Quantum Reality: What We Know And Speculate About

"Watch some of the biggest names in physics debate the mysteries of the quantum and its future, including Roger Penrose, Sabine Hossenfelder, Avshalom Elitzur, Michio Kaku, Suchitra Sebastian, Priya Natarajan, Joscha Bach, Erik Verlinde, Hilary Lawson and Bjørn Ekeberg. 

"From string theory to quantum gravity and quantum computers, the quantum discourse is all the buzz in physics and beyond. But what is possible and what is mere fantasy? Can we bring together relativity and quantum mechanics? Will we ever find a unified theory to explain our universe?"

Click on the link below for opinions from the best minds in the field of physics regarding the murky world of quantum:

The Quantum World: Dreams And Delusions

Can Thoughts Affect Quantum Reality?

The brain is mysterious as is quantum mechanics. Thus, the temptation to accept claims by some "experts" that just thinking about influencing quantum reality can affect it. If you want the answer, click on the link below for an enlightening 18-min video on the subject:

Does Consciousness Influence Quantum Effects?

More On Quantum Mechanics

"What is the meaning of quantum physics? What does quantum mechanics mean? What is it telling us about the true nature of reality? Are particles at the quantum level fuzzy and spread out, two places at once, or in two different states at once, or affect each other instantly over any distance? Not really. There is no consensus on quantum reality."

In essence, it is weird but supported as real as any other established reality. Click on the link below to go deeper into it:

What is Quantum Mechanics Really Trying To Tell Us About Reality?

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What Is Reality At Its Base?

"By the end of 1905, we had two big new equations in physics. Max Planck’s, Energy equals Planck’s constant times the frequency, and Einstein’s Energy equals the mass times the speed of light squared. A young physicist, Louis Debroglie decided to combined them: MC^2 = hf, Since c and h are constants, if you ignore them, it simplifies to M = f – mass is essentially equal to frequency.

"But how can mass equal frequency because these are two completely different things. Mass is associated with particles. Frequency is associated with a wave."

Click on the link below for a 15-minute video delving into the reality of fundamental physics:

Are Photons & Electrons Particles or Waves?

Quantum Physics 101

If you think you understand quantum physics, you are in error. While it is confirmed by experimentation, replication, and peer review as much as any finding in science, it is SO weird that it defies common sense. Click on the link below for a fascinating discussion on the topic:

SIO283: Quantum Physics 101

Another Example Of The Difficulty Of Explaining Consciousness

"In this video I talk about a few approaches to mathematically describe consciousness and its shortcomings. I also briefly talk about what such studies could one day be good for."

Sabine Hossenfelder is a physicist who addresses the controversial topics within physics not only with knowledge but with discernment regarding the line between evidence and hypothesis. This video is a good example of her qualifications:

The Mathematics of Consciousness

Quantum Mechanics IS Weird (Where Is God?)

 "The most elegant interpretation of quantum mechanics is the universe is constantly splitting."

Most people who follow the findings of quantum mechanics are aware of the speculation of the multiverse. The speculation of parallel worlds is lesser-known by the public. The video below delves into the latter:

Parallel Worlds Probably Exist. Here's Why

Consciousness And The Double-Slit Experiments

There is no greater example of the "God of the Gaps" ("Leap of Faith") argument than what one can find in the area of consciousness, where the "woo" promoters are very active. Why? Many scientists believe that the hardest problem/mystery in science is consciousness and, thus, these pseudoscientists fill the "gap" with claims unsupported by evidence. The most frequent example of this is found in their interpretation of so-called "Double-Slit" experiments where they say it "proves" that the mind can control matter through its effects on quantum mechanics. While there are some scientists who think there may be a relationship between consciousness and quantum physics, others are skeptical (link).  This video challenges the woo.

The link below is one of the best retorts to the misinterpretation of the Double-Slit experiments:

"What I hope to do is demonstrate that the double-slit experiment doesn’t suggest that consciousness collapses the wave function of a particle. I’ll also attempt to go further in this article. I believe that the double-slit experiment provides considerable evidence that a ‘Quantum-consciousness’ (QC) hypothesis, the idea that consciousness can exist away from the brain and can affect particles in the double-slit experiment, must be false."

