ESP and EPR

Date: Tue, 23 Jul 1996 21:49:33 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Easton <paul@brl4.med.nyu.edu>
To: quantum-d@teleport.com
Subject: ESP and EPR

>> JCS ONLINE
>> From: Paul Easton
>> Re: SEX, HYPE AND CYBERSPACE
>> Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 20:56:51 GMT

>> ...

>> 4- There is strong motivation for any attempt to explain ESP experiments.

>> 5- As a nonlocal effect EPR entanglement is a prima facie candidate
>> to explain ESP like effects.

>> 5a- It is true that although these quantum effects propagate faster than
>> light, neither qm theory nor experiment supports the possibility of
>> communicating faster than light. To do so would open the door to time
>> paradox. However the unreliable nature of ESP might allow it to
>> avoid paradox.

>> Paul Easton
>> paul@brl4.med.nyu.edu


> JCS ONLINE
> From: Pat Hayes

> Do you mean, if its unreliable enough, it is much more likely to be just
> plain wrong than to be paradoxical?

> I'd appreciate hearing more about this line of thought, which
> promises to bring an entirely new dimension to Penrose's idea of 'knowably
> correct'.


Dear Pat,

I am sorry it took me over six months to answer your perceptive
question. I was trying to base the reply on my pet theory on teleology
(see 50 "Conjugate variables and the Universe" in quantum-d archives),
but it got too involuted and I gave up. Catching up on my reading I
saw another way to frame it.

> From: Ezio Insinna <emi2@world-net.sct.fr>
> Subject: QUANTUM-D: QM Experiment
> Date: Fri, 2 Feb 1996 01:01:23 -0800

> ...

> In one of my previous postings, I have tried to draw the attention
> on the possible emergence of synchronistic events in quantum systems.
> Pauli, in fact, expressely said that

> "Modern physics reintroduces the observer as a small god of
>  creation in his microcosm, with the ability of (at least
>  partial) free choice and mostly uncontrollable effects on
>  the observed object. However, if such phenomena depend
>  on how (the experimental condition) they are observed, why
>  couldn't there exist also phenomena (extra corpus) [i.e.
>  in quantum systems] which depend on the person who observes
>  them (i.e. on the psychic quality of the observer)?"

>  (Pauli, Letter to Jung of Dec. 23rd, 1947, in Meier, 1992)

> From this viewpoint, individual quantum events, which quantum
> physicists try to eliminate by the use of statistical calculations,
> may sometimes become the place for the emergence of synchronistic
> occurrences. Synchronistic events are in fact endowed with meaning,
> i.e. in scientific terms, they carry "information".

> ...

> References :
> ...
> -Maier, C.A., 1992.  W. Pauli und C.G. Jung. Springer, Berlin


> Ezio M. Insinna
> ---
> this document at
> http://www.teleport.com/~rhett/quantum-d/posts/ezio_2-2-96.html


Paul again.

The experimental findings on ESP that make it seem absurd are that
it can work over great distances and that it can predict the future.

The distance problem can be resolved if we assume that ESP is based
on individual quantum events.

Physicists assume that accessable information cannot travel faster
than light. It can be shown that communication faster than light
implies the possibility of sending a message into ones own past.
(See the excellent book "Faster Than Light" by Nick Herbert.) This can
lead to a time paradox.

For example, suppose I sent a message to myself fifteen plus years
ago giving the details of the assassination of John Lennon, and my
earlier self was able to prevent the shooting. Then we would have
to say that Lennon was not shot because he was shot, which boggles
the mind. We had better presume that it could not happen.

However the EPR phenominon implies faster than light propagation of
information on the quantum wave level. This quandry is resolved when
we note that the time paradox argument requires the possibility of
choice, which elementary particles presumably do not possess.
And humans cannot transmit information by using EPR because the
information in the quantum wave does not survive the measurement
process.

We can look at this in terms of Minkowsky spacetime. Any influence
that moves faster than light connects two points that are seperated by
a spacelike interval. Therefore two observers in different states of
motion could see the propagation going in opposite directions.
The distinction between cause and effect would no longer be Lorentz
invariant. This would not be a problem in a universe in temporal
equilibreum, since the fundimental laws of physics are invariant
under time reversal. However our universe does not appear to be
time reversable, and this is an essential element of any ordinary
state of consciousness. Thus we cannot really say that the causal
loop which constitutes a time paradox is ruled out by physics,
only that it is incompatible with our common mode of consciousness.
It is ok as long as we can't see it.

Following Pauli's idea, one might suppose that ESP can occur only if
it cannot quite be observed, i.e. if it is inherently unreliable in
an experimental context. One might go even further and raise the
possibility that it functions better in an individual whose mind set
is in tune with the flow of the universe, assuming that there is some
sort of "Omega Point" toward which it is flowing which is to some extent
explicible in humanistic terms. We mention this possibility because it
accords with many reports of mystical experience.


Paul Easton
Brain Research Labs, NYU Medical Center