In my two previous Out There posts, I showcased starkly different ways of interpreting quantum mechanics and, by extension, two starkly diffent ways of understanding the relationship between us humans and the universe around us. Sean Carroll at Caltech argues on the side of the Many Worlds Interpretation, which holds that reality is constantly splitting off into different versions. Chris Fuchs at the University of Massachusetts at Boston speaks out on behalf of QBism, an interpretation which observers participate in a single reality through interaction with their surroundings.
But these are far from the only possible ways to make sense of quantum mechanics. The varied ideas are complicated and subtle, but what I find fascinating is the concrete concerns that motivate them. Theoretical physicists want to know the same kinds of things that you and I want to know (well, I do at least). Can there be other realities, or is this the one and only? Are we passive participants in the universe, or are we fundamentally connected to the rest of the universe?
During my reporting, I received a passionate response from renowned physicist Sir Roger Penrose, emeritus professor at Oxford University, who has been pursuing an idea known as objective reduction. He believes that there is a real, observable process that occurs when a quantum object interacts with its surroundings and "collapses" into a specific, measurable location. I also had a short but pointed exchange with Robert P. Crease, a historian and philosopher of science at Stony Brook University in New York. He focuses on the philosophical meaning of quantum mechanics. (For more of his views regarding the meaning of science, see his recent book, The Workshop and the World.)
Both Penrose and Crease reject the Many Worlds Interpretation, though for quite different reasons. Both are also committed to connecting physics with human experience. Read on, and don't worry if their answers make your head spin a little.
