoffrey
Support simple sensible science that works
YouTube MySpace Facebook Twitter
NOTE (May 2009)
Facebook ConnectWe have just added (below) Facebook Connect, Google Friend and Twitter Applications.
Please feel free to add comments / questions / friendship!
We try to reply within 48 hours. Geoff
Connect in an Inter-Connected Universe!
"In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
(George Orwell)
Google Friends
Making the Universe more Friendly!
"Hell is Truth Seen Too Late."
(Thomas Hobbes)
Twitter Updates
Philosophy Physics Truth Reality
Unity / Wisdom Quotes & Tweets
Send a very cool (and free) philosophy / wisdom postcard!