The Link between Positive Thinking and Quantum Physics - Research Paper Example

Positive Thinking and Quantum Physics Introduction The link between positive thinking and quantum physics is an issue debated for a long time. While the preachers of positive thinking always claim it is scientific by linking it to quantum theory, the critics of positive thinking argue no solid study had ever proved it. Positive thinking is claimed to cure everything from killer disease to eradicate financial issues in a jiffy. Critics of the concept like Barbara Ehrenreich question why notable physics experts are not able to attract money automatically if positive thinking can solve everything. Quantum Physics and Positive Thinking Mind power experts relate positive thinking and quantum physics through energy vibrations. Just like electricity and biometric readings given out by our body, every thought of us give out a vibration. Quantum physics reveals every vibration attracts something in our life. Positive vibration attracts positive experiences and vice versa (Kehoe, n.p.). Every object in the world lets out a certain kind of vibration and if our vibration matches with the same, the attracted object automatically comes to us. The origin of the universe can be understood by reading the basic laws of physics. Human life and the subconscious mind's potentials can also be understood in a similar way by reading the laws of physics. The unwavering energy of the universe can be felt by meditating through the third “Mandala” or “Chakra” in our body (Bader, 70). The philosophy of quantum physics first started to become a core object of concern in 1927 when Einstein, Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen is known together as EPR suggested quantum mechanics was actually incomplete. Their claim paved way for the Bell's theorem and the theory of local realism (Fine, n.p.). John Bell was the first person to develop a practical way to test the behaviour of the quantum particles. Though Bell's works were claimed as "the most profound discovery of science" by Henry Strapp and other noted scientist, Bell did not prove anything through laboratory experiments. His views and ideas were completely theoretical. Bill analyzed the photon movements of entangled electrons in a spin. Noted physics like John Clauser and Alain Aspect did various experiments based on the Bell’s theorem and proved his theory was right. Alain Aspect was the first person to actually prove physically that the movements of photons and electrons responsible for one event can influence or trigger another event even though there is not an obvious connection between the two quantum events and they are situated in various locations. The mind power experts put this theory in a very simple way. Think positively and the vibrations created by your thought will attract everything positive into your life. While the claim is simple, there is no solid proof that positive thinking can actually be used to make every thought process come true. Alain Aspect’s experiments itself were contemplated heavily as it has several loopholes. First, the influence of the vibrations caused by one quantum event on another is very random and unpredictable (Aspect, 867). Theories like the local hidden variable theory simply claim there isn’t any truth in this continuation of the events as there might be other hidden electrons or photons that are connected and left unexplored. The origin of mind power and positive thinking started to appear as early as 1937, when the book “Think and grow rich” was published by Napoleon Hill. Alain Aspect was able to provide proof of the theory only in the 1960’s. Though the mind power experts might argue science was slow in giving solid proof, they have to accept, only a small portion of their thought process comes true. This random occurrence of visualization coming true can be a mere co-incidence. If a person had the power to actually make every thought occurring in his mind true, then the world would be a chaos as the human mind tends to think more negatively than positively. The book “Bright- Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America”, states a common psychologist’s claim that warm feelings like gratitude and contentment which help us live with good health and peace of mind are much exaggerated (Ehrenreich, 1). The concept of positive thinking and using mind power became so commercialized and popular after the release of the movie “The Secret” which brilliantly linked Newton’s theories to law of attraction and established everything shown in the movie was absolutely true and scientific, proved beyond any doubt. Positive thinking preachers always claim every object in the universe is interconnected on the basis of the quantum entanglement theory. Though the EPR scientist trio kindled the work on quantum entanglement, papers by notable scientists like Erwin Schrodinger verified it experimentally claiming it as the crucial aspect of quantum mechanics. Schrodinger is usually claimed to have referred to quantum non-locality as quantum theories 'defining moment'. Taking a deeper look into the life and works of Schrodinger we could see, he found the idea of a superficial object creating inherent connections between all world events highly stupid. He actually abandoned his own work and started concentrating on other aspects of physics in the later part of his career. His experiments actually proved two points, entanglement was possible in