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Uncertainty Principle, it states that if we know the position of a particle with total accuracy we can know nothing about its momentum--and vice versa. A consequence is indeterminacy at the quantum level.
This is a major difference from the deterministic clockwork universe of materialism. In the early 1800's, Pierre Laplace proposed that, given knowledge of all the forces of nature and the status of the bodies of which it is composed, all past, present, and future events could be determined.
The uncertainty principle of quantum theory makes the materialist proposal forever incorrect--even in theory.
Lack of evidence--case dismissed
Many materialists believe that matter is all there is, that life is an accidental emergent property of matter, that mind is an emergent property of life, and that consciousness, free will, creativity and so forth are emergent epiphenomena of mind that are basically illusory. This is belief, not science.
Observers and superpositioning
Two of the more difficult components of quantum theory to comprehend are the roles of the observer and the concept of superposition. In a quantum situation nothing happens until a conscious observer looks!! What is there before he "looks" is a multitude of superposed possibilities, some of them highly probable, others less so. The act of looking instantaneously makes one of the possibilities become reality. There are literally thousands of experiments to show this is so. One of these was described in detail in Innerface International Vol.2 (1), and is reviewed in this issue.
Quantum theory says that when we set up an experiment and before we have taken a measurement (looked to see the result), all of the possible results are already present superposed in "ghost" form. The act of measuring (looking) makes one of the "ghost" forms become reality. [Bohr's group used the word "ghosts;" Einstein called them "spooks."]
The meaning of these superposed "ghosts," where they are, who or what they are, is a much debated point. Before they ever come to confront the "strangeness" of quantum theory, most scientists of western world origin have already been indoctrinated with preconceived ideas implying such esoteric nonsense is unscientific. Unless they are physicists, the likelihood is they know little or nothing about quantum theory--which is part of the reason that philosophies such as materialism and positivism have such a strong hold.
Some unmentionables
Some quantum physicists allow that the "ghosts" are a component of a "universal consciousness." Some call this "consciousness" the "ground of all being." In a short article that follows this, Werner Heisenberg refers to a "central order." David Bohm attempted to endow the "ghosts" with respectability by tacking a term onto the standard Schrodinger equation describing a quantum event. He called it the "quantum potential" and had it represent information giving form to what particles do. Scientists brought up in the Eastern world appear to have less of a problem with a term like "universal consciousness." Some, such as Amit Goswami, Professor of Physics at the University of Oregon, occasionally use the word "God," as being the true reality of "universal consciousness."
Where does the brain come in?
To accommodate the non-locality results described in the Aspect experiment and elsewhere, universal consciousness has to be non-local, but capable of interacting with the consciousness of the observer. To permit the observer to interact with both non-local universal consciousness and at the same time to be a part of the world we think of as real, some believe that there are components of the brain that are like the measuring instruments of an experiment and a second lot of components that act like highly coherent quantum systems. A coherent quantum system is the kind seen with superconductivity, superfluidity, and laser systems.
Physicist-mathematician Roger Penrose suggests that it is not the neurones of the nervous system that have this coherent quantum system property but it may be that the cytoskeletal microtubular system present in most types of animal cells including brain cells, is where a "quantum brain" is likely to be located. Evidence gathered by another physicist, Herbert Frohlich, indicated that large scale quantum coherent systems of the type referred to as Bose-Einstein condensates are present in biological cells and probably the microtubules have this property. That some such system may be involved with consciousness is indicated by studies on general anesthetics that may have their effect through on-off switching of the dipolar molecules of tuberlin, columns of which form the hollow tubes of the microtubules.
Many of those interested in this field (which is becoming intensely active) consider that "universal consciousness" is primary, and contains both the consciousness of the observer and material matter, the latter being considered as secondary.
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