Reflection on the Skeptics and Heisenberg’sUncertainty Principle
I decided to discuss a concept from the ancient Greek school of thought called skepticism. The concept is the idea that when comparing the sensory experiences of animals with senses that humans possess, we cannot presume that they experience senses in the same way that we do. The textbook uses the phrase that we must "suspend judgment." I know how my sense of smell works, but I cannot use that to understand how my dog’s sense of smell works, at least not entirely. I see this having a couple important consequences.
1. My senses are limited in their ability to draw conclusions about the outside world.
2. Even when my senses provide relevant information, some of that information may need to be ignored.
This concept compares favorably with a way that I have chosen to behave in my thought process; a way that I learned from quantum physics.
Werner Heisenberg gained fame in contemporary pop culture through his name's use in the show Breaking Bad. Anyone who is reading this that is unfamiliar with this reference should stop reading and watch the show now. Heisenberg is credited with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which states that one cannot measure quantum particles' positions without changing the behavior of the quantum particles. Observing something changes that thing, so it is impossible to know how an object would behave if it were not observed. We can observe something with our senses, but we may need to “suspend judgement” and consider that our observation made the situation different. The context surrounding our observation may be wrong. This description of the uncertainty principal is a crude and oversimplified explanation of a very complex topic.
The Skeptics were not talking about the quantum world, but the observable universe. How does any of this apply to the world of the Skeptics? Albert Einstein took exception with Heisenberg's proposition in that one does not need to observe the moon to know that it is there and observing it does not change the moon. This interpretation of a quantum principle in the context of the observable universe validates my worldview, at least somewhat, and also states the principle in a way that the Skeptics could engage. The uncertainty principle has been a philosophical concept that I use to try to help keep an open mind in the world.
I jokingly tell my kids that the answer to the question "if a tree falls in the woods and no one was there to hear it, would it make a noise?" is that it is impossible to know. I believe that both Einstein and Heisenberg would say that it does make a sound. Would the Skeptics agree with two of the 20th century's greatest minds or me? Does the act of observing a tree falling in the woods change the behavior of that tree and the physical interactions surrounding that tree or do we need the “suspend judgement” from our sense of our hearing?
I think the skeptics would see my thought process and at least give it some consideration. More than this simple thought experiment, I believe that the skeptics and I would see many things in common. I try to avoid making assumptions as much as I can, especially when dealing with other people. Last week, someone texted me a scandalous tidbit about a politician we both despise. It would be easy to assume that the "evil" guy was doing an evil thing, but I wanted to attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt. I asked my friend for his source material, as any modern skeptic would. When I read through the source material, I found that the headline was purposefully misleading (shocker?), but that the situation's truth was a much larger problem that involves most people in our society.
My propensity to view situations while removing assumptions is something I think the Skeptics would appreciate. I realize that I have focused on my worldview using philosophical concepts either out of context or incorrectly in this reflection. I hope that I could convey the connection in my application of the logic behind these concepts without making too much of a mess. I think it's also worth noting that even though my source material for the Uncertainty Principle is listed as Wikipedia, this is a concept I have personally used for many years.
References
Melchert, N. (2014). The Great Conversation, A Historical Introduction to Philosophy 7th edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Uncertainty principle. (2020, October 10). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle