The existence of the soul does not contradict science – an old physicist explained

Henry P. Stapp is a theoretical physicist at the University of California at Berkeley, who has worked with several founders of quantum mechanics. He did not want to prove that the soul existed, but he stated that the existence of the soul still conforms to the laws of physics.

According to Mr. Stapp, it is not right to say that belief in the soul is unscientific. Here, the word “soul” refers to a personality independent of the brain or the rest of the human body and can still exist after death. In his study “Compatibility of contemporary physical theory with life after death,” he wrote: “People have strong doubts about the existence of life after death, because they believe it is not in accordance with the laws of physics, this suspicion is unfounded. “

Stapp’s research is based on Copenhagen’s explanation of quantum mechanics, which is more or less the same explanation used by some of the founders of quantum mechanics, including Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Even Bohr and Heisenberg had some disagreements about the mechanics of quantum mechanics, and the understanding of quantum theory from that point onward became diverse. Stapp’s study of Copenhagen’s interpretation was also highly influential, carried out in the 1970s and Heisenberg wrote an appendix in it.

Stapp noted the concepts he put forward: “In my previous descriptions (or conceptions) of orthodox quantum mechanics, there was no mention of the concept of life after death.”

Stapp explains that the founders of quantum theory have asked scientists to cut the world into two parts. At the top of the cut line, classical mathematics can describe physical processes from empirical experience. Below the boundary, quantum mathematics describes an area that “does not obey all the laws of physics”.

Regarding the range below the cut line, Stapp wrote: “It is common to see that the evolutionary state of the system under the cutoff cannot match any classical description of the properties observed by the observer. see.”

So how do scientists observe this invisible? They choose specific properties of quantum systems and set up devices to see their influence on physical processes “above the cut line”.

The important thing is the choice of the experimenter. When working with quantum systems, the observer’s choice has been shown to influence the visible behavior above the cut line.

Stapp cited the same thing in Bohr’s reports of the interaction between the scientist and the experimental results: “Like a blind man with a stick: when the stick is kept loose, the boundary between the blind and the the outside world is the division between the hand and the stick; but when held tightly, the stick becomes a part of himself: he feels himself extending to the tip of the stick. “

The body and the spirit are connected in a flexible way. Regarding the relationship between the mind and the brain, the observer of the experiment may choose to maintain a kind of thought activity, otherwise his thoughts will go wild. This is a similar choice when the scientist decides which properties of the quantum system to study.

Quantum may explain that consciousness and brain can be separate or different, but still within the laws of physics, “this is a welcome discovery,” Stapp writes. “It solves the problem that has puzzled science and philosophy for centuries – that doing science is forced to equate consciousness and the brain, or to think the brain independently independently of the idea. awake. “

Stapp said that the personality of a dead person can cling to a living person (in the case of ‘soul entry’), which is not contrary to the laws of physics. It does not require any fundamental change in orthodox theory, but will need to “relax the notion that physical and mental phenomena only occur when they go together.”

Classical physical theory can only evade the problem, and classical physicists can only lower intuition as a product when people are confused in confusion, according to Stapp. Science should have acknowledged that “the effects of consciousness on matter are physical problems that need to be answered in flexible terms.”

How does this affect the moral foundation of society?

To uphold the morality of society, we must not just treat people as machines made of flesh and blood.

In another paper titled “The focus, purpose, and will in Quantum Physics,” Stapp wrote: “The general public now has taken the ‘scientific’ view that every human being It’s just a mechanical robot, which has a significant impact on and erodes society’s ethical underpinnings. ”

Stapp wrote that “people tend to argue that the person at fault is not ‘me’, but a mechanical process in the body: ‘the genes that made me do it’; or ‘high blood sugar makes me do it’. ” The famous example is the ‘Twinkie Defense’ case in California in the late 1970s, in which the assassin Dan White broke into the building and shot two people dead. The lawyers convinced the judge that he was depressed, leading to consuming too much sugary food, “a man was pushed beyond the limits of tolerance.” In the end, Dan White was only sentenced. ‘manslaughter.’

After Hurricane Harvey level 4, the United States is preparing to receive Irma storm ‘monster’ level 5

Hurricane Irma has been raised to level 5 and is likely to become the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States is warning that Hurricane Irma has the potential to become a real disaster, with winds up to more than 290 km / h – so strong it can be displayed on devices. earthquake tracking.

Path of Hurricane Irma

According to the NHC, on Tuesday and Wednesday (local time), Hurricane Irma will hit the Leeward Islands – a series of islands separating the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

It will enter Puerto Rico on Wednesday afternoon, then to the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Thursday, Jamaica on Friday afternoon.

Florida and Cuba could see the storm on Saturdays and Sundays, but because the weather forecast was limited to 5 days, it was still uncertain about the location and strength of the storm at that time.

Wind power

If Hurricane Harvey causes extensive damage because heavy rains cause severe flooding, the biggest threat from Hurricane Irma comes from wind. According to the Saffir-Simpson scale used by the US, Hurricane Irma is classified as level 5, but if including the terrible wind speed, it can climb up to level 6.

Winds of more than 290 km / h can destroy most wooden framed houses, knocking down trees and power lines. NHC forecasts that Irma will maintain at level 4 or level 5 until the end of this week.

The NHC also predicts that the possibility of a hurricane hitting Florida is increasing, but it is still too early to predict the direct impact of hurricanes on US domestic waters. The Florida governor declared a state of emergency after the storm situation was updated on Monday.

Previously, Category 5 Andrew was one of the strongest storms to hit the US mainland. It swept through Florida in February 1992. Category 5 hurricanes with winds above 250 km / h.

If Irma sustains level 5 when it enters the United States, it will cause widespread power outages and make the affected area inaccessible for weeks or months.

Category 5 hurricanes often cause complete destruction of buildings and utilities. Technically, storms above level 5 don’t cause more damage, because there’s nothing left to damage.