7
THE NEWTONIAN MECHANICS
The Newtonian mechanics was the model of classical science. In the classical
science all the natural laws had an absolutely deterministic and descriptive character
and defined the course and development of every phenomenon. The knowledge of
these laws assured the human – observer the ability to understand not only the
present but also the past and the future. In a deterministic and timeless universe, the
arrow of time is nothing but a human illusion. Only the vision of the universe from the
perspective of eternity ensures the truth of physical theories.
In the deterministic universe of the classical science, the order always creates
disorder and never vice versa! The scientific dream of a united (applying on the
microcosm as well as on the macrocosm) and objective (i.e. independent of the
observer) description of the natural world, would become the nightmare of the
contemporary physics in the beginning of the 20th century. The quantum description
and interpretation of the microcosm, which is regarded as the fundamental level in
which all the natural phenomena are raised and explained, requires a radical review
of not only the classical description but also of the metaphysical preconditions of
classical science.
The classical ideal in physics was to be able to predict with certainty the future
development of a physical system. Newton’s mechanics led to the triumph of the
deterministic vision of the natural processes: if we know the initial conditions of a
dynamical system, then the solution of the differential motion equations would allow
us to know in certainty not only the past but also the future of that system.
This, however, is not feasible for two reasons: a) it is not possible to have the initial
conditions of the system in absolute accuracy and b) the analytical solution is not
feasible for the great majority of the systems. As far as the first reason is concerned,
we have to mention that after the discovery of the unstable systems, it became clear
that very neighboring orbits (which, namely correspond to initial conditions and
whose values may differ slightly) after a certain period of time are removed
exponentially. In this notion, the orbit is actually an idealization, since it is never
possible to know the initial conditions in “infinite” accuracy.
8
According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Bohr’s principle of
correspondence, the neutral and deterministic description of the microcosm is
impossible: discontinuity and indeterminacy are inherent characteristics of
microphysical phenomena and in order to describe them we have to integrate the
observer within his own observations!
BEYOND THE SEPARATION: THE NEW COSOMOLOGICAL PARADIGM
Science evolves through alternating phases of 'normal' science and radical shifts
that create scientific revolutions. We saw this at the turn of the 20th century, when
science shifted from a Newtonian worldview to Einstein's relativity paradigm, and
again with the shift to the quantum paradigm. Now, as we recognize the non-local
interconnection of all things in space and time, we find our scientific worldview
shifting once again. The insight now emerging in the physical sciences, especially
but not exclusively in quantum physics, highlights the role of interaction and
interconnection in the diverse spheres of observation and experiment. He insight now
emerging in the physical sciences, especially but not exclusively in quantum physics,
highlights the role of interaction and interconnection in the diverse spheres of
observation and experiment. The quantum theory holds that we live in a participatory
universe - which is what we consider as an independent, external reality is linked to
the way we observe. When making observations and measurements, the quanta
which are everything in the universe, changing. It makes no sense to talk about the
properties of quanta without an observer. The universe is connected by conscious
observation instruments from the most elementary particles up to huge galaxies.
Moreover, quantum theory gives prominence to the quantum vacuum, the vacuum
that is prior to observable phenomena, such as atoms and molecules. Unlike the
common sense notion of empty space, the quantum vacuum is full of potential
prospects. The quantum vacuum is essential in all aspects of physics, the quantum
vacuum is an infinite set of "space-time foam" beyond which time, space - and
physical - come to an end itself. Quantum theory has reached the point where the
source of all matter and energy is a vacuum, a nothingness that contains all the
possibilities of everything that has ever existed or could exist.
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These possibilities then emerge as probabilities before “col apsing” into localized
quanta, manifesting as the particles in space and time that are the building blocks of
atoms and molecules. The transcendental field of Cosmos is the total of all the
possibilities that can occur in any part of the universal space-time.
The quantum vacuum underlies the level of quanta and is a virtual-energy filled
substrate rather than empty space) is the cosmic matrix in which the particles and
systems that constitute the materials of the world arise. The quantum vacuum is an
integration of what we used to think of as energy and information. It is a field of
informed energy.
