In this first of four lectures, quantum physicist Dr. Amit Goswami talks about the prejudices and paradoxes present in what we call as materialistic science. Goswami also traces the development of mainstream science, and why the materialistic worldview continues to dominate the sciences, despite the new evidences refuting it.
Goswami states that all the foundations of Newtonian Physics (which has been the basis of materialistic science for over 400 years now) has been challenged by quantum physics. The implication of this is tremendous: there is no new physics that can be developed that will restore classical physics that uses materialism as a basis for reality.
Implications for AI
If there is any area of study that has created the greatest impact on our the way we do science today, then it is quantum physics. Quantum physics has shown us that the world is composed of many possibilities, and that we create actual events based on what we pay attention to.
Through first lecture for Quantum University, Dr. Goswami shows us that everything we know about reality – that all of matter is bound by space and time, that matter is composed only of waves or particles – are false. He stresses that much of the scientific knowledge we hold on to today are nothing more than dogmas, which have been disproven many times by quantum physics.
Perhaps two of the most important concepts discussed by Dr. Goswami in this lecture are the concepts of quantum non-locality (proven in 1982), and the observer effect. Non-locality states that much of what we call reality exists outside of space and time, while the observer effect shows that the method we use to observe potentialities determines the actualities we experience.
If this is the case, then it means that human experience has no limit, except for the quality of consciousness it utilizes to view our universe. If our consciousness is limited (because it believes in the limited explanation of materialistic science), then we create a world where resources are scarce, and competition is necessary. But if our consciousness relies on limitless potentialities (which according to science is the nature of the universe), then scarcity and competition are non-existent and unnecessary.
If we earnestly look at the results of quantum physics, or even if we just observe nature [see To Sustain Life, We Must Build Communities to discover how nature sustains itself through cooperation], we will see immediately why materialistic science can never fully explain reality. Why then, should we let it determine our future? [This article on Transhumanism explains how materialism hopes to make itself the determinant of a future reality by creating machines with human-like capacities for logic].