Many-minds Interpretation - The Central Problems

The Central Problems

One of the central problems in interpretation of quantum theory is the duality of time evolution of physical systems:

1. Unitary evolution by the Schrödinger equation
2. Nondeterministic, nonunitary change during measurement of physical observables, at which time the system "selects" a single value in the range of possible values for the observable. This process is known as wavefunction collapse. Moreover, the process of observation occurs outside the system, which presents a problem on its own if one considers the universe itself to be a quantum system. This is known as the measurement problem.

In the introduction to his paper, The Problem Of Conscious Observation In Quantum Mechanical Description (June 2000), H.D. Zeh offered an empirical basis for connecting the processes involved in (2) with conscious observation:

John von Neumann seems to have first clearly pointed out the conceptual difficulties that arise when one attempts to formulate the physical process underlying subjective observation within quantum theory. He emphasized the latter's incompatibility with a psycho-physical parallelism, the traditional way of reducing the act of observation to a physical process. Based on the assumption of a physical reality in space and time, one either assumes a coupling (causal relationship — one-way or bidirectional) of matter and mind, or disregards the whole problem by retreating to pure behaviorism. However, even this may remain problematic when one attempts to describe classical behavior in quantum mechanical terms. Neither position can be upheld without fundamental modifications in a consistent quantum mechanical description of the physical world.