The double look
Vlatko Vedral, a physicist at Oxford, argues that reality is made only of waves and that the obsolete wave-particle dualism must be completely abandoned. This position is eliminatory reductionism. It denigrates the existence of the complex dimension of reality. I will show how it reintroduces a dualism, that of reality and spirit. The reductionist discourse … Read more
What is real? What are our representations about it worth? Philosophy carefully scrutinizes these representations by its various metaphysical branches, but it knows nothing about their overall authenticity. These models could be congratulating each other and seriously mistaken on the reality itself. Is the powerlessness to explain a riddle such as consciousness an indication of … Read more
The way in which humans have theorized the relationship between matter and their mind is divided into three great eras: incompatibility, assimilation, coincidence. 1st era: incompatibility The contrast between material and spiritual is an evidence recognized since the dawn of humanity. The explanations provided during the first era, until the middle of the twentieth century, … Read more
An explanation at all costs? Physicists pay little attention to the interpretation of quantum mechanics on a daily basis. The Standard Model works very well, even to the point that researchers hope for unexpected results from their experiments that would force new theoretical developments. That quantum mechanics is difficult to connect to the macroscopic is … Read more
The philosopher’s outstretched hand I have not found a better synthesis on this subject than a remarkable issue (60) of Cités published in 2014 (french): “What do cognitive neuroscience think and want?”. The theme allows the confrontation between philosophers and neuroscientists about the mind/body problem. Yves Charles Zarka, for philosophers, begins by giving a hand: … Read more
Strong-Low-Electromagnetic-Gravitational “Four fundamental forces govern the Universe,” you read fluently in articles popularizing physics. Where does this pantheon come from? Are physicists the prophets of modern times, replacing the old gods with new ones? Revelation, in science, takes other paths. The divine mysteries, which must be believed without having seen anything, are replaced by concrete … Read more
Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russel André Deledicq and Mickaël Launay tell in Dictionnaire amoureux des mathématiques how Frege saw his beautiful set theory dynamited by a seemingly innocuous firecracker, posed by Russel. The year is 1902. Logicians like Frege try to make sets the fundamental core on which to build all mathematics. Arithmetic operations thus … Read more
Reality or simulation? Science & Vie echoes this month a quantum experiment “that can change everything”. The starting point is the simulation hypothesis. In 2003 Nick Bostrom, philosopher, notes that our descendants will have an exponential numerical power and draws 3 hypotheses: 1) Humanity will be extinct before being able to exploit it. 2) It … Read more
Evolution and depth of information Have you understood how Surimposium works? Any concept explanation can be deepened towards the bottom of the complex dimension. What do we find in descending the origin of morality in this way? Some authors have ventured there: John Mayfield, Jean-Paul Delayahe. They argue that evolution in biology is an increase … Read more
Order in Chaos Chaos is a muddle where our understanding struggles to find the slightest trace of order. An order? In what dimension? Let’s stop time. Chaos becomes a fixed picture. Everything is in its place. Abstract painting but well formed of elements. Order is spatial. By magnifying well we see molecules, each owner of … Read more