A further implication of “quantum theory as field theory of configuration space”: It means that “spatial configurations” are merely coordinates, labels; and labels are merely conventions. All that really exists in this interpretation are currents in a homogeneous infinite-dimensional space. When such a current passes through a point notionally associated with the existence of a particular brain state, there’s no picture of a brain attached anywhere. This means that the currents and their intrinsic relations bear all the explanatory burden formerly borne by spatial configurations in classical physics.
Dustin, what question are you talking about? Question to whom? The only comments I see from you are addressed to Caledonian, in the previous post in this series.
I am afraid that I find the relational interpretation to be gibberish. “The character of each quantum event is only relative to the system involved in the interaction.” Can we apply this to Schrödinger’s cat? “The cat is only dead relative to its being seen to be dead”, perhaps? The cat is dead, alive, neither, or both. It is not “relative”.
“This relativisation of actuality is viable thanks to a remarkable property of the formalism of quantum mechanics. John von Neumann was the first to notice that the formalism of the theory treats the measured system (S ) and the measuring system (O) differently, but the theory is surprisingly flexible on the choice of where to put the boundary between the two. Different choices give different accounts of the state of the world (for instance, the collapse of the wave function happens at different times); but this does not affect the predictions on the final observations. Von Neumann only described a rather special situation, but this flexibility reflects a general structural property of quantum theory, which guarantees the consistency among all the distinct “accounts of the world” of the different observing systems. The manner in which this consistency is realized, however, is subtle.”—SEP
A further implication of “quantum theory as field theory of configuration space”: It means that “spatial configurations” are merely coordinates, labels; and labels are merely conventions. All that really exists in this interpretation are currents in a homogeneous infinite-dimensional space. When such a current passes through a point notionally associated with the existence of a particular brain state, there’s no picture of a brain attached anywhere. This means that the currents and their intrinsic relations bear all the explanatory burden formerly borne by spatial configurations in classical physics.
Dustin, what question are you talking about? Question to whom? The only comments I see from you are addressed to Caledonian, in the previous post in this series.
I am afraid that I find the relational interpretation to be gibberish. “The character of each quantum event is only relative to the system involved in the interaction.” Can we apply this to Schrödinger’s cat? “The cat is only dead relative to its being seen to be dead”, perhaps? The cat is dead, alive, neither, or both. It is not “relative”.
No, you can’t fet inconsistent interpretations:-
“This relativisation of actuality is viable thanks to a remarkable property of the formalism of quantum mechanics. John von Neumann was the first to notice that the formalism of the theory treats the measured system (S ) and the measuring system (O) differently, but the theory is surprisingly flexible on the choice of where to put the boundary between the two. Different choices give different accounts of the state of the world (for instance, the collapse of the wave function happens at different times); but this does not affect the predictions on the final observations. Von Neumann only described a rather special situation, but this flexibility reflects a general structural property of quantum theory, which guarantees the consistency among all the distinct “accounts of the world” of the different observing systems. The manner in which this consistency is realized, however, is subtle.”—SEP