The particles that appear as the material of the universe are entangled excitations of
the ground state of this cosmic matrix. The systems that appear as objects
composed of material particles are locally manifest yet intrinsically entangled
configurations of excitations in that matrix. The particles and systems we observe
emerged in the course of evolution in the cosmos. Following the Big Bang (which
appears to have been a Big Bounce, a phase-change in the sequence of local
universes in the multiverse) the first entities to emerge were photons, protons,
neutrons and electrons, and other, more short-lived exchange particles. In processes
of galactic and stellar evolution the higher-order configurations we know as the atoms
of the elements had emerged.
The current material of spacetime are superordinate configurations of the excitations
of the cosmic matrix. Galaxies are composed of stars and stellar systems, and stars
are composed of atoms and particles. All these systems are composed of particles,
and particles are entangled excitations of the matrix. Atoms, molecules, cells,
organisms—and on the macroscale planets, stars, stellar systems and galaxies—are
in the final count superordinate quantum systems: various-level configurations of
informed energy.
On suitable planetary surfaces higher-order configurations of informed energy made
their appearance. We call the self-maintaining and self-reproducing variety of these
configurations living organisms. Life is not accidental or extraneous phenomena in
the universe: the latest observations in astrophysics show that the basic building
elements of life, including glycine (which is an amino acid), and ethylene gycol (a
compound associated with the formation of sugars in organisms) are synthesized in
the course of the physicochemical evolution of sta
rs.
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The surface of planets associated with active stars are templates for the further
complexification of these elements, building sequentially higher order configurations
of informed-energy.
Information is a paramount factor in the emergence and persistence of informed-
energy configurations. In the absence of information the energies present in the
universe would be a random concourse of excitations of its ground state. Information
structures the energy-sea of the cosmic matrix, and coordinates interaction among
the structures.
QUANTUM THEORY
Quantum theory arose from the scientific attempt to describe the behavior of atoms
and their components. Therefore, it concerns primarily the microcosm. Physicists
have long known that certain procedures, such as radioactivity, seemed random and
unpredictable. While a large number of radioactive atoms obey the laws of statistics,
it is impossible to predict the exact time at which a specific atomic nucleus will split.
This fundamental uncertainty is extended to all individual and subatomic phenomena.
The word "quantum" by itself means a small energy package, i.e a very small
package (from the Latin word quandum). Thus, quantum mechanics, as quantum
theory is called, has to do with the basic keystones of matter. These are the basic
elementary particles which build up everything in nature. These particles include
atoms, molecules, neutrons, protons, electrons, quark, and also photons (the basic
light units). All these objects - if we can really describe them as such - are much-
much smaller than anything that can be seen and observed by the human eye.
In the dreamy quantum world: the particles are waves and the waves are particles.
That is, a beam light is both an electromagnetic wave propagating in the universe,
and a flow of tiny particles directed with speed towards the observer. This arises from
the fact that some quantum experiments or phenomena reveal the wave nature of
light, whereas others reveal the particulate nature the same light. Note though that
never both aspects of light are revealed simultaneously. Nevertheless, we suggest
that before we observe a beam of light it is both a wave and a particle flow at the
same time.
11
In the realm of quantum physics everything is ambiguous: a feature of uncertainty
dominates on all its entities, whether it is light, electrons, atoms or quarks. This
uncertainty is known as the uncertainty principle and it states that we can only predict
the most probable position of a particle and not the exact location. Moreover, we are
never able to determine with exact precision nor the position or the momentum of a
particle. Therefore, the scientific predictions on the results have a statistical and
probabilistic nature. Moreover, there are no "hidden variables" (as Einstein would
like), which, if were made known, would dispel the fog that surrounds the quantum
world. Therefore, the magical, the obscure, and the hidden, are the integral features
of the quantum structure of the universe.
For the interpretation of quantum mechanics there is a need for an ontological
investigation and reflection: Because what explanation can be given for the
mysterious superposition of the states of the quantum systems?
A photon (a quantum of light) or an electron (a negatively charged elementary
particle) can be found in a superposition of two or more states. We can no longer talk
about "here" OR "there". In the strange quantum world we can talk about "here" AND
"there." A photon, a part of a flow of light, that falls on a film screen with two holes,
instead of choosing one or the other hole as normally expected, can pass through
both of the two holes at the same time. An electron that follows a curved path around
a nucleus can be possibly located in multiple positions simultaneously.
