It is in fact the observer which determines how and many are the system elements, which are the relations/processes to be observed and defines the system boundary. Furthermore, to discover and define the system - to measure it at level 0 - the observer must interact with it, and therefore modified it, so the original system is never known but only the detected one can be described. More, also the system under observation may interact with the observer. It is therefore necessary to consider a broader vision at a higher-level system which consists of observer-observed system.
This apparently lapalissade view is not so obvious since still today persists the myth that the reality of scientific description, particularly for the "hard sciences" such physics - described in the formal language of mathematics - is "objective" therefore not dependent from the observing subject. In this myth the observer never modify the observed system by observing it, and can always know the "original" physical reality
This gross confusion of one of the foundations of Galilean scientific method
that is the result of an experiment to be considered valid must be independent and agreed by all parties that carry out it, is the result of seventeenth-century Descartes'dualism between res extensa and res cogitans, mind and body, subject and object at physical level 0.
The myth of objectivity, at least at level 0, is also a consequence of the enormous success until 1900 of the newtonian classical physics (classical mechanics and gravitation) and Maxwellian (classical electromagnetism) to explain virtually all the physical phenomena observed, from the motion of the planets to the propagation of light. Even today almost all the technologies developed in 800s and 900s, from mechanics to electronics, have their foundation based on these two classical theories, which are the basis of our experience of "subjective" reality of the physical level 0.
In classical physics, the observer does not exist, or rather has no influence, if not for the fact that all laws/equations are to be defined in a given coordinate system, specifying the location and the time reference from which one points. All the laws of classical physics are invariant to any reference system in space and time, that is are valid for any observer at any place and at any time. Space and time are therefore considered absolute.
The conceptual paradigm of classical physics was radically revolutionized at the beginning of 900s when "places" of physics not yet studied previously where examined theoretically and experimentally, particularly those of high speed/energy (comparable to that of light) and picodimensions such as the inside of the atomic nucleus and of its constituents.
In the two theories developed during the 900s for these areas of phenomena, the theory of Special Relativity and of Quantum Mechanics, the observer's role is central, and denies any possibility of beliefs as "objective reality" and of commonsense already at the level 0.
The figure shows the scope for the various theories. Horizontally is shown the size of objects d, vertically their velocity v. As the upper limit of speed is shows the speed of light c and as the upper limit of size below which quantum phenomena are involved is given as the length (diameter) of an atomic nucleus Lp. For dimensions larger than Lp and speed lower to about half that of light c/2, that is in the world of our experience, classical physics CF is valid; for dimensions smaller than Lp and speed lower than c/2 quantum physics QF applies; for dimensions larger than Lp and speed higher than c/2 is the relativistic physics RF that applies; finally for dimensions smaller than Lp and speed faster than c/2 are valid both quantum theory and relativity, or the quantum-relativistic physics Q-R F, is to be used .
The integration between Quantum Mechanics and Theory of Relativity was initiated by the work of Paul Dirac in 1928 and followed with the development of Quantum Field Theories.
Some relevant experiments that demonstrate the key central role of the Observer and rule out the commonsense of the everyday experience described by classical physics are:
Syntropy
This gross confusion of one of the foundations of Galilean scientific method
that is the result of an experiment to be considered valid must be independent and agreed by all parties that carry out it, is the result of seventeenth-century Descartes'dualism between res extensa and res cogitans, mind and body, subject and object at physical level 0."No amount of testing can prove I'm right, a single experiment can prove that I was wrong."
Albert Einstein, letter to Max Born, 1926 december 4
The myth of objectivity, at least at level 0, is also a consequence of the enormous success until 1900 of the newtonian classical physics (classical mechanics and gravitation) and Maxwellian (classical electromagnetism) to explain virtually all the physical phenomena observed, from the motion of the planets to the propagation of light. Even today almost all the technologies developed in 800s and 900s, from mechanics to electronics, have their foundation based on these two classical theories, which are the basis of our experience of "subjective" reality of the physical level 0.
In classical physics, the observer does not exist, or rather has no influence, if not for the fact that all laws/equations are to be defined in a given coordinate system, specifying the location and the time reference from which one points. All the laws of classical physics are invariant to any reference system in space and time, that is are valid for any observer at any place and at any time. Space and time are therefore considered absolute.
The conceptual paradigm of classical physics was radically revolutionized at the beginning of 900s when "places" of physics not yet studied previously where examined theoretically and experimentally, particularly those of high speed/energy (comparable to that of light) and picodimensions such as the inside of the atomic nucleus and of its constituents.
In the two theories developed during the 900s for these areas of phenomena, the theory of Special Relativity and of Quantum Mechanics, the observer's role is central, and denies any possibility of beliefs as "objective reality" and of commonsense already at the level 0.
The figure shows the scope for the various theories. Horizontally is shown the size of objects d, vertically their velocity v. As the upper limit of speed is shows the speed of light c and as the upper limit of size below which quantum phenomena are involved is given as the length (diameter) of an atomic nucleus Lp. For dimensions larger than Lp and speed lower to about half that of light c/2, that is in the world of our experience, classical physics CF is valid; for dimensions smaller than Lp and speed lower than c/2 quantum physics QF applies; for dimensions larger than Lp and speed higher than c/2 is the relativistic physics RF that applies; finally for dimensions smaller than Lp and speed faster than c/2 are valid both quantum theory and relativity, or the quantum-relativistic physics Q-R F, is to be used .The integration between Quantum Mechanics and Theory of Relativity was initiated by the work of Paul Dirac in 1928 and followed with the development of Quantum Field Theories.
Some relevant experiments that demonstrate the key central role of the Observer and rule out the commonsense of the everyday experience described by classical physics are:
- relative Space and Time in Special and General Relativity
- Experiment of the double/single slit "normal" and "delayed" by Wheeler
- E-P-R Paradox and Quantum Entanglement
Syntropy
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