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Nonlocal Phenomena: Physical Explanation and Philosophical Implications

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Mathematical Undecidability, Quantum Nonlocality and the Question of the Existence of God

Abstract

This century has given us two theories that have been most successful in calculating and predicting phenomena: relativity and quantum mechanics. The attempt to unify them is a characteristic of physics research today.

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Notes

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  25. The expression “a photon chooses” deserves some explanation. We assume the view that when a photon impacts at a beam-splitter, some free will (choice requires free will) makes a choice, for instance the choice to make a detector monitoring the transmitted path click, and to let undisturbed a detector monitoring the reflected path. This does not mean that we attribute free will to the “photon”, but rather that terms like “photon” or “particle” refer to contents or intentions of some mind (evidently not a human one). In a particular experiment, a detection reveals one intention this mind had, and destroys the possibility to know the other intentions of this mind regarding the alternative (undone) experiments. We use expressions like “the photon makes a choice” to avoid complicated formulations. Notice that this view can be considered realistic in the sense, “that the regularities in the observed phenomena, and the intersubjective agreement, require a general explanation not exclusively based on the structure of the human mind”. (B. d’Espagnat, “Nonseparability and the Tentative Descriptions of Reality”, in W. Schommers (ed.), Quantum Theory and Pictures of Reality, p. 159, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1989.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Zurich, Switzerland

    Antoine Suarez

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  1. Antoine Suarez
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Physics, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Alfred Driessen

  2. The Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland

    Antoine Suarez

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Suarez, A. (1997). Nonlocal Phenomena: Physical Explanation and Philosophical Implications. In: Driessen, A., Suarez, A. (eds) Mathematical Undecidability, Quantum Nonlocality and the Question of the Existence of God. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5428-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5428-4_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6283-1

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