Quantum Mechanics and Buddhism: a possible link?
This course explores the question of whether Buddhism and modern physics, quantum mechanics in particular, could come to converging insights about reality and our human interaction with it. A priori it seems that the answer is a resounding ‘no’: Buddhism is a philosophy that aims at giving sense to human life and at diminishing human suffering, and that might therefore presumably be linked to psychology, ethics, or religion, while physics studies a wholly different realm and claims to describe inanimate objects, using mathematics as a tool.
At the same time, certain Buddhist schools believe that human life and mind cannot be understood without a profound analysis of the ultimate nature of the universe as a whole, including the physical universe – so there might be an overlap after all. We will explore those questions and topics where a dialogue between Buddhism and quantum physics seems meaningful, based on a careful analysis of the main concepts and assumptions of both theoretical frameworks.
We study various questions from the vantage point of both frameworks, such as: Does the universe have a beginning? Is there a link between “interdependence” in Buddhism, and “non-separability” in quantum mechanics? What is the exact nature of the laws of physics? Is everything connected to everything else in the universe? (If yes, has these ethical consequences?) Is the mind-body duality real or imaginary? What do quantum mechanics and Buddhism say about so-called material realism, idealism, instrumentalism, veiled realism, irrealism – the philosophical stances regarding the deeper nature of reality? Is there an organizing principle at work in the universe? Our exploration actually suggests that even if science and Buddhism have very different goals and methods, there are some points of remarkable convergence that seem to allow for mutual enrichment and cross-fertilization. (Note: this course is concerned with the interpretation of quantum mechanics, NOT the mathematical formalism.)
