quantum mysticism

"Quantum mysticism" and "quantum quackery" are pejorative terms referring to the practice of selectively borrowing ideas from quantum physics to support New Age and other pseudoscientific beliefs. This trend was once also described by physicist and skeptic Murray Gell-Mann as "quantum flapdoodle".^[1]

Science fiction writer Greg Egan, commentator Margaret Wertheim, among others, have complained that quantum physics is being hijacked by people with little understanding of the underlying concepts, and whose claims lack the intellectual rigour intrinsic to scientific inquiry.

Quantum mysticist literature

Counterintuitive aspects of quantum physics such as the uncertainty principle have invited metaphysical speculation from the time of their development. New Age "mystical physics" began in earnest in the 1970s, with Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, in which he asserts that quantum physics confirms Eastern mystical teachings. This was taken up in the 1980s by Hindutva pseudoscience (notably published by Voice of India), which extrapolated on the statements of Vivekananda, who in 1897 claimed that "the conclusions of modern science are the very conclusions the Vedanta reached ages ago"^[2], identifying concepts from physics like gravitation, electricity, magnetism and other forces with the mystical Vedantic notion of Prana.[1][2]

A classic case of "application" of quantum physics to topics outside physics is the case of Deepak Chopra, who was awarded the 1998 Ig Nobel Prize in physics for "his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness." [3]

"Quantum healing is healing the bodymind from a quantum level. That means from a level which is not manifest at a sensory level. Our bodies ultimately are fields of information, intelligence and energy. Quantum healing involves a shift in the fields of energy information, so as to bring about a correction in an idea that has gone wrong. So quantum healing involves healing one mode of consciousness, mind, to bring about changes in another mode of consciousness, body." (Deepak Chopra[4])

Similarly, the 2004 film What tнe ♯$*! Do ωΣ (k)πow!? attempts to use ideas about quantum mechanics, among other sciences, to support its New Age thesis.

Theories of Quantum mind, themselves viewed sceptically by some scientists, have given rise to concepts like Quantum meditation.‹The template Weasel-inline is being considered for deletion.›  ^{[weasel words][3]}

Pseudoscientific references to quantum mechanics are not restricted to New Age gurus, but were likewise common in the postmodernist mainstream of the late 20th century, as was seen in the Sokal Affair of 1996, where Alan Sokal published a tongue-in-cheek paper entitled Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity (in which he went so far as to not merely referring to "quantum" but the more bleeding-edge and esoteric quantum gravity) in the postmodernist journal Social Text. The editors' acceptance of the nonsensical article earned them the 1996 Ig Noble Prize.

Rejection by mainstream physics

Most physicists would argue that nothing in quantum mechanics offers proof for such beliefs, such as Heinz Pagels who in his The Cosmic Code writes:

"Some recent popularizers of Bell's work when confronted with Bell's inequality have gone on to claim that telepathy is verified or the mystical notion that all parts of the universe are instantaneously interconnected is vindicated. Others assert that this implies communication faster than the speed of light. That is rubbish; the quantum theory and Bell's inequality imply nothing of this kind. Individuals who make such claims have substituted a wish-fulfilling fantasy for understanding. If we closely examine Bell's experiment we will see a bit of sleight of hand by the God that plays dice which rules out actual nonlocal influences. Just as we think we have captured a really weird beast--like acausal influences--it slips out of our grasp. The slippery property of quantum reality is again manifested."

Parodies

No-one knows the reason for this, but it's probably quantum is a phrase used by the dog Gaspode in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, as a sarcastic reference to quantum quackery.

The attitude towards the obscurantism of scientific jargon used to avoid genuine debate or hide ignorance has precedents in Orwell's Politics and the English Language, and in the quack of Molière's Le Malade imaginaire.

Notes

Literature

Publications accused of quantum mysticism

• Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism, Shamballa, 1975
• Deepak Chopra MD, various works including his theory of Quantum healing
• Amit Goswami, The Self-Aware Universe
• Lawrence LeShan, The Medium, the Mystic, and the Physicist: Toward a General Theory of the Paranormal, 2003, Helios Press, ISBN 978-1581152739
• Diarmuid O'Marche. Quantum Theology, Crossroads, 1997, ISBN 0-8245-1630-3
• Michael Talbot, The Holographic Universe ISBN 0-06-092258-3
• Michael Talbot, Mysticism And The New Physics ISBN 0-14-019328-6
• Michael Talbot, Beyond The Quantum ISBN 0-553-34480-3
• Arthur Zajonc, Zara Houshmand The New Physics and Cosmology Dialogues with the Dalai Lama
• Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters, 1980, ISBN 0-553-26382-X
• [5] Christian Thomas Kohl, Buddhism and Quantum Physics

Criticism of quantum mysticism

• Victor J. Stenger. (1995). The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-022-3, an anti-mystical point-of-view
• "Quantum Physics Quackery", Skeptical Inquirer, January 1997 (discusses book The Self-Aware Universe) online
• V. J. Stenger, Quantum quackery, Skeptical Inquirer Vol. 21. No. 1, January/February 1997, p. 37ff, based on an invited talk at the World Skeptics Congress in Buffalo in June, 1996.
• M. Schermer, Quantum Quackery, Scientific American, January 2005 [6]

See also

• Interpretation of quantum mechanics
• Paraphysics
• Quantum mind
• Quantum evolution (alternative)
• Schrödinger's cat in popular culture
• Many-worlds interpretation
• Consciousness causes collapse
• Fashionable Nonsense
• Schön scandal
• Fred Alan Wolf
• Subhash Kak
• Deepak Chopra

External links

• Appeal to Quantum Mechanics
• "Skeptico" blog
• Deepak Chopra's website
• The Center for Quantum Philosophy
• Quantum Philosophy Theories
• Margaret Wertheim on Quantum mysticism
• Information on Buddhism and Quantum Physics
• Buddhism and Quantum Physics by Christian Thomas Kohl
• Article on What tнe ♯$*! Do ωΣ (k)πow!? in What Is Enlightenment? magazine

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