The Double Slit Experiment Demystified. Disproving the Quantum Consciousness connection

Why Magical Thinkers Need More Humility

The irony of science is that, although it is the best method to understand objective reality, it is humble enough to realize that, as it discovers more and more, it shows us how much more there is to know and how counter-intuitive reality is at its basic sub-atomic/quantum level.

Compare this thinking to religious/magical thinking that is "certain" about reality based on thousands of years of superstitious/pre-science influence. It is more than past time to stop the "God of the Gaps"-type arguments when hitting a barrier to our objective knowledge and admit that, at that point, "We just don't know."

Click on the link below, as it is emblematic of the knowns and unknowns of our reality:

Anti-Matter and Quantum Relativity

Quantum Physics IS Weird, But Real

"The quantum physics of large things: Macro quantum effect. Why don’t tennis balls behave like quantum particles? What happens to a baseball in a double-slit experiment? This experiment shows that atoms behave like waves of probability when not measured, and particles when measured. We also see that two quantum particles can be entangled, meaning that is connected through a sharing of one probability wave."

Why don't quantum effects occur in large objects?

"I learned quantum mechanics the traditional 'Copenhagen Interpretation' way. We can use the Schrödinger equation to solve for and evolve wave functions. Then we invoke wave-particle duality, in essence, things we detect as particles can behave as waves when they aren't interacting with anything. But when there is a measurement, the wave function collapses leaving us with a definite particle detection. If we repeat the experiment many times, we find the statistics of these results mirror the amplitude of the wave function squared. Hence the Born rule came into being, saying the wave function should be interpreted statistically, that our universe at the most fundamental scale is probabilistic rather than deterministic. This did not sit well with scientists like Einstein and Schrödinger who believed there must be more going on, perhaps 'hidden variables'."

Parallel Worlds Probably Exist. Here's why

"Is our universe a definitive single reality or is it merely one within an infinitely branching multiverse? "

The Many Worlds of the Quantum Multiverse

"Why is an observer key to quantum physics? Does the act of observation affect what exists and what happens in the external world? Why is Observation in the quantum world a mystery?

Observing Quanta, Observing Nature?

Taking The Woo Out of Quantum Mechanics

Many pseudoscience-oriented folks attempt to use quantum mechanics to explain such unsupported claims such as human free will and consciousness. This 13-min video does a pretty good job both in explaining quantum mechanics, as well as falsifying the claims that humans have free will and that consciousness is independent of the brain:

• "The fundamental underpinnings of nature are probabilistic, or nondeterministic. - - - we have to be careful not to extrapolate what happens at the quantum level, to the deterministic world of our everyday experience. Just because free will implies that your decisions are not deterministic, and quantum mechanics also implies that the properties of small particles are not deterministic, the two are not related. There is no science linking free will with quantum uncertainty."

The woo explained! Consciousness, Free will, Observation in Quantum physics

Quantum Mechanics: But Where Is God?

"Why doesn’t the world make sense? At the fundamental level of atoms and subatomic particles, the familiar 'classical' physics that accounts for how objects move around gives way to quantum physics, with new rules that defy intuition."

Believers in an interventionist God are really missing the wonders of reality.

How Quantum Mechanics Could Be Even Weirder

Quantum Mechanics: It's Real, But Not Important In Our Reality

Keep this in mind the next time an alternative to medicine practitioner throws our the "Q" word.

Difficult to understand, but it has no effect on our classical physics reality.

So, You Think You Understand Reality

http://phys.org/news/2015-10-zeno-effect-verifiedatoms-wont.html

Intuition and Reality

Another reason to accept the truth that reality can be counter-intuitive.

http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-spookiness-passes-toughest-test-yet-1.18255

Graphene Is Just The Beginning

I think a whole new world of reality is just beginning to be understood, and I would bet it will have great benefits for humanity and the world.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2015/07/17/beyond-graphene/#.VamuGrX95ul

Spirtuality Of The Gaps

"We should be careful to recognize that the weirdness of the quantum world does not directly imply the same kind of weirdness in the world of everyday experience. That’s because the nebulous quantum essence of individual elementary particles is known to quickly dissipate in large ensembles of particles (a phenomenon often referred to as “decoherence”). This is why, in fact, we are able to describe the objects around us in the language of classical physics."

As Sean Carroll, and other physicists, have stated, there is no room in our classical reality for the supernatural of any sort. Statements to the contrary are '"spirituality' of the Gaps."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/opinion/sunday/the-reality-of-quantum-weirdness.html?_r=0