Quantum Physics and the Psyche -- Bunk or Truth?

[Armstead]

After seeing the movie "What the Blep Do We Know" last week, this cosmic question came to mind.

It seems quantum physics has become a popular concept among those interested in spirituality and self-improvement.

I admittedly am totally baffled by the concept. All I know is that it is supposed to be an alternative theory about the nature of the physical universe and its relationship to energy.

From what I can glean, it says that everything is energy down to the sub atomic level, and the physical world is a manifestation of that large energy field.

It seems to relate to the psyche in terms of our own bodies being part of that energy field, and that we shape our own realities by how we project differenct aspects of energy and our chemical makeup.

Something like that.

It seems to me that there is a certain degree of wish fulfillment to that notion. Or that it takes a very simple concept -- "You reap what you sew" -- and gives it a complicated explanation.

But I'm open minded about it -- especially since I don;t really understand it.

I'm wondering is anyone here has thoughts or beliefs regarding quantum physics from that standpoint.

[whalerider55]

1. the most readable and poetic view...

can be found in the books of Brian Swimme, a mathematical cosmologist.
The Story of the Universe, The Universe is a Green Dragon, etc.

it steps off the pier of quantum physics and offers a very lively and awestruck cosmology.

beats nihilism by a longshot.

whalerider

[flyingfysh]

2. It's bunk

People who really know quantum physics get offended by these periodic attempts to connect it to religion. If a bogus idea thows around terms like "energy" and "quantum physics", that doesn't make it any less bogus.

[Lucky Luciano]

5. Indeed...

When the quasi-spiritual try to be less than quasi-physicists, it can be rather amusing, but it is just bunk. These people have no idea how deep many of the concepts in quantum physics really are. They know some very superficial things about the subject and a few keywords and buzzphrases, but little else. I will listen mroe carefully to what one of these people have to say if they publish an article in a well respected quantum physics journal....then I will listen to their ideas...although it would still be more for amusement than anything.

[patrice]

3. Neuro-biology is a fascinating Frontier.

You've probably heard popular press about the localization of functions in the (peripheral and central nervous systems, including, obviously, the) brain. But if you try to look at the common features of all of the groups of functional structures, one thing that it all reduces to is events at the synaptic level, where millions upon millions of small chemical events result in what is referred to as consciousness.

Neural synapses are very intersting places governed by different groups of chemicals, some limited to single events, neuron to neuron, other neuro-chemicals acting in concert over networks and groups of structures simultaneously, meta-chemicals if you will.

There are many interesting questions about response thresholds (i.e. how much stimuli of what class does it take to trigger a responce, either one:one, or one:many, or many:many. Some things are known about the governing hierarchies (e.g. peripheral system is governed by the central system; the pituitary (gland) interacts with the thalmus (or is it the hypothalmus??) and together they govern groups of gland and nervous functions that affect major organ systems and muscles etc. etc. . . . As I was saying, some things are known about the governing hierarchies, but not everything, and certainly not in any and all environments (but mostly just those environments associated with "research").

Something many people miss is the difference between Sensation and Perception, which boils down to, not only do we not Sense everything out there that there is to sense . . . of what we do Sense, we do not "use" all of it. What goes in is not one:one with what comes out (i.e. consciousness). Perception filters and organizes a great deal of sensation. Perception is not 100% uniform in a population. There are a wide spectrum of perceptual functions possilbe, everything from basic to much more "emergent" kinds of functions. I like to think of tuning my (specific, relatively unique) instrument to the fullest of its potential, no matter how great or small that is, by how I live. Being fully alive has a higher value than achieving somekind of pre-defined state of mind that is usually more a matter of semantics than of un-mediated (immediate) experience.

[Seansky]

4. seems to me you might need to study a bit more...plenty of books on

the subject...your simplification doesn't cut it...

[opihimoimoi]

6. The Universe in a Nut Shell by Stephan Hawkings might be a good start.

[patrice]

7. Also Sir Francis Crick's Astonishing Hypothesis

[beam me up scottie]

8. Ask Ramtha.

Ramsa's lisping evil twin.:evilgrin:

[Armstead]

13. Ramtha's accent

I think if I were an ancient wise master chenneling myself through someone, I'd at least be smart enough to learn to speak the language without an accent. }(

On a more serious note, the prsence of Rantha in that movie did undermine its credibility to me, I must admit.

[Bill McBlueState]

9. a link to some actual quantum physics papers

Go here to see what real quantum physicists have been writing lately.

There might be overlap between what they say and what the "spirituality" people say, but only at the most superficial levels.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

10. trailer link here...interesting and i think it is meaningful

illegal codepopUp('trailer.wm.high.html')

[longship]

11. It's bunk.

And simple to debunk.

If there were measurable influences from quantum effects in the macro world like these idiots claim we'd see a lot of weird things happening which are just not observed. The utter kooks who claim different are just that "utter kooks". They do not understand science, let alone the physics. They exploit people's ignorance of these complex topics just like the kooky creationists. There are absolutely no measurable quantum effects in the macro world. They all average out.

Gawd, I hate ignorant people who claim special knowledge about something of which they know nothing.

[papau]

12. QM works well without religion until one gets to creation,

and action at a distance (meaning no cause and effect).

The physicists' explanations do indeed take on a religious aspect at that point.

A Greek lady physicist has a paper on everything beginning with a field that then gives forth energy and matter, so that field (think Higgs) is "God".

There is a thread on that topic (the Greek ladies field) in Science at DU - but sans any religious comments as I recall.

The math in QM is complex, and hides some of the assumptions quite often. Take everything with a grain of salt. But what has come down as peer reviewed "real" does indeed seem "unreal"! :-)