Some more about experiments already performed
http://www.princeton.edu/~rdnelson/index.html
and also this very speculative paper published in
Foundations of Physics, Vol. 21, pp. 197-207,
1991, (c) Plenum Press.
Title: Biological Utilisation of Quantum NonLocality[1]
Authors: Brian D. Josephson[2] !!! and Fotini Pallikari-Viras[3]
(square brackets denote footnotes, round brackets references)
Abstract: The perception of reality by biosystems is based on
different, and in certain respects more effective principles than
those utilised by the more formal procedures of science. As a
result, what appears as random pattern to the scientific method can
be meaningful pattern to a living organism. The existence of this
complementary perception of reality makes possible in principle
effective use by organisms of the direct interconnections between
spatially separated objects shown to exist in the work of J.S. Bell.
1. INTRODUCTION
Bell(1,2)[4] has given arguments that appear to demonstrate
the existence of direct interconnections between spatially separated
objects. But at the same time there are arguments(4-6) that appear
to show that no real physical manifestations of these
interconnections actually exist. The thesis developed in this paper
is that it is only from the point of view of quantum mechanics that
these connections appear to be unphysical, and that there is a
different, complementary point of view, one associated specifically
with the activities of living organisms, in terms of which the
interconnections may be very concretely real, and capable of being
put to practical use.
The logic of the complementary point of view to which
reference has just been made is that the activities of living
organisms are governed by predominant principles (survival, and
optimality of the conditions of life) different to those of the
scientist (conformity to certain restrictions that are considered
necessary for "good" science). The perceptual processes of
organisms (e.g. processes such as vision) perform their functions in
general very effectively, but in a way that is hard to delineate in
rigorous scientific terms. It will be argued that as a result of
this difference the knowledge possessed by biosystems and the
knowledge possessed by science are qualitatively different, leading
to an ability of life to make use of Bell's non-locality in a way
that is not possible in the different situation of a controlled
scientific experiment.
The discourse that follows begins (Sec. 2) with a review of
Bell's theorem, discussing in particular the antithesis between the
way that Bell's argument appears to demonstrate the existence of
direct action at a distance, while at the same time quantum
calculations lead to the result that any such effects will disappear
under statistical averaging. Experiments on certain unusual human
abilities(7,8) suggest that the non-local effects do not invariably
disappear under averaging, a result that the present paper seeks to
explain.
The explanation proposed here involves the issue of exactly
what kind of randomness is being presupposed when one performs such
statistical averaging. An answer to this question in general terms
is provided by causal (non-statistical) models of the phenomena of
the quantum realm such as that of Bohm(9). This kind of
interpretation assumes the relevance of particular probability
distributions in an appropriate phase space. The possibility that
one needs in general to deal with coexisting multiple
representations of reality (complementarity) is then considered, the
implication being that different kinds of probability distributions
to those relevant to quantum mechanical predictions may be
appropriate in cases such as those involving biosystems. From the
point of view of a biosystem itself, this possibility translates
into one that biosystems can have more discriminative knowledge of
nature than is obtainable by quantum measurement. As a result of
this higher degree of discrimination, the evolutionary and
developmental processes characteristic of biosystems can, given
suitable initial conditions, lead to focussed probability
distributions that make possible the kind of human abilities (i.e.
psi functioning) to which reference has been previously made.
2. BELL'S THEOREM AND NONLOCAL CONNECTIONS
We first review Bell's theorem. Its domain of relevance is
of a type of system, which we shall refer to here as an EPR-type
system, first discussed by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen(10).
