Product Description

Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos? Are our brains tuned into a "cosmic consciousness" that pervades the universe enabling us to make our own reality? Do quantum mechanics and chaos theory provide a place for God to act in the world without violating natural laws?

Many popular books make such claims and argue that key developments in twentieth-century physics, such as the uncertainty principle and the butterfly effect, support the notion that God or a universal mind acts upon material reality.

Physicist Victor J. Stenger examines these contentions in this carefully reasoned and incisive analysis of popular theories that seek to link spirituality to physics. Throughout the book Stenger alternates his discussions of popular spirituality with a survey of what the findings of twentieth-century physics actually mean. Thus he offers the reader a useful synopsis of contemporary religious ideas as well as basic but sophisticated physics presented in layperson's terms (without equations).

Of particular interest in this book is Stenger's discussion of a new kind of deism, which proposes a God who creates a universe with many possible pathways determined by chance, but otherwise does not interfere with the physical world or the lives of humans. Although it is possible, says Stenger, to conceive of such a God who plays dice with the universe and leaves no trace of his role as prime mover, such a God is a far cry from traditional religious ideas of God and, in effect, may as well not exist.

Like his bestselling book, God, The Failed Hypothesis, this new work presents a rigorously argued challenge to many popular notions of God and spirituality.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58335 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 292 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781591027133
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
"Lots of biologists defend evolution against creationism. Unfortunately, few scientists in the physics community speak up about the pseudoscience in their own field. The public understanding of modern physics is seriously out of whack, thanks largely to pop junk like The Secret and What the BLEEP Do We Know?

These books and movies promote a bogus version of quantum mechanics--the belief that 'you create your own reality' by controlling the laws of physics with your mind. They offer instant wealth and happiness, but they deliver medieval superstition. The sad part is that so many scientists are willing to let the public get their knowledge of physics from celebrity quacks.

That's why we re so lucky to have Victor Stenger. He knows quantum theory as well as anybody and, unlike most of his colleagues, he's willing to step outside the ivory tower and face those who misuse science. In Quantum Gods, Stenger confronts mainstream theologians and New Age gurus--anyone who tries to link physics to mysticism. He takes their theories seriously enough to examine them in detail and he finds that, so far, none of them live up to the standards of scientific truth. As we accompany him on his investigation, he guides us through the most important concepts in modern physics from relativity to string theory.

The world has needed a book like this for a long time. If you care about scientific literacy, Quantum Gods is not optional." --Geoff Gilpin, author of The Maharishi Effect: A Personal Journey Through the Movement That Transformed American Spirituality

About the Author
Victor J. Stenger (Lafayette, CO) is adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado and professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller God, The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist; Has Science Found God?; The Comprehensible Cosmos; Timeless Reality; The Unconscious Quantum; Physics and Psychics; and Not by Design.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating and Hard Hitting
It is well known that Quantum Mechanics presents us with a picture of the world that is at odds with our everyday common sense. This fact has been seized on by new age gurus and some religionists to enlist Quantum theory as "proof" for their assertions. DR Stenger, who has a talent for making modern physics accessible to lay readers, takes on the new age Gurus and Quantum religionists, debunking their absurd and unsupported assertions. Along the way the reader is introduced to the real wonders of Quantum theory making this book fascinating as well as a useful source for debunking new age nonsense.

Collapsing the Mystics' Wave Function
"Finally!" I thought when I heard about this book. Popular-level physics books commonly drench themselves in the "gee whiz" factors of science communication, talking about multiple universes and dimensions and time travel, and the end result being a lot of sparkle with little substance (think Michio Kaku, whose writings are a guilty pleasure of mine). That's all well and good, but sometimes what's needed most is to debunk popular misconceptions of science. Scores of anti-creationist books have been published, but so far as I know, Stenger's book "Quantum Gods" is the ONLY book-length critique of the abuse of quantum physics.

Stenger has 40 years of experience in particle physics research, so he's imminently qualified to take on quantum mysticists like Deepak Chopra and mystically-minded "physicists" like Amit Goswami and Fritjof Capra. Though it works well on its own, it's natural to think of this book as a sequel to his previous book, "God: The Failed Hypothesis". While that book took on the interventionist god of the Abrahamic religions, "Quantum Gods" targets the remainder: Hindus and Buddhists who think quantum physics will reconcile science and (their) religion, assorted New Agers, and namby-pamby "somethingists" (people who think there's "something out there", and are "spiritual but not religious"). Shimmied in awkwardly at the end are sophisticated Christian theologians who are aware of the pitfalls of the classic arguments for the Christian God and think the indeterminacy of quantum theory gives God a way to meddle in the physical world without being detected (*yawn*, the book could have done without that chapter).

Yet "Quantum Gods" has many saving graces. Stenger's interpretation of the laws of physics, potentially mind-blowing for me, is that impartiality or "point-of-view invariance" is the source of the major laws of physics, such as the law of conservation of energy. He also had the chutzpah to challenge the "wavicle" nature of photons, saying that in reality, photons are particles, not waves, and the wave-like properties they seem to have under some circumstances are the result of predictable statistical patterns of streams of particles.

Given everything I read in this book, I still find an educated layman's logical argument against quantum idealism more effective and direct: if it is true that "the mind creates reality", than the scientific method would have been fruitless from the beginning. It is part of Chopra and Goswami's narrative that deterministic science became arrogant and was overthrown by quantum mechanics, a la Kuhn's "paradigm shift". Yet the scientific method rests on replicability and peer review. If the mind creates reality, then scientific rivals would always get different results testing the same phenomenon, no matter how well their controls are. Quantum mechanics itself has been extremely well-verified from competing groups of physicists worldwide, so ironically, if quantum idealism were true, quantum mechanics could not be.

In the end, Stenger's book is a needed defense of reductionism, determinism, materialism, and the piercing insight of the scientific frame of mind.

A Quantum of Reason
Vic Stenger has a no-nonsense insiders view of science. In this book he brings his expertise to bear on mysticism and obfuscation that has accumulated around the strangeness of quantum mechanics. He shows that while quantum mechanics may be counter-intuitive it doesn't support TV pitchmen like Depak Chopra or let you create your own reality as suggested by the film "What the #@%& Do We Know?" He draws some interesting philosophical conclusions about the God of a quantum universe must be like. I found it an entertaining and informative read.