Quantum Discontents, or What Is Wrong with Our Science Practice

• Main Author: Gennady Shkliarevsky
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
• Series: Philosophies
• Subjects: quantum theory; Copenhagen interpretation; Bohmian mechanics; quantum uncertainty; determinism; subject-object relations; systems theory
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/3/4/40

For more than eighty years, quantum theory (QT) has dominated physical science. This domination remains unchallenged to this day. Some physicists celebrate this remarkable stability. Others lament this fact and argue that QT inhibits our understanding of physical reality. They feel that numerous problems that have accumulated in physical science require stepping beyond the horizon outlined by QT. The article offers a critical examination of the foundational assumptions of QT that shape its practice. It uses two interpretations of QT as case studies—Copenhagen interpretation and the theoretical perspective advanced by American physicist David Bohm—to explain one major problem that continues to plague our study of physics. The article sketches a path to a possible solution and outlines a new science practice that this solution will require.