EPR-type systems are systems wherein a quantum object breaks up into
parts which after separating are observed by measuring instruments
that have no links of a type that can transmit information by normal
means to each other. A typical example of such a system, which has
been studied experimentally(11), involves measurement of the
correlated polarisations of the photons emitted in a two-photon
decay sequence. Bell's theorem consists of an inequality applicable
to the correlations observed in a range of different measurements,
and from it one can derive the corollary that no local model of
physical reality can exist whose statistical predictions would be in
agreement with those of quantum mechanics: in Bell's own words(1),
if nature behaves in accordance with the statistical predictions of
quantum mechanics then "there must be a mechanism whereby the
setting of one measuring device can influence the reading of another
instrument, however remote". Experimental results, while not being
totally conclusive, are such as to point towards this conclusion
being valid.
The existence of such remote influences or connections is
suggested more directly by experiments on phenomena such as
telepathy (the direct connection of one mind with another) and
psychokinesis (the direct influence of mind on matter), both of
which are examples of so-called psi functioning or psychic
phenomena. The reader interested in learning about these phenomena
(which are often disregarded by orthodox science) is referred to the
recent article by Radin and Nelson(8) which analyses experiments
relating to them, as well as to the references cited therein (and
especially those relating to the publications of R.G. Jahn and
collaborators, and of H. Schmidt), and to Ref. 7[5].
3. DO THE INTERCONNECTIONS PERSIST UNDER STATISTICAL AVERAGING?
Ordinary quantum mechanical calculations, if one excludes
from consideration proposals such as that of Walker(12) that contain
special ad hoc modifications to the conventional theory, do not seem
to provide any clear mechanism leading to the occurrence of
phenomena where the effects of non-local connections are manifested
directly. Indeed, conventional quantum mechanical calculations(4,5)
suggest that whatever effects changing the setting of a measuring
device may have on _individual_ remote events, the _statistical
distribution_ of such events remains unaltered. Mermin(6) concludes
as a result that "The manifestation of this 'action at a distance'
is revealed only through a comparison of the data independently
gathered at A and at B" (the locations of the two measuring
instruments). He characterises the measurements carried out at the
remote location as being "entirely random".
But what is "entirely random"? What appears to be random in
a given situation depends on the context, on what one knows and on
one's point of view. Coded messages, the roll of a die, output from
a computer, or the movements of a person operating a piece of
machinery may all appear random if one does not know the relevant
details (the code that is used in the coded message, the exact
manner in which the die is thrown, what the computer program or
piece of machinery is and what it is doing) and yet if one knows
this information many of the details of such phenomena can be
understood. An alternative description of microphysical reality to
that provided by quantum mechanics, if any such exists, may be
associated with a different kind of statistical average. What seems
to be noise may no longer be noise, and the theorem implying no
manifestations of interconnectedness for the statistical average may
no longer apply.
But do situations actually exist in nature whose
descriptions involve less randomness in particular aspects than
quantum mechanics implies? In the past, it might have been stated
unconditionally that von Neumann had under very general conditions
disproved the existence of such a possibility, but it is now
recognised(13) that the supposed proofs of these assertions
contained assumptions that are in fact unjustifiable. There exist
arguments(14-17) that complementary descriptions to those of quantum
mechanics can and in all probability do occur. Detailed discussion
of this issue will play a central role in the analysis that follows.
4. CAUSAL INTERPRETATIONS OF QUANTUM MECHANICS
In the context of the present problem it is useful to think
in terms of causal interpretations of quantum mechanics. These are
models where the observed indeterminacy is a consequence of
uncertainty of the actual state of a system whose dynamical laws in
themselves are completely deterministic. Bohm's causal model(9)
involves an ensemble of particles distributed in phase space with a
particular self-consistent probability distribution function and
moving in accordance with certain deterministic laws. The
statistical predictions of quantum mechanics are reproduced exactly
in a way that avoids the usual introduction of unclear and arbitrary
assumptions concerning measurement, wave function collapse, or
separation of a system into observer and observed. The non-locality
which Bell showed to be implicit in quantum mechanics is _explicit_
in Bohm's causal model, in that the motion of the particles in the
model is governed by an interaction, determined by the quantum wave
function of the system, that is non-local.
