Our present view of the everyday world allows for macroscopic objects to factually have only one definite physical state, out of many logical possibilities. If we toss a coin, logically speaking, both heads and tails are possibilities. In an actual toss, however, only heads or tails will show up. We shall refer to this view of the objects of the everyday world as the classically-definite (CDEF) conception of an object and its state. According to this CDEF conception, an object is always (factually) in only one of its many (logically) possible states. In addition, all the properties that we can associate with such a factual state of the object will have determinate values at all times, whether measured or not. This CDEF conception is independent of any physical theory and is basic to everyday naive realism.
In this paper I shall argue the possibility for abandoning the CDEF conceptions altogether while interpreting quantum theory, even at the observational level, despite their demonstrated pragmatic usefulness. I shall argue for this move by raising both theoretical and experimental considerations that call into question how far terms such as wave-particle duality and superposition adequately convey the quantum implications of the corresponding formal terms. Indeed, the central thesis of this paper will be that we cannot even begin to comprehend the essential nature of the quantum mechanical description unless we develop an alternative, quantum-compatible conception of everyday objects in everyday thinking.
We shall call the task of identifying such a conception of everyday objects and developing appropriate formal ideas based on it as the 'observation problem'. We then discuss certain interpretive insights of Einstein and Bohr that shows both of them recognized the observation problem as the principal one. Toward solving the observation problem, I identify a range of properties I label as ‘relational properties’. We routinely attribute to macroscopic objects in everyday thinking, and I discuss how in fact they are quantum-compatible. I discuss in broad terms how incorporating this relational property viewpoint into quantum physics would solve the observation problem. Such a solution would also simultaneously altogether avoid the measurement problem, which is an artifact of our current pragmatically successful strategy of retaining a classical view of the macroscopic world, while applying quantum theory to the microscopic world.
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In this paper I shall argue the possibility for abandoning the CDEF conceptions altogether while interpreting quantum theory, even at the observational level, despite their demonstrated pragmatic usefulness. I shall argue for this move by raising both theoretical and experimental considerations that call into question how far terms such as wave-particle duality and superposition adequately convey the quantum implications of the corresponding formal terms. Indeed, the central thesis of this paper will be that we cannot even begin to comprehend the essential nature of the quantum mechanical description unless we develop an alternative, quantum-compatible conception of everyday objects in everyday thinking.
We shall call the task of identifying such a conception of everyday objects and developing appropriate formal ideas based on it as the 'observation problem'. We then discuss certain interpretive insights of Einstein and Bohr that shows both of them recognized the observation problem as the principal one. Toward solving the observation problem, I identify a range of properties I label as ‘relational properties’. We routinely attribute to macroscopic objects in everyday thinking, and I discuss how in fact they are quantum-compatible. I discuss in broad terms how incorporating this relational property viewpoint into quantum physics would solve the observation problem. Such a solution would also simultaneously altogether avoid the measurement problem, which is an artifact of our current pragmatically successful strategy of retaining a classical view of the macroscopic world, while applying quantum theory to the microscopic world.
Read more: here
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