Pseudoscience versus science

In his Commentary on the dangers of pseudoscience (Physics Today, May 2016, page 10 ), Sadri Hassani sweeps under the rug the fact that the mind was explicitly introduced into the basic conceptual structure of quantum physics because a link was found between particles being observed and the observer. Several towering figures of quantum physics—for example, Max Planck, Erwin Schrödinger, John von Neumann, and Eugene Wigner—claimed that the consciousness of the observer is vital to the existence of the physical events being observed and that mental events can affect the physical world. Wigner, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963, wrote, “It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to the consciousness.” ¹

Hassani cites “Manifesto for a post-materialist science” ² as an example of the growth of pseudoscience, but contrary to what he pretends, that editorial does not seek at all to equate research on psi phenomena and near-death experiences with quantum physics. De facto, the main objective of the manifesto is to present, in a concise and succinct manner, various lines of empirical evidence that strongly suggests that mind represents an aspect of reality as primordial as the physical world.

Mind is fundamental in the universe; that is, it cannot be derived from matter and reduced to anything more basic. Mind and the physical world are deeply interconnected, and mind—that is, will or intention—can influence the state of the physical world and operate in a nonlocal or extended fashion. That is, it is not confined to specific points in space, such as brains and bodies, nor to specific points in time, such as the present. Furthermore, what we are proposing in the manifesto is that, to the great displeasure of Hassani and other pseudoskeptics like him, the consciousness-related interpretation of the quantum measurement problem is consistent with those conclusions and with the emerging post-materialist paradigm. It is not pseudoscience; it is evidence-based responsible science respected by open-minded theorists and experimentalists alike.