In most common situations, averaging over the particle
positions in the causal model makes the mean direct influence of one
particle on another at large distances negligibly small. This is not
so, however, in EPR-type situations where the wave function has a
non-decomposability property which makes this interaction at a
distance significantly different from zero even at long range(13).
But, even in these situations, once we take an ensemble average,
using the special distribution function in phase space that assures
the statistical equivalence of the causal interpretation and quantum
mechanics, we revert to the quantum mechanical prediction that
statistically no influence at a distance can be demonstrated. One
may ask, however, why only these special distribution functions
should apply. Is there anything absolute about the ignorance
implicit in the use of these particular distribution functions? The
argument will be made in the following that other distribution
functions, with different statistical properties, are relevant in
other contexts, especially those associated with life.
Situations where a change in context leads to a new kind of
statistical distribution becoming relevant are indeed commonplace in
science: they occur for example whenever a phase transition occurs
that leads to a breaking of symmetry. As a result of symmetry
breaking, statistical distributions that are "asymmetric" with
regard to this symmetry may come into existence in situations where
previously only symmetric distributions were observable or relevant.
Analogously, it can be anticipated that special situations will
exist whose natural description involves probability distributions
other than the particular ones that arise in the "quantum
formalism".
5. MULTIPLE DESCRIPTIONS OF REALITY
We now discuss in some detail this idea that rather than a
single, universal, description of reality (such as that provided by
quantum mechanics) being appropriate in all circumstances, more than
one complementary or alternative form of knowledge may exist(14-17).
This state of affairs is most simply understood with reference to a
special feature of the quantum domain related to quantum
indeterminism, which we shall characterise as the _loss of universal
determinism_. This latter term is intended to reflect the fact that
in this domain quantum indeterminism renders impossible the making
of exact predictions on the basis of a _universal formula_ (which
would be possible in principle in classical physics if the relevant
dynamical laws such as Maxwell's equations or Newton's laws were
known). We hypothesise that two alternative strategies are possible
for dealing with the loss of universal determinism. The first, the
method of science, is to retain conformity with the demands of
reproducibility and universality by the device of replacing the no
longer possible strict determinism by _statistical determinism_.
The outcome of this approach is quantum mechanics. The second, a
method that is in general terms favoured by life, involves
renouncing the demand for universal knowledge in favour of more
specialised and purposeful adaptations to the more limited class of
situations that the organism or organisms concerned is liable
_naturally_ to encounter in the course of its life. A human being
learns, for example, the language that is spoken in his or her own
particular environment, rather than language in general.
These two strategies lead in different directions. The
strategy of science leads towards the accurate specification of
form, while that of life leads in the direction of meaning. These
two directions, form and meaning, are the two components of David
Bohm's concept relating to the universal nature of things,
_soma-significance_(18). Meaning is an aspect of reality tied to
the achievement of goals and to specific context that is
sufficiently subtle and complex as not to be representable by any
closed formula. Furthermore, the technique of statistical averaging
is especially irrelevant in the context of meaning, since its
influence in general is to transform the _meaningful_ into the
_meaningless_. It is not useful to consider the meaning of a
particular word averaged over all languages, and computing the
statistics of word order and frequency in a discourse tells one very
little about the meaning of the discourse. Investigations into
meaning(18,19) are investigations in a different direction to that
in which one is led by scientific investigations into reproducible
form.
But science is involved with the accurate specification of
form, and this enforces the kind of _formal_ specification of nature
characteristic of quantum measurement theory. This contrasts with
the philosophical informality of classical physics with its naive
realism. The perceptual and interpretative processes of living
organisms do not admit of the formal specifications demanded by
quantum measurement theory. Therefore, as discussed in Ref. 17,
there is no good reason to identify the class of experiments defined
according to the precepts of quantum measurement theory with the
category of all investigable phenomena. Indeed, the quantum
formalism does not apply in any obvious way to _natural_ situations,
situations such as those of the phenomena of life that come into
being by chance rather than by scientific design, and the common
belief that it should be possible in some way to apply quantum
mechanics to natural situations just as readily as to the controlled
experiment is one that seems to owe its existence to an
extrapolation that cannot, under close examination, be justified.
