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Reductionism

Reductionism. Today’s Class. Reductionism (cont) Classical Mechanics Dualism Quantum Mechanics Limits to Physics?. “Classical” Mechanics. Determinism : Everything that happens according to strict laws, with no exceptions

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Reductionism

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  1. Reductionism

  2. Today’s Class • Reductionism (cont) • Classical Mechanics • Dualism • Quantum Mechanics • Limits to Physics?

  3. “Classical” Mechanics • Determinism: Everything that happens according to strict laws, with no exceptions • Reductionism: The world is like a machine (eg. a clock) – the operation of the smallest parts can fully explain the whole • Realism: Belief that science describes the world as it actually is (objectively) independently of how our minds perceive it

  4. Reductive Materialism • You are just a machine • Everything is determined by the activities of physical systems (starting with atoms and working up to the levels of genes, cells and organisms & their emotions) • Dawkins: The “selfish gene” is the driving force behind the evolution of human emotions and behavior

  5. Mind/Body Dualism • Descartes: “I think therefore I am” • Posited that there are two fundamental substances in the universe—Mind and Extension (body, which is completely separate from mind) • Embraced by many people in Western civilization as a way of bringing peace between a scientific way of thinking and traditional Christians beliefs about the existence of the soul • Science deals with the see (matter) and religion with the unseen (mind)

  6. Quantum Mechanics • The physics of the very small developed early in the 20th century • Its well established theories present many findings counter to classical view: • Subatomic particles seem to behave randomly (location can only be predicted by wave function) • Seem able to occupy more than one position at once • Seem able to influence other particles over vast distances, with no apparent connection (entanglement) • Observer plays a role in determining behavior of particles

  7. The Double Slit Experiment • The behavior of sub- atomic particles changes when observed • The particles seem to have wave-like behavior and particle-like behavior, depending on the observation • The exact trajectory of any subatomic particle cannot be predicted with certainty, but only within a range of possibilities

  8. John Bell Experiments • Source emits two photons (A & B) in opposite directions • Detector 30 km away detects A’s “spin” (which is indeterminate, but must always be opposite to Bs) • B is detected immediately after A (too fast for light to travel between the two) • B is always opposite spin of A • “Non-local” effects possible?

  9. Implications of Quantum Uncertainty • Either quantum uncertainty simply represents human ignorance (Einstein) • Or it represents a fundamental limit to human knowledge, and we can never know how the world actually operates (Neils Bohr) • Or indeterminacy (randomness) is actually a part of nature

  10. String Theory • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B0Kaf7xYMk&feature=related

  11. The Turing Test • If we could create artificial intelligence then perhaps human consciousness would not be so mysterious • How do you know if a computer is intelligent? • The renowned mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing suggests that if you can have a conversation with a computer, and not know it’s a computer (assume you are communicating in a way that masks who you are communicating with) then it is reasonable to assume the computer is intelligent like we are intelligent

  12. John Searle Chinese Room Thought Experiment • Imagine a man in a room who has an instruction manual for translating English phrases to Chinese phrases passed to him under the door—Does he understand Chinese?

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