Mind and the Measurement Problem
- Can The Mind Affect A Quantum Measurement Outcome?
- For what Henry Stapp calls the Schrödinger Process (NO),
for his Dirac Process (NO/YES), but for his Heisenberg Process (YES).
- Stapp's Heisenberg process is the "free choice" of the experimenter.
It's why the Bohr-Heisenberg Copenhagen interpretation says (correctly) that quantum reality - actual outcomes - can depend on human consciousness.
- A "Collapse" May Depend On The Mind, But Only Indirectly and In Part
- It depends on the choice of experiment, thus on the choice of the vector basis set.
- For example, in a polarization measurement, | ψ > = ( 1/√2) | h > + ( 1/√2) | v >.
- If we prepare a photon in a vertically polarized state, we can then measure it for vertical, horizontal, or diagonal polarization
- Pauli Measurements Of The First And Second Kind
- If we measure again for vertical polarization, it is a measurement of the first kind,
there is only one possible outcome (no new information).
- If we measure for diagonal polarization, it is a measurement of the second kind, nature decides on the outcome.
- The mind cannot affect the unitary time evolution (Stapp calls this the Schrödinger Process) nor can the mind affect the wave function collapse (Stapp's "Dirac Choice").
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