QUANTUM METAPHYSICS - E-thesis

visible material form and a soul. Plato, for example, saw the soul as being made up of several
layers. It was not immaterial, it was made, according to specific proportions, of very fine
material that was invisible. The existence of this material animated the whole cosmos and in
some way it shared the destiny of the visible world. 844
At the beginning of the modern era, the tradition of natural science rejected all discussion of the
soul. Talk about an object’s essence or its internal change could not be reconciled with a
mechanistic-deterministic conception of reality, and in today’s world, very few people believe in
the existence of the soul as any real or substantial entity. Surprisingly, however, the quantum
frame of reference offers possibilities for a new kind of attempt at describing the delicate
relationship between the visible material world and its invisible part that was sought by Plato and
Aristotle. The mathematically-accessible abstract quantum state can be interpreted as an
immaterial form or structure which shapes events in the visible world while itself changing and
evolving its processes.
The idea that some sort of invisible, mathematically-addressable internal side is linked to all
physical structures should certainly not be taken as signifying a return to the type of language
used in bygone days and to the obscure metaphors then employed. Through its unique structure,
quantum theory can lead to a clearer-than-before understanding of the character and connection
between what are termed the physical and psychic aspects of reality. The forming of both of
these can take place according to similar kinds of laws or partly within the same framework of
conformity to laws. According to quantum theory, each atom and object has a specific energy
structure and specific probabilities associated with the manifestation of these different states.
Each physical form or structure exhibits specific quantum states in specific conditions, in the
way shown by the analogue of standing waves formed in an oscillating spring. Perhaps the
different energetic and excited states formed in different parts of our brains or our bodies could
be connected in some way with the different fundamental states or levels of consciousness that
humans are capable of experiencing. 845
844 Aristotle also thought that all being had two sides. Form and matter were manifested in human beings as soul
and body. They could not exist independently. The concept of soul was also of great significance to Spinoza,
Leibniz and Kant.
845 For example, Damasio believes that consciousness as a capacity to experience must be explicable as a function
of the brain. If quantum states are real and somehow become visible in brain and mental phenomena, development
of the complexity and sensitivity of the mind as aresult of experience, learning etc. might lead to better contact with
the delicate structures of reality. Ethical development could thus lead to the kind of harmonious connection with
reality assumed by, for example, Heraclitus and Spinoza.
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