QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

thus create both the different objects that are observed and their dynamic attributes. 720 In Bohr’s
way of thinking, it is not necessary for measurement to be handled in a different way to other
interactions. As with all macroscopic systems in which irreversible marks can be created,
humans themselves can be viewed as measuring devices. 721 Through the processes of encounter,
humans can both influence the way in which the world changes and they can change themselves.
4.3.7. The representation of physical reality by Bohr and Einstein
In investigating the changes brought about in our concept of reality by quantum mechanics it is
not possible to ignore the dramatic and widely publicised debate between Niels Bohr and Albert
Einstein. The dispute between these great twentieth century physicists about the interpretation of
quantum mechanics, our conception of reality and the nature of physical description has been
compared to the dispute between Newton and Leibnitz at the turn of the modern era. In what
follows, an attempt is made, using their different methods of approach, to cast some light on the
basic themes whose clarification is needed in order to solve the current crisis.
In 1920, on the first occasion when they met, Bohr and Einstein made a deep and very positive
impression on each other 722 , and throughout their lives each maintained great respect for the
other. By 1924, however, their different epistemological viewpoints and differing intuitive
insights concerning the nature of reality resulted in them occupying opposing scientific positions.
The proper, decades long dialogue between Bohr and Einstein at conferences, through articles
and in personal correspondence began at a conference in Solvay in 1927. 723 It was the first
occasion that they both attended after Bohr had presented his interpretation of complementarity.
Einstein had been influential in the development of quantum theory since its very beginnings, but
after 1925 he no longer participated directly in its formation and concentrated on the search for a
unified theory. Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics and Schrödinger’s wave mechanics were
720
Neither subjectivism nor idealism offer proper solution to the problem of collapse. As consciousness is not able
to affect matter directly, the reduction of the wave-function should happen somehow unconsciously. Also, the
reduction of the wave-function cannot be observed from an external viewpoint and the observer remains a prisoner
of his own consciousness.
721
Presumably the formation of our psychic structure could also be described in quantum-mechanical terms. See
also Section 5.3.
722
Letters in N. Bohr, Collected Works Vol. 3, p. 634.
723
Pais 1991, 230, 316-320.
273