Mindful Universe

Quantum Mechanics and the Participating Observer

Henry P. Stapp (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

XII, 198 Seiten

2007
Springer Berlin (Verlag)
978-3-540-72413-1 (ISBN)

Infos

The classical mechanistic idea of nature that prevailed in science during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was an essentially mindless conception: the physically described aspects of nature were asserted to be completely determined by prior physically described aspects alone, with our conscious experiences entering only passively. During the twentieth century the classical concepts were found to be inadequate. In the new theory, quantum mechanics, our conscious experiences enter into the dynamics in specified ways not fixed by the physically described aspects alone. Consequences of this radical change in our understanding of the connection between mind and brain are described.

Autor

Author of over three hundred research papers on the mathematical, physical, and philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics, and a Springer book "Mind, matter, and quantum mechanics". Worked personally with W. Heisenberg, W. Pauli, and J.A. Wheeler on these issues. Invited author of entries about quantum theories consciousness in several currently about to appear encyclopedias. Invited plenary speaker at numerous international conferences. For book cover: Henry Stapp has spent his entire career working in frontier areas of theoretical physics. After completing his thesis work under Nobel Laureates Emilio Segré and Owen Chamberlain, he joined Wolfgang Pauli to tackle foundational issues. After Pauli's early death, he turned to von Neumann's ideas about the mathematical foundations of quantum theory. The essay 'Mind, Matter and Quantum Mechanics', that developed out of this work eventually evolved into Stapp's classic book bearing the same title. His deep interest in the quantum measurement problem led him to pursue extensive work pertaining to the influence of our conscious thoughts on physical processes occurring in our brains. The understandings achieved in this work have been described in many technical articles and now, in more accessible prose, in the present book.

Inhalt

Science and Human Values.- Human Knowledge as the Foundation Science.- Actions, Knowledge, and Information.- Nerve Terminals and the Need to Use Quantum Theory.- Templates for Action.- The Physical Effectiveness of Conscious Will.- Support from Contemporary Psychology.- Application to Neuropsychology.- Roger Penrose's Theory and Quantum Decoherence.- Faster-Than-Light Connections.- Whiteheadian Quantum Ontology.- An Interview.- Consciousness and the Anthropic Questions.- Impact of Quantum Mechanics on Human Values.- Conclusions.- Appendices.- Non-orthodox Versions of Quantum Theory and the Need for von Neumann's Process.- The Basis Problem in Many- Worlds Theories.- Despised Dualism.- Recent Views in Neuroscience and Philosophy.- Gazzaniga's The Ethical Brain .- Von Neumann: Knowledge, Information, and Entropy.- Wigner s Friend and Consciousness in Quantum Physics.- Orthodox Interpretation and the Mind-Brain Connection.- Einstein Locality and Spooky Action at a Distance.- Locality in Physics.- Nonlocality in Quantum Physics.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.6.2007
• Reihe/Serie: The Frontiers Collection
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 155 x 235 mm
• Gewicht: 490 g
• Einbandart: gebunden
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Astronomie / Astrophysik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Theoretische Physik
• Schlagworte: Foundations of ethics • Mind-brain connection • Neuropsychology • Quantum Physics • Science and religion
• ISBN-10: 3-540-72413-3 / 3540724133
• ISBN-13: 978-3-540-72413-1 / 9783540724131
• Zustand: Neuware