Hofstadter, Dennett - The Mind's I

Rediscovering the Mind 37ists who would move from the mind to the first principles ofatomic physics. It is most clearly seen at present in thewritings of the sociobiologists, whose arguments animate thecontemporary intellectual scene. In any case, Du Bois-Reymond’sviews are consistent with modern radical reductionists, exceptthat quantum mechanics has how replaced Newtonian mechanics asthe underlying discipline.During the period in which psychologists and biologistswere steadily moving toward reducing their disciplines to thephysical sciences, they were largely unaware of perspectivesemerging from physics that cast an entirely new light on theirunderstanding. Toward the close of the last century, physicspresented a very ordered picture of the world, in which eventsunfolded in characteristic, regular ways, following Newton’sequations in mechanics and Maxwell’s in electricity. Theseprocesses moved inexorably, independent of the scientist, whowas simply a spectator. Many physicists considered their subjectas essentially complete.Starting with the introduction of the theory of relativityby Albert Einstein in 1905, this neat picture wasunceremoniously upset. The new theory postulated that observersin different systems moving with respect to each other, wouldperceive the world differently. The observer thus becameinvolved in establishing physical reality. Te scientist waslosing the spectator’s role and becoming an active participantin the system under study.With the development of quantum mechanics, the role of theobserver became an even more central pat of physical theory, anessential component in defining an event. The mind of theobserver emerged as a necessary element in the structure of thetheory. The implications of the developing paradigm greatlysurprised early quantum physicists and led them to studyepistemology and the philosophy of science. Never