6. RANDOMNESS AND FOCUSSING
These arguments lead us to the conclusion that, because of
the different kind of perceptual and interpretative processes
characteristic of life compared with those of science, living
organisms can possess knowledge that is more detailed in certain
aspects than is the knowledge specified by the quantum theory. One
may talk in terms of higher discrimination and selectivity, which
improvements can be attributed a different kind of contact with
nature. By way of analogy, it can be compared to a process that
makes contact with individual atoms, relative to one that makes
contact with the macroscopic aspects of a system only.
>From the point of view of a causal model such as that of
Bohm's, alternative kinds of probability distribution in phase space
become relevant. In general terms, these distributions can be
characterised as being highly focussed in relation to the organism's
specific goals. Such focussed behaviour in living organisms is
typified by, for example, the activities of a tightrope walker, or
of a darts player. Efficient focussing comes into being naturally
over the course of time as the consequence of processes of trial and
error learning occurring during the developmental process. Our
assumption in relation to psi functioning is that here also the
relevant probability distributions are highly focussed in relation
to goals, in a way that may become more effective over time as
development through learning takes place.
6.1. AN ILLUSTRATION
The kind of focussing process involved can be illustrated
with a simple example. This consists of a coil attached by a length
of wire to an ammeter a short distance away. The meter needle can
be caused to deflect by moving a magnet in the vicinity of the coil.
A person who does not understand the facts of magnetism and
attempting to produce a meter deflection in a particular direction
will at first move the magnet randomly and hence produce deflections
in a random direction. But he may in time discover the principle
that is involved and utilise the magnet in a non-random way, and
gain thus the ability to produce deflections in a prescribed
direction at will. In exemplification of the processes discussed
above, his learning process changes an initially random distribution
of magnet movements into one focussed with regard to the goal, the
principles referred to above. The proposal being made here is
essentially that mechanisms of a similar kind may be operative at a
_microscopic_ level in biosystems.
7. SPECULATIVE MODELS
In the biological world, evolution through natural selection
tends to give rise to adaptive elaborations of preexisting
phenotypes (manifest behaviour). Thus a primitive sensitivity to
light becomes elaborated into more discriminating sensitivities and
ultimately into fully detailed vision. In the case of psi one may
similarly anticipate the development of forms of organisation of the
nervous system capable of interacting non-locally with other
systems. Such organisation has been discussed by C.N. Villars(20),
who starts with the assumption that in a number of types of
situation encountered in a quantum mechanical context, including
EPR-type situations, microphysical objects function as "centres of
perception", acting as if sensitive to non-local information.
Villars hypothesises that somewhere within the nervous system forms
of organisation of microphysical objects exist capable of
amplifying, selecting and combining the perceptions through
non-local connections of individual microphysical objects, in a way
analogous to the way in which the ordinary senses function through
the working together of many subunits. As a result we can have
perceptions of distant objects and events through the non-local
connections in the same kind of way as we acquire perception of the
more local environment through the ordinary senses. The scope and
form of such perceptions at a distance would be a function of the
particular forms of organisation and activity present in these
postulated sense-like processes. Except for the absence of a
theoretical mechanism for overcoming the limitations of ordinary
quantum descriptions by making use of an underlying causal model,
Villars' proposals are similar to those advocated here.
Further similar proposals have been made by Bohm(21) also,
based on his causal interpretation. His conclusion is that while,
in principle, coherent non-local effects of one system upon another
are possible, in practice such connections are "fragile, and easily
broken by almost any disturbance or perturbation", and that they
would occur only at very low temperatures or under special
conditions such as those pertaining in the EPR situation. But in
the picture advocated here, life has the ability, exemplified by the
example of the tightrope walker, to learn under conditions that are
not excessively unfavourable to it to neutralise of compensate for
the effects of external disturbances. Such compensation capacity we
assume to be functionally effective in respect to the "fragility"
referred to by Bohm also.
A comment by Bohm et al.(9) regarding the understanding of
superconductivity in the causal interpretation provides a clue as to
what kind of overall organisation might be relevant for psi
functioning. This situation is described in the following terms:
"In the superconducting state of a many-electron system,
there is a stable overall organised behaviour, in which the
movements are coordinated by the quantum potential so that the
individual electrons are not scattered by obstacles. One can say
indeed that in such a state, the quantum potential brings about a
coordinated movement which can be thought of as resembling a 'ballet
dance'."
The assumption of a superconducting-like state provides an
example of a context where different organisms can be highly
correlated. Such a state may be relevant to the origin of life, or
to the Gaia hypothesis of Lovelock and Margulis(22). Perturbations
such as an increase in temperature cause the coordinated
organisation to break up, and this would provide a mechanism by
which the amount of linking of an individual organism to other
systems through non-local interconnections could be adjustable. One
may imagine that life may exist from the beginning (cf. Ref. 22) as
a cooperative whole directly interconnected at a distance by Bell
type non-local interactions, following which modifications through
the course of evolution cause organisms to be interconnected
directly with each other and with objects to an extent that is
adapted to circumstances. One can see conceptual similarities
between psi skills and ordinary skills, e.g. between the perceptual
skills of hearing and telepathy on the one hand, and between the
forms of control of matter involved in the control of the body and
in psychokinesis on the other. From this point of view, it is only
in regard to the mode of interaction that the ordinary phenomena and
the analogous paranormal ones differ from each other. These
analogies will be discussed in more detail elsewhere.
The theories discussed here have the feature, in contrast to
that of quantum mechanics, of being qualitative rather than
quantitative. This may be an unavoidable correlate of such aspects
of nature, stemming from a fundamental irreproducibility of biology
and of the phenomena connected with the indeterminism of the quantum
domain.
8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
The goal of this paper has been that of gaining some
understanding, within the framework of conventional science, of
phenomena such as telepathy and psychokinesis which (particularly in
terms of the actual experience(23,24)) seem to involve some form of
direct contact at a distance. While the non-local correlations
found in EPR-type systems seem at first sight(20) to provide a
scientifically valid basis for such direct contact (particularly for
the case of telepathy which has many features that parallel those of
EPR-type correlations), calculations using the formal apparatus of
quantum theory suggest that any such connections will be purely
random and thus unusable. But the self-consistent and completely
logical multiple-description view of knowledge advocated here, an
alternative to the conventional view that all knowledge may be
reduced to quantum mechanical knowledge, allows life to have its own
potentialities, beyond what the constraints of "good scientific
method" will allow, for knowing and for acting on the basis of such
knowing. Included in these categories of acting and knowing are
psychic functioning.
The present theory parallels in a number of respects the
theory of Walker(12) with its postulate that the statistical
outcomes of quantum phenomena can be modified by consciousness, and
the paper of Stapp(25), in which creative mind has a similar
function. These different approaches may all be representations of
slightly different aspects of the same underlying truth, gained by
taking as a starting point a range of different points of view.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Dr. Dipankar Home for discussions
clarifying concepts connected with the concept of multiple
descriptions of natural phenomena, and to Dr. M.J. Perry for
comments on the manuscript.
FOOTNOTES
1 dedicated to J.S. Bell.
2 Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
3 permanent address, Physics Department, University of Athens, 104
Solonos Str., address for 1990-1 as in footnote 2.
4 all references authored by J.S. Bell are reprinted in Ref. 3.
5 The opinion of the authors regarding such phenomena is that in the
long run they will be accepted by science and confirmed by it.
Arguments in support of this belief fall outside the scope of this
paper.
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