"Mystical" Physics, Cult Physics, Quack Physics, and Bogus
Physics
Austin Society to Oppose Pseudoscience
The past decade has seen the appearance of a number of
best-selling books, with titles like The Dancing Wu Li Masters, The Tao of
Physics, Mysticism and the New Physics, Taking the Quantum Leap, etc.,
etc. These books promise, first, to explain the very latest discoveries of
modern physics, the so-called “new physics.” Second, they promise to show
either: (1) that the “new physics” reveals the underlying mechanisms of
nature whereby supposedly paranormal feats like mind-reading, foreseeing the
future, or bending objects by sheer mental concentration are actually possible
– thus explaining the feats of physics hitherto ignored by establishment
science, and “proving” their reality. Or, the other sort of quack book says:
(2) the most recent discoveries of physics provide a firm scientific basis for
many of the basic concepts associated with the mystical religions of the East
— Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, etc. It is sometimes even claimed that the
“new physics” makes clear that “mind” is the only reality, that the objective
universe is a myth, and that anything we believe strongly enough is certain to
come true because our own thoughts produce all the reality we experience! This
latter claim is not made as often as the first two, but it is often implicit
in the message of the books even where it is not explicit. Often specific
physicists are named whose work is supposed to “prove” these claims
conclusively. Most often named, probably, is John Archibald Wheeler, one of
the most distinguished theoretical physicists alive. This charge against
Wheeler is particularly ironic since Wheeler is an outspoken foe of
pseudoscience, and has crusaded, for instance, to have parapsychology — the
so-called “scientific” study of ESP — kicked out of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. The writers apparently see no contradiction
between Wheeler’s evident disbelief in “psychic” claims and his supposed
demonstration that such phenomena are “real” examples of little-understood,
newly discovered physical laws! The books are full of contradictions of this
kind. But what else are they full of? Let’s look at some of the claims made in
these best-selling “new physics” books:
-
CLAIM: The “new physics” consists of the most recent
theoretical developments in physics, none of which have been presented to the
general public as yet, and none of which are well understood by physicists.
-
FACT: When you look at the books you find that the “new
physics” consists of special relativity (1905), general relativity (1915), and
quantum physics (1925). These theories are hardly “new.” They are thoroughly
understood by all professional physicists and have been the foundation of all
further work in theoretical physics in this century. The basic language of
theoretical physics is relativistic quantum field theory, and all fundamental
physical laws are stated in this language. In view of this, it is particularly
remarkable that the best-selling quack physics books never mention the
actual important developments in the theory of fundamental processes since
1925, including the development of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), an exact
theory of the electromagnetic interactions, in 1948; Quantum
Chromodynamics (WCD), in 1970, an exact theory of
the strong nuclear force; and the Unified Gauge Theory, in 1967, an exact
unified theory of electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces. Gauge field
theories of the fundamental forces of nature are specifically what physicists
mean if they talk about “new physics” (which they rarely do). There are many
books available, written by physicists for the general public about modern
physics — none of them make any mystical or supernatural claims, and few of
them have become best sellers.
-
CLAIM: Modern physics involves things like electrons going
backward in time, and fundamental laws which state there is no distinction
between past and future, thus explaining how people like
Nostradamus could really foresee the future…he was just mentally
receptive to the information propagating backward in time from the future,
which coexists simultaneously with past and present, but is hidden from most
of us by our materialist preconceptions and prejudices.
-
FACT: Whew! It is certainly true that modern physical theories
(for instance QED, see above) do sometimes describe antiparticles as particles
traveling backward in time. It is also true that a fundamental symmetry law of
physics is time-reversal invariance: all fundamental processes have the same
probability of happening “backward” as they do of happening “forward.” The
distinction between past and future is nonetheless very real, and for complex
systems such as ourselves any possible process is
for all practical purposes completely irreversible. All modern physical
theories remain completely causal – that is, there cannot be any reversal or
shuffling of the usual cause-effect relationship. Causes are always in
the past of effects, never in the future. (Otherwise the theory would
display mathematical and logical inconsistencies which would render it
useless!) What is more, quantum physics itself, at its most fundamental level,
is actually inconsistent with the existence of information about future states
of any physical system. If such information existed anywhere, whether
available or not, quantum physics as presently formulated would not work. But
it does work. Further, any faked up theory in which such information is
assumed to exist (so-called “hidden variables” theories) cannot give results
that agree with quantum physics or with experiment.
In every case tested so far,
experiment agrees with quantum physics and disagrees with hidden variables
theories. Thus we have a direct experimental test that explicitly rules out
the very existence of information about the future. Far from modern
physics “explaining” prophecy, it directly and explicitly rules it
out — it is an impossibility if terms of all
existing knowledge about nature.
-
CLAIM: Quantum physics involves mysterious, instantaneous
communication between physical systems no matter how far apart they may be.
This is shown, for instance, in the Einstein-Podolski-Rosen
(EPR) experiment. Since this “quantum communication” is instantaneous and
somehow “outside” space-time, it could be the basis of all so-called
paranormal phenomena, including telepathy, precognition,
psychokinesis, etc.
