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Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Monistic Implications of Schrödinger’s Quantum Theory

One of the conclusions of Schrödinger’s quantum theory is that the position of the electrons which compose the material things in the universe cannot be predicted because they pervade the entire universe. The monistic philosophers have tried to use the conclusions of the quantum theory to develop arguments for supporting the monistic position that everything is immanent in everything else. Thus, you are not making a mistake when you assume that something is another thing. If in the darkness, you mistake a rope for a snake, you are not making a mistake because the electrons that comprise the snake are immanent in the rope, just as the rope’s electrons are there in the snake. No unreal thing is perceived. Some schools of Vedanta philosophy (for instance, the Ramanujacharya’s tradition) have preached similar ideas.

2 comments:

Ajit R. Jadhav said...

Yes, this *was* a little tough nut to crack.

The key: Types of elementary ``particles'' (their properties like ``mass'' and the algebraic sign of the ``charge''), their given (initial) configuration including their numbers in a region of space, and the rules of their interactions and evolution.

With that said, multi-scaling rules *also* say that you must attach numerical significance when you shift between the scales. You can't take the quantum theoretical presence of one electron in every physical object which you directly perceive, and then therefore say that mistaking the snake for the rope isn't a mistake. It *is* a mistake. A *very* gross one. At both the gross and micro scales.

If that's what Ramanujacharya/his enthusiastic student(s) *actually* said, he/they was/were plain in the wrong.

Best,
--Ajit

Anoop Verma said...

@Ajit: Good point. Ramanujacharya's teaching is about the essence of the absolute (the supreme god) being in everything. He says that you cannot mistake one thing for another thing, because everything, in its essence, is the same supreme god.