microscopic objects, but it is not possible to prove anything larger than C60F48 composition like higher intelligent objects (Orzel, n.p.). The EPR paradox theory was written on the basis of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. According to the theory, if a light beam passes through a half-silvered mirror, one half will reflect while the other will not. If only one photon passes through the mirror, nobody can ever determine, whether it will pass through or reflect back. When the EPR paper was written, the physical quantities were actually measured through conjugate quantity pairs. If one quantity gets, measured its disturbance made the order quantity unpredictable. EPR paradox theory stated one quantity will go undetermined even if there was no disturbance as the outcome information is imprinted in both the particles. This was the theory proved experimentally by Alain Aspect (Aspect, Grangier and Roger, 94). Mind power experts claim creating this disturbance can influence the outcome of the second quantity. They teach a person to create a positive disturbance paving the way for creating a desired outcome. They believe a person can control the incidents in his life by controlling the thought process. If the outcome of a particular action is imprinted in a photon, why cannot the thought pattern take up the responsibility of imprinting this outcome in their mind? It might seem convincing that what the mind power experts claim might seem like a reality. But, the EPR paradox theory itself is a controversial one and is not considered a complete one in the physics world. It is merely looked upon as a supporting theory which was written to gain the popularity of the relativity theory. Over the years, many physics experts have rejected it as a baseless work. Digging in some small forgotten theory in the ocean of physics and showcasing it as a major proof to the positive thinking drama is not acceptable. The preachers of positive thinking use a sort of collective hypnotism using great names in physics and celebrities like Oprah to make the common people believe they achieved greatness only because of the theory. It is a technique to lure in the intellectuals into believing what is presented before them is a result of serious research. The concept of ‘local realism’ which Einstein tried so hard to establish in his lifetime is simply accepted as false by all noted physics geeks (Aspect, Dalibard and Roger, 1807). The Quantum theory, quantum mechanics especially was created with an aim of studying atoms and their behaviour in a laboratory set up. It got so tangled up with philosophy, mind power and other religious aspects because of its uncertain nature. As stated earlier, no one can determine or predict the exact results of the experiments carried out using quantum theories. Hence, it got adapted so easily by the philosophic people who claim everything in the world is pre-determined or controlled by fate. The new wave of 20th century influences simply claims the outcome of the experiment in their word the thought process can be controlled through proper training. No notable work in Quantum physics or quantum mechanics has been published after the 1986 Bell tests by Cramer. We cannot deny modern chemistry relies heavily on quantum calculations to determine the behaviour of protons and electrons. Likewise notable works on the quantum mechanics of noted scientists like Schrodinger have led to the development of semi-conductors, diodes and transistors which prove as a basis for many of the modern day electronic objects like laptops and smart phones. The years of research spent on various other useful technologies by the scientists like Einstein and Schrodinger which transformed the world is easily forgotten by these superstitious claims. While most of the theories in quantum mechanics are not accepted complete or provable by the scientific world, there has been a lot of hype going on around the concept. It is only acceptable that the positive thinking theory based on quantum physics will actually be a hot topic of controversy and debate until it lasts. Conclusion If the link between positive thinking and quantum physics is true our universities will be filled with millionaires instead of the geeky professors trying hard to stay in shape, fighting with grant sponsors. Positive thinking might have various psychological benefits. But, it sure does not have any solid links with any proven theory in quantum physics till date. References Aspec,t Alain, Phillipe Grangier and Gerard Roger. Experimental Realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: A New Violation of Bell's Inequalities. 1982. Vol. 49. p. 94. Print. Aspect, Alain, Jean Dalibard and Gerard Roger. “Experimental Test of Bell's Inequalities Using Time-Varying Analyzers”. Physical Review Letters. 1982. Vol. 49. p.1807. Print. Aspect, Alain. “To be or not to be local”. Nature. 2007. Vol. 446. p. 867. Print. Bader, John. Responsive Universe. 17 June, 2012. Web. 22 June, 2013. . p. 70. Ehrenreich, Barbara. Bright- Sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America. 2009. p.1.Web. 17th June 2013. . Fine, Arthur. “The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen Argument in Quantum Theory”. 5th August, 2013. Web. 17th June 2013. Kehoe, John. Mind Power Basics. 2013. Web. 17 June, 2013. Orzel, Chad. “Quantum Mechanics Is Not Magic, No Matter What Amazon Says”. Science Blogs. 16th December 2009. Web. 17 June 2013. Read More