An article in Irish Times
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THE IRISH TIMES, MONIDAY, AUGUST l, 1gg3 LETTERS to the EDITOR BELL'S THEOREM A Chara. - It was a shecr delight to rcad Howard's Kinlay's article on Bell's Theorem (July 26) bccausc this particular mathcmatical dcmonstretion mav well bc, as Mr. Kinlay clalms, thi: most importsnt singlc discovcry in thc history of sciencc and its implications are at least as interesting and perhap's cven more mind-boggling than th€ current national debate about whether thc goat who cats an acorn thereby [ills a real oak or only a potentia'l oaK, or now many zygotes can dance on thc head of a pin. Bell's mathematics proves that, if quantum thcory is valid, any two particlcs oncc in contact will continuc to be instantancouslv conelated no matter how far apan' thcy subscqucntly movc. What this means is, howcver, quite puzzling and it mav not rifutc Einstcii's detcrminisri at all, con- trary to Mr Kinlay. Thcrc arc, in fact, several philosophical "models" of what Bellrs dis- and thc appearancc of scparate minds can only be a figment; in short, there is, as Spinoza also kncw, no individual frcc will in such a univcrse. Howcvcr, this does not mean that "sciencc has provcn Spinoza right," since there are altcrnative verbal models of Bell's mathe- mati6. Indeed, to believe therc is only one intcrpretation is the- ology, not scicnce. The most popular alternative to super- deterministic monism is Dr David Bohm's model of hidden variables, wNch assume that soaceand time are unreal, i.e. ari information- stacking devices of the human ncrvous system and not facts about thc universc. (Bohm, Wholeness and the Imolicate Ordcr.) This seems to liad us back to Platonism or at least implics the Platonic notion that what wc sec is unrcal while the truc Rcality is what wc do not and cannot s€c. A third modcl, created by Dr Jack Sarfatti and his school, as6umes that thc non-local connectedness betwcen particlcs describcdby Bell mcans that eome form of information is travelline faster than licht between thc oartil cles. This ian casilv leail to conclusion that it is tieorcticallv possible to communicate with thi: bast and lands us in all the baradoxes of scicncc-fiction. Anothcr model implies thst Bcll's non-local conncctcdness occur in onc universe at a time, and the famous quanlum randomness pro- duccs cqually rcal* universcs' in supcr-spacc on all "sidcs" of us, so to spcak. (Both of thesc modcls are discuss€d bv Talbot. Mvsd. cism and Modei Physrcs.) T6ere is also the non-Aristotelian approach of von Neumann and Finkelstein which holds that the universc contains morc than "yes" and "no" choices - that it contains a "mavbe" in Finklestein's witty metdphor. And thc Copenhagen view'of Niels Bohr still cxists for many physi- cists; this assures us iha't -all formatisms (equations) includinc Bell's are n<it dcsiribins th; univcrse but are only desCribinr what wc can say at a date aboui the universc. (Sec Paigels, Tfte CosmicCode.)' In short, Bell's Thoorcm does not rcsolve our philosophicol prob- lcms, as Mr Rinlay aDDears ro believe, but only livei'us new problems, alb€it extremcly amus-' ing ones. Clrtitude still beloncs. only and cxclusively to thosc wlio have shielded themselves from scientific history and remained in the snug cocoon of medieval abstractlogic. - Youn, etc., ROBERT ANTON WILSON, Ph.D., 5 SandycoveAvenue Wcst, Sandycovc, Dublin. covcry implics, and one of thesc models is not only dctcrministic, mooels $ not oily d( but in thc words of its but ln thc words ot its proponents "supcrdeterministic." This modcl interprets Bell's results as mean- inr that thc universc is not onlv as inc that thc universc is not onlv as or-derly as Einstcin though 'but hypcr-ordcrly, cvcn monistlc. (See Thc Tao of Physlcs, by Dr. Fritiof Capra.) In such a totallv unifcd co3mo3. as Soinoza reaf- Fritiof CaDra.) In such a totallv uni6cd. co3mo3, as Spinoza rcaf- r though but monistic. (See izcd, therc can only bt onc mind,
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Robert Anton Wilson's featured article on Bell's Theorem in the Irish Times
Transcript of An article in Irish Times
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THE IRISH TIMES, MONIDAY, AUGUST l, 1gg3
LETTERS to the EDITORBELL'S THEOREM
A Chara. - It was a shecrdelight to rcad Howard's Kinlay'sarticle on Bell's Theorem (July 26)b c c a u s c t h i s p a r t i c u l a rmathcmatical dcmonstretion mavwell bc, as Mr. Kinlay clalms, thi:most importsnt singlc discovcry inthc history of sciencc and itsimp l ica t ions are a t leas t asinteresting and perhap's cven moremind-boggling than th currentnational debate about whether thcgoat who cats an acorn thereby[ills a real oak or only a potentia'loaK, or now many zygotes candance on thc head of a pin.
Bell's mathematics proves that,if quantum thcory is valid, anytwo particlcs oncc in contact willcontinuc to be instantancouslvconelated no matter how far apan'thcy subscqucntly movc. Whatthis means is, howcver, quitepuzzling and it mav not rifutcEinstcii's detcrminisri at all, con-trary to Mr Kinlay. Thcrc arc, inf a c t , s e v e r a l p h i l o s o p h i c a l"models" of what Bellrs dis-
and thc appearancc of scparateminds can only be a figment; inshort, there is, as Spinoza alsokncw, no individual frcc will insuch a univcrse.
Howcvcr, this does not meanthat "sciencc has provcn Spinozaright," since there are altcrnativeverbal models of Bell's mathe-mati6. Indeed, to believe therc isonly one intcrpretation is the-ology, not scicnce. The mostpopular alternative to super-deterministic monism is Dr DavidBohm's model of hidden variables,wNch assume that soace and timeare unreal, i.e. ari information-stacking devices of the humanncrvous system and not factsabout thc un iversc . (Bohm,Wholeness and the ImolicateOrdcr.) This seems to liad usback to Platonism or at leastimplics the Platonic notion thatwhat wc sec is unrcal while thetruc Rcality is what wc do not andcannot sc.
A third modcl, created by DrJack Sarfatti and his school,as6umes tha t thc non- loca lconnectedness betwcen particlcsdescribcd by Bell mcans that eomeform of information is travellinefaster than licht between thc oartilcles. This ian casilv leail toconclusion that it is tieorcticallvpossible to communicate with thi:bast and lands us in all thebaradoxes o f sc icncc- f i c t ion .Anothcr model implies thst Bcll's
non-local conncctcdness occur inonc universe at a time, and thefamous quanlum randomness pro-duccs cqually rcal* universcs' insupcr-spacc on all "sidcs" of us,so to spcak. (Both of thesc modclsare discussd bv Talbot. Mvsd.cism and Modei Physrcs.) T6ereis a lso the non-Ar is to te l ianapproach of von Neumann andFinkelstein which holds that theuniversc contains morc than"yes" and "no" choices - that itc o n t a i n s a " m a v b e " i nFinklestein's witty metdphor. Andthc Copenhagen view'of NielsBohr still cxists for many physi-cists; this assures us iha't
-allformatisms (equations) includincBell 's are n