-
FACT: The EPR “experiment” is not an actual experiment, but an
idealized
example invented by Einstein,
Podolski
and Rosen to clarify certain conceptual features of quantum physics. There is
nothing paradoxical about the result of the EPR or any other imaginary or
actual experiment testing the ideas of quantum physics. Quantum physics works
in terms of a state function which describes the entire system involved in a
measurement, not just the object studied but the apparatus used to study it as
well. After a measurement, the
whole state of the system is different
because a piece of information which
did not exist previous to the
measurement now exists: the outcome of the measurement. Since the state
function describes the whole system, as soon as any new piece of information
is obtained the whole state function over all space changes as well. This is
in no way a violation of the laws of relativity, for instance; the state
function is not a directly measurable, real object – it is simply a
mathematical construct that represents what we can know or learn about the
system under study. Quantum physics is completely consistent with relativity –
indeed,
relativistic
quantum
field
theory
is
the
basic
language
of
all
theoretical
physics.
-
CLAIM: In quantum physics, the consciousness of an observer
directly affects the system being observed. This is unavoidable; it is an
intrinsic feature of any quantum description of nature. This is also the
obvious explanation for such phenomena as ESP or foretelling the future,
bending metal, etc., etc.
-
FACT: Gosh, we now have three different “explanations” for the
same “supernatural” claims. Which are we going to believe? They aren’t
consistent! However, taking this one as it comes, the comment is, NONSENSE! It
is the
measurement
that
changes
the
state
of
the
system.
No
observer
is
needed
conscious
or
not.
Any
measurement
made
in
any
way,
deliberately
or
accidentally,
by
a
human,
a
machine,
or
an
inert
part
of
nature
—
a
rock
that
gets
in
the
way
and
“measures”
the
momentum
of
an
object
it
recoils
from
—
results
in
the
creation
of
information
that
did
not
previously
exist.
Our
mathematical
representation
of
the
state
of
the
system
then
has
to
change
too,
to
accommodate
this
new
information.
There
is
certainly
nothing
strange
about
this;
it
cannot
be
otherwise
We now turn to the claims, not that physics “explains”
mystical phenomena, but rather that physics is the same as mysticism —
in particular that physics is learning things about the world that correspond
to insights already found in Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Taoism, etc.
This claim is most often associated with a single person,
Fritjof Capra. Capra was educated as a physicist (his Ph.D. was granted
in 1966) but his knowledge of Eastern thought is extremely inadequate. He
ignores the extreme diversity of Eastern mystical cults and sects, pretending
instead that Eastern thought offers a single, common, consistent world view.
This is just not true. He also does not seem to be worried by the fact that
there is no possible similarity between any actual law of physics and any
ordinary statement in any human language. The language of physics is
mathematics, and we have never found any way to state its laws in any other
form. What is the sentence that corresponds to a circle? What is the sentence
that corresponds to the equation for a circle, x2 + y2
= c2? The “similarities” Capra offers between physics and his
version of “mysticism” are superficial (accidental superficial similarities,
for instance, between the Sanskrit alphabet and mathematical symbols) and
trivial. His arguments are very like those offered by Erich Von
Daniken for ancient astronauts…a man in a
primitive drawing with a circular head is a man in a space helmet. Sure.
Further, Capra’s main argument is circular. He argues that certain concepts in
physics which have now been discarded as sterile or incorrect (the so-called
Bootstrap Theory on which Capra worked for his dissertation, and the related
S-Matrix Theory) are more valid that the theories physicists presently use,
because they agree with certain concepts Capra (but nobody else) finds in
“Eastern Mysticism.” This sounds like subjective validation, and that’s just
what it is. Capra then turns around and argues that “Eastern Mysticism” is
therefore more valid than other religious or mystical traditions because it
agrees with “modern physics,” and the other traditions do not! We are right
back where we started, and you will note we somehow completely avoided
dealing with actual modern physics (quarks, QED, QCD, the Unified Gauge
Theory, etc.), which has nothing whatsoever to do with “Eastern Mystical”
writings any more than it has to do with the writings of P. G.
Wodehouse, the Bible, or your telephone directory.
Anyone who bothers to read Capra closely will find that
Capra admits there is no actual evidence of any similarity between physics and
any human tradition. In fact he states, this “cannot be demonstrated
conclusively, but has to be experienced in a direct, intuitive way.” Capra is
welcome to his experiences, but they have nothing whatever to do with actual
modern physics…or with real religions of the East.
Acknowledgments
ASTOP – The Austin Society to Oppose Pseudoscience – has
prepared fact sheets on various pseudoscience topics for the benefit of
teachers and others interested in promoting critical thinking. Dr. Rory Coker,
Professor of Physics at the
University
of Texas at Austin, is the author of
this fact sheet. The International Cultic Studies Association (formerly
American Family Foundation), a professional research and educational
organization concerned about the harmful effects of cultic and related
involvements, prints and helps distribute these fact sheets. Because ASTOP
fact sheets seek to stimulate critical thinking, rather than advance a
particular point of view, opinions expressed are those of the authors. A list
of available fact sheets can be obtained by writing either the American Family
Foundation (P.O. Box 336,
Weston,
MA 02193)
or ASTOP (P.O. Box 3446,
Austin, TX 78764.
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