The phenomenon that creates the greatest wonder in the dreamy world of quanta is
the phenomenon called Quantum Entanglement. Two particles that may be too far
away from each other, even millions or billions of kilometers away, are strangely
linked. The slightest variation that may occur in one of them immediately causes a
change in the other.
The quantum theory is primarily a practical field of physics. The quantum theory
helped to achieve brilliant technological developments such as nuclear power,
transistors, electron microscopy, lasers, and superconductors. Also, it explained the
structure of atoms and nuclei, the chemical bonds, the mechanical and thermal
properties of solids, the electrical conductivity, the iciness of collapsed stars, and
many other important natural phenomena.
12
The quantum theory has been proven by a vast majority of evidences that arise not
only by the relevant devices found in trade, but also by carefully designed scientific
experiment. Thus, most of the theoretical physicists simply perform their tasks
without reflecting on the bizarre philosophical implications of quantum theory. This is
proof that the ideology of common sense and positivism dominates on the western
civilization’s "cosmic theory of knowledge."
On the other hand, the mathematical theory of Hilbert space, the abstract algebra,
and the probability theory – which are the mathematical tools used for the
explanation of quantum phenomena - allow the prediction of highly-precise results
from the experiments, although they do not make us understand the processes
behind this phenomenon.
It looks like that the mysterious box of a quantum system is beyond the human limits
of genuine understanding. According to one of the interpretations of quantum
mechanics, we can only use the box to predict results, which are simply statistical in
nature.
The understanding of modern physics and mathematics does not arise from their
"language" or their equations but from the importance expressed through this
language. This means a shift the effort to interpret the phenomena using the
horizontal mathematical formalism of epistemology to the vertical mathematical
structuralism of ontology. In other words, a shift from scientism to the philosophical
science.
13
THE END OF CERTAINTY
CHAOS, COMPLEXITY AND SELF-ORGANIZED SYSTEMS
The Newtonian mechanics was the model of classical science. In the classical
science all the natural laws had an absolutely deterministic and descriptive character
and defined the course and development of every phenomenon. The knowledge of
these laws assured the human – observer the ability to understand not only the
present but also the past and the future. In a deterministic and timeless universe, the
arrow of time is nothing but a human illusion. Only the vision of the universe from the
perspective of eternity ensures the truth of physical theories. In the deterministic
universe of the classical science, the order always creates disorder and never vice
versa! The scientific dream of a united (applying on the microcosm as well as on the
macrocosm) and objective (i.e. independent of the observer) description of the
natural world, would become the nightmare of the contemporary physics in the
beginning of the 20th century. The quant
um description and interpretation of the
microcosm, which is regarded as the fundamental level in which all the natural
phenomena are raised and explained, requires a radical review of not only the
classical description but also of the metaphysical preconditions of classical science.
The classical ideal in physics was to be able to predict with certainty the future
development of a physical system. Newton’s mechanics led to the triumph of the
deterministic vision of the natural processes: if we know the initial conditions of a
dynamical system, then the solution of the differential motion equations would allow
us to know in certainty not only the past but also the future of that system. This,
however, is not feasible for two reasons: a) it is not possible to have the initial
conditions of the system in absolute accuracy and b) the analytical solution is not
feasible for the great majority of the systems. As far as the first reason is concerned,
we have to mention that after the discovery of the unstable systems, it became clear
that very neighboring orbits (which, namely correspond to initial conditions and
whose values may differ slightly) after a certain period of time are removed
exponentially. In this notion, the orbit is actually an idealization, since it is never
possible to know the initial conditions in “infinite” accuracy.
14
According to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Bohr’s principle of
correspondence, the neutral and deterministic description of the microcosm is
impossible: discontinuity and indeterminacy are inherent characteristics of
microphysical phenomena and in order to describe them we have to integrate the
observer within his own observations!
Ρrigozine believed that the laws of nature and those of physics are not given apriori,
nor are they entailed logically. They evolve in the same way the various species
evolve. Since things are becoming more multiple, bifurcations and aids occur and
new laws appear. “How can you be talking about the laws of biology if there are no
living systems?” This proves the creativity of life. Each level of organization produces
ALEXIS KARPOUZOS NON DUALITY THE PARTICI (1) Page 2
