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SECTIONS

Critique of Intelligent Design

Evolution vs. Creationism

The Art of ID Stuntmen

Faith vs Reason

Anthropic Principle

Autopsy of the Bible code

Science and Religion

Historical Notes

Counter-Apologetics

Serious Notions with a Smile

Miscellaneous

Letter Serial Correlation

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Letters

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Title Author Date
review of my article by Rossow Rabinowitz, Avi Mar 21, 2003
Thank you for your response to my letter, and for your remark regarding the sequence of events.
“If Adam caused the collapse of the universe's wave function, who (or what)caused the collapse of Adam's wave function? Was Adam not a part of the universe?”
This is indeed a good question, and if you would read my article on the subject, the one you reviewed (which is available at http://www.borhatorah.org/home/article1/article1.html
as I wrote previously) you would find my answers to that question. To save you the time, I can present it here in very brief form: The eminent physicist Prof J A Wheeler has proposed a retroactive causation arising from quantum interactions, and has applied it to the emergence of the universe: in my article I write:
“This radical idea that the universe begins its physical existence only with the emergence of a moral being interestingly finds support and parallel in the suggestion of quantum metaphysics that the universe can emerge into true physical reality only upon emergence within it of a conscious being, who, according to our thesis, is a free-willed moral consciousness. As the eminent physicist John A. Wheeler states, the emergence of a conscious being retroactively causes the emergence into reality of the big bang itself![24]
Footnote 24 refers among other things to Wheeler’s provocative diagram reprinted in the book version of my article with Branover. The diagram can be found at http://www.megafoundation.org/images/U-eye.gif which is a link from http://www.megasociety.net/CTMU/CTMUpapers/Langan_CTMU_092902.pdf
(By the way, as you will possibly note from my articles, following Rambam and many others I do not interpret all elements of the creation and Eden accounts literally (this would be even more clear from the larger manuscripts referred to in the article that I do not necessarily understand “Adam” (Mankind) as referring to an individual, or referring to a physical living being as opposed to a metaphysical entity, or a blueprint for humanity)
Related Articles: B'Tsel HaTorah

Title Author Date
review of my article by Rossow Rossow, Amiel Mar 22, 2003
Dr. Rabinowitz persists in his effort to suck me into a detailed discussion
of his metaphysical constructions despite my quite clear expression of the
lack of interest in such an endeavor. I have no intention of delving into
the subtleties of his views on that subject which to my mind are just
arbitrary metaphysical notions far from science. I will make only one brief
comment regarding Rabinowitz’s referring to Wheeler. John Archibald Wheeler
is indeed a physicist of a high stature. However the question under
discussion is not scientific. An expert in, say, hydrodynamics, may be an
ignoramus in, say, engineering hydraulics. Even more so, a good physicist
(like Wheeler) can be a poor philosopher. Here is what the very influential
professional philosopher Karl Popper wrote in regard to the question of
consciousness being necessary for the collapse of the wave function: “I have
often argued in favor of the evolutionary significance of consciousness, and
its supreme biological role in grasping and criticizing ideas. But its
intrusion into the probabilistic theory of quantum mechanics seems to me to
be based on bad philosophy and on a few very simple mistakes.” (See Karl R.
Popper, Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics, Totowa NJ, Rowan and
Littlefield publishers, 1982). I am referring to Popper to show that mining
quotations is a double edged tool. Moreover, since Wheeler’s views are
referred to, here is one more quotation for Dr. Rabinowitz to mull over:
“Consciousness, we are forced to recognize, has nothing whatsoever to do
with the quantum process.” Who did say that, Dr. Rabinowitz? Well,
surprise! This is a quotation from the same John Archibald Wheeler…. (See
Wheeler’s article in the collection Mind in Nature, edited by Richard Q.
Elvee, page 21, San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1982). If one wishes to build
an argument on quotations from big-name guys, rather then on facts and
logic, it is advisable to keep in mind that quoting partially may backