QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

models they create, and contrary to the assumption made in classical physics, cannot be detached
observers of all events which take place in the world of matter.
5.2.2. Embodied representation
Classical physics recognised only the world of matter and influential causes, there was no place
for random events in the world it portrayed. From the viewpoint of quantum physics, the
perceivable physical world is not however unchanging or deterministic, and measurement does
not only reveal things as they are, incidents that have taken place, but can also create new states
of affairs. In its search for absolute invariance, classical physics’ method of explanation requires
that the world is in principle completely open and available to an isolated observer who can
provide a comprehensive and fully-objective portrayal of the events that take place within it. The
problem of measurement implies that humans cannot be excluded from the world they are
investigating. We define and construct experimental situations, and as a consequence of this
activity in reality the desired attributes actualise within the limits of the allowed possibilities. 797
All seemingly absolute and objective natural facts are not, or cannot remain, wholly independent
of the way in which we act and carry out experiments. Even though we need not doubt that all
events in reality conform to laws, nature’s causal lawfulness cannot be identified with
predictability.
By choosing a specific item of measuring equipment, the experimenter essentially presents
nature with a certain type of unique question. The shaping of reality is neither completely
independent of how we act nor does it remain unaffected by our presence. Although the statefunction
gives the probabilities that different possibilities will be realised in an ever-changing
perceivable world, the birth of a specific interaction phenomenon requires manipulation of the
world, either the asking of specific questions or execution of specific experiments, and as a result
of these the perceived physical reality may also change. The shaping of reality by observers
cannot be completely predicted in advance or comprehensively described from an external
viewpoint, even by employing statistical laws, although this way of thinking is one which has
become generally familiar. Knowledge is not just a mirror in which reality is reflected, it is a
797 Even if human beings create different kind of circumstances where various attributes may appear, observation
does not directly influence the formation of reality. The objective structures of observable reality can still however
change as a result of human action. Humans influence both the formation of reality and the distribution of
consequent possibilities.
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