About references to quantum theory – #1

I’ve noticed that when I bring up the topic of quantum theory in my discussions with people about The Seer’s Explanation, people have a tendency to stiffen up!  I guess it comes off as a scary topic, but it needn’t be.  In this post I’d like to try explain why that is.  You may even find it liberating!

A dear friend of mine, Fred Kuttner, along with his colleague Bruce Rosenblum, both of whom have had long careers teaching college physics, have written a wonderful book, titled Quantum Enigma.  I highly recommend it to anyone who may want to delve further into the topic.  For now, I’ll just briefly refer to what they call “quantum weirdness.”

Kuttner and Rosenblum point out that all of physics is based on quantum theory, and they tell us that it’s the most “battle-tested theory in all of science.”

HOWEVER, AND THIS IS THE KEY POINT, “THIS RELIABLE AND USEFUL PHYSICS CHALLENGES ANY REASONABLE WORLDVIEW.   IT ACTUALLY DENIES THE EXISTENCE OF A PHYSICALLY REAL WORLD INDEPENDENT OF ITS OBSERVATION.”

And finally, “The quantum weirdness is not hard to ‘understand’–even with zero physics background. But it’s almost impossible to believe.”

That last sentence leads us back to the primary contention of The Seer’s Explanation, which is that we humans are so firmly rooted in our conventional view of the world that it’s almost impossible to alter that view to encompass the possibility of “weirdness,” whether it shows up in formal study of the physical world or in our own lives.  In Chapter 5 of The Seer’s Explanation, I tell a story from my own experience that certainly qualifies as “weirdness,” and that experience left me with no choice but to abandon the conventional explanation of reality and embark on a lifelong quest for an adequate replacement.