Quantum Nonsense by Matt Lowry The Skeptical Teacher - ppt download

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The Beginning: Let There Be Light
Quantum Nonsense by Matt Lowry The Skeptical Teacher
Photoelectric effect. Phosphorescence. Blackbody radiation. Spectral lines.
Think of light as coming in packets of energy called photons; energy expressed as E = hf.
l = hc/E  de Broglie wavelength.
Both at Once The Wave Packet
Wavefunctions & Probability
NOW( ) It Starts Getting Weird…
Is QM Deterministic or Non-Deterministic Copenhagen: Wavefunction Collapse Bohm: Hidden Variables & Non-Local Entanglement. Many Worlds Interpretation. Just Shut Up And Calculate And Then There’s THE QUANTUM NONSENSE.
Because the universe needs an observer at all places and times to allow measurements & interactions to occur (i.e. a form of philosophical occasionalism) This misunderstands the concept of an observer in QM; it assumes an observer must be a conscious entity. But all experimental evidence, as well as application of Ockham’s Razor, shows that observers can just as easily be inanimate objects such as a detector or screen.
Argues that because we affect the universe (say, the position of an electron) by interacting with it, akin to the measurement problem, then that means we can influence the universe simply with our thoughts. Shows a basic misunderstanding of the measurement problem and the role of an observer ; incorrectly assumes some kind of undetermined mechanism by which our macroscopic brains can operate at the quantum level. Plus… it just DOESN’T WORK!!!! Otherwise, why would anyone die
Robert Kane’s Philosophy of Libertarian Freedom claims that human free-will is the result of conflicts in the will associated with self-forming actions that will cause the brain of the conflicted agent to become sensitive to quantum indeterminacies (i.e. our brains function based upon QM) WTF (What… The… Fhysics !!!!) Not necessarily true free-will; still constrained by the laws of nature (i.e. your free-will is a roll of the dice) Appeals to QM while ignoring the actual math behind the physics.
Like Robert Kane, but with the veneer of science. Claims that the micro-tubules in neurons could have quantum effects on neuronal behavior, thus allowing the brain to behave as a quantum computer. Detailed analysis (via Tegmark and other physicists) shows that microtubules are basically too large to allow quantum effects to be meaningful. In short, our basic brain structure is too big and too hot for it to act as a quantum device. Not supported by any kind of experimental evidence; now moving into not even wrong territory of woo.