THE-CONSTRUCTION-OF-REALITY-AND-ITS-INFLUENCE-ON-T

1Publishedas:Aerts,D.,1992,Constructionofrealityanditsinfluenceontheunderstandingofquantumstructures,Int.J.Theor.Phys.,31,1815-1837.THECONSTRUCTIONOFREALITYANDITSINFLUENCEONTHE'UNDERSTANDING'OFQUANTUMSTRUCTURES.DiederikAertsCenterLeoApostel,VrijeUniversiteitBrussel,Krijgskundestraat33,1160,Brussels.e-coordinates:[e-mail][1].Oneoftheaimsistodetect'hidden'prejudicesthatare'unconsciously'usedtointerpretandcriticizecertainpartsofreality,thatdoperhapsnotobeytheseprejudices.Itwillfollowthatsomeofthedifficultiesthatwehavetounderstandthequantumrealityaredueto'pre-scientific'prejudicesaboutthewayinwhichwethinkthatrealityhastobe,prejudicedwhichwehavecompletelyforgottenabout.Wewilltrytoputinevidencesomeofthese'pre-scientific'preju-dices.Todothiswewillhavetointroducenewconcepts.Wewillseehoweverthatthecon-ceptsneededtounderstandtheaspectofthequantumrealitythatwewanttoinvestigateinthispaperarenotmysteriousandun-understandable.Theyexistandareusedfrequentlyinsitua-tionsofeverydaylife.Thereforewewillintroducetheseconceptsbymeansofexamplesofev-erydaylife,suchthattheyareintuitivelyclear.Theformalismisnotyetcompleted,alotofstepsarestillun-finished,andhavetobeinves-tigatedfurther.Butthemethodologyisclearlystated.Inthissenseitcanbeastartingpointforfurtherresearchontheunderstandingofotherpartsof'human'reality[2].Istartedtoworkontheelaborationofthisformalismintheearlyeighties.Thereareseveralworksthathaveinspiredme.Firstofallthereistheresearchonquantumphysics,andtheelab-orationofthestate-propertytheoryinGenevaundertheguidanceofConstantinPiron,inwhichIhavebeencollaborating.Thisstate-propertytheorydeliversarealisticinterpretationofordi-naryquantummechanics,butasatheorygoesfarbeyondit[3].Theformalismpresentedhereandin[1]caninacertainsensebeusedtofoundthestate-propertytheory[3],arelationthatisexplainedindetailin[1].ThereistheworkofCharlesRandallandDavidFoulis,their(stillun-endedbutfascinating)questfortheconstructionofauniversallanguageforthesciences[4].Alsotheirworkhasbeenofgreatvaluefortheelaborationofcertainaspectsofthepresentedformalism.Therelationisexplainedin[1].Therearethemanyworksofthosemakingresearchinandaroundthefieldcommonlycalledquantumlogic[5].TherearealsotheworkandthoughtsofHenriPoincarŽ,presentedinthelittlebookLascienceetl'hypothse[6],whichforthefirsttimemademeunderstandthatitisnotapriorinecessarytoconsidertheworldasgiven,andweasobservingit.PoincarŽanalysesalready(beforetheexistenceofquantumme-chanics)thesubtleroleofmanintheconstructionofsomeaspectofreality,suchasEuclideanspace.ThereistheworkofJeanPiaget,thathasconvincedmethatalotofthispre-scientific2constructionofrealityishappeningallagainintheearlyyearsofchildhoodforeveryhumanbeing[7].ThereisthebookbyErwinSchršdinger[8]whichmademeunderstandhowtoap-proachtheproblemof'life'intheformalism,andmademefindtheenergytogoandstudythefindingsoftheneo-Darwinists.AndthereisalsothemorerecentandfruitfulcollaborationwithJeanReignier,onthequantumproblematicofnon-localityanditsconnectionwiththeconstruc-tionofreality,inwhichweproposeanoperationaldefinitionfortheconceptofquantumnon-locality,andareinvestigatingitsrelationtotheconstructionofmacroscopicalspace[9].Actuallytheformalism,ofwhichonlyalittlepartispresentedinthispaper,isstillinfulldevelopment,anditismyopinionthatalotofotherscientificproblemscanbeexpressedinit,withtheaimofbringingsomeclarificationamongtheproblemsandpseudo-paradoxes,andinthissensecomingclosertotheunderstandingoftherealmysteryofourexistence.Weshallbeginbydescribinghowweashumanbeingscomeintocontactwiththeworld,andstartconstructingreality.1.THELIVINGOFANEXPERIENCE.Whenweareborn,thereisnotmuchrealityinourworld.Therealityoftheothers,theolderpeople,isalreadyaroundus,butwecannot'understand'it,neithercanweinfluenceit.Butour'self'isalreadyconstructedinthiswaythatweconstantlyinteractwithit.Ourworldisastreamofsuchchaoticinteractions.Itisfromthisstreamofinteractionsthatwestartconstructingourpersonalreality.Wedonotmakethisconstructionasanisolatedhumanbeing.Constantlyweareincontactwithotherhumanbeings,alsostillfurtherconstructingtheirrealities,andwithanimalsalsoconstructingtheirrealities,andwithplants,andwithmaterialobjects,andwith...We'live'certainpartsofthisstreamofinteractions.Thesepartswewillcall'experiences'.Whenwe'live'suchanexperience,wewillsaythatthisexperienceis'present',andwewillcallitour'presentexperience'.Theexperiencethatwe'live'is'present'andwewillcallitour'presentexperience'.2.THEIDENTIFICATIONOFANEXPERIENCE.Tobeabletouseanexperiencefortheconstructionofourreality,wehavetobeableto'identify'it.ThefirsttimeItastedsweet,waswhenIgothoneyonmycomforter.Thiswasthe'living'ofanewexperience.Thecollectionoffamily-picturesshowsthatthisexperiencewasrepeatedof