Description
Book SynopsisReality and Waves: A Quantum Physics Cosmology, Philosophy of Religion, and Ethic explores how the findings of Quantum Physics have rich implications for coping with the realities of everyday life and for developing a Philosophy of Life. Drawing on the insights of an early founder of the discipline, Werner Heisenberg, Ellingsen notes that the study of microscopic realities of the atom results in “weird” findings about reality, that it does not behave as predictably as other Sciences would lead us to think. The uncertainty about these realities emerges because the components of the atom often behave like waves. Drawing on Heisenberg’s reflections it is argued that these findings can be applied to visible reality. Just as light is in waves, even our brains embody waves. Public opinion and historical eras are also waves. This vision of reality explains the continuities and discontinuities in life, the highs and lows.
Relying on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle and concept of Complementarity, aided by Augustinian thinking, the case is then made for how Religion and Science can exist side-by-side, what is provided by an appreciation of a God Who dwells in the “stuff” of matter, a God Who perhaps binds the particles and atoms into matter. The concept also helps us understand how God can both determine reality and yet not be in control in all events. In addition, it gives us confidence in dealing with the waves of life and helps us appreciate how a good God still governs in the midst of pandemics, injustices, and tragedies.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Life in a Topsy-Turvy World
Chapter One: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
Chapter Two: The Waves of Life Are Always Emerging and Interfering: Implications of Quantum Theory and the Principle of Uncertainty for Philosophical Cosmology and Everyday Life
Chapter Three: Finding and Doing Good Amidst the Waves: Implications of Quantum Theory for Ethics
Chapter Four: Is There Space for God and Faith in a Cosmology of Waves? Introducing Complementarity
Chapter Five: God’s Role in the Waves of Life
Chapter Six: How Quantum Insights and Faith Help Us Ride the Waves
Conclusion: Enjoy the Waves!
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