A talk given by Prof. Ravi Gomatam at The X Principia International Symposium, held in Florianópolis, Brazil, from August 14th to 17th, 2017
Abstract: Observations in physics are, first and foremost, our experiences. But such experiences have been reduced to be objective events occurring in an external world, via the assumption direct realism. As per this assumption, our everyday experiences are veridical, i.e. we experience reality as it is. Yet, for our scientific search of reality to be meaningful, that reality be should be unknown to us to start with.
To undo this inherent conflict, empirical science can try to give up direct realism at the level of observations, but then, how can untrue observations serve as a basis for acquiring true knowledge about the physical world? Quantum physics holds a clue to resolve this tension. For it decisively invalidates direct realism at the macroscopic level vide the ‘cat paradox’, and yet is predictively successful. The standard response has been to continue to interpret the observations direct realistically in the macro world, and limit the implications of quantum theory only to the micro world. But this has generated the unsolved foundational “measurement problem”. An alternative response could be to refine direct realism in a manner appropriate to quantum theory, and re-interpret the physical content of quantum theory anew.
To pursue this logically more consistent approach, I shall introduce a little-known Indian metaphysical system of 26 material elements, called the Bhaghavata Samkhya (BSk). It is different from the more widely known Niriswara Sankhya of Iswara Krishna. I shall introduce BSk’s 26 elements via a new idea of “levels” of matter, giving a definition of a “level” of matter in terms of of ordinary language description of our everyday experiences but using the quantum formalism. While the Greeks invoked their notions of (four) material elements to describe the external world, BSk defines its (twenty six) material elements a world of objective experiences. The BSk notion of matter has the potential to develop modern science further, for the following reason.
Given a sentence of the type “I see a nice brown table in front of me”, currently science can place only the ‘table’ in the natural world. The rest all involve the perceiving subject to varying degrees. BSk allows every single word in the above sentence (including the “I”) to be a product of the interactions of its material elements, while still maintaining a perceiver/perceived distinction. BSk achieves this by replacing the classical external world of generic objects in its very first stage, by the notion of an objective phenomenal world housing generic experiences constructed out of the interactions of its 26 elements. We have subjective phenomenological experiences because there are objective experiences in the objective phenomenal world. This is a new vision of direct realism, different from the current, classical direct realism of objects. I shall explore the relevance of this BSk view of matter for developing a fully naturalized view of the construction of our experience, to both contemporary cognitive science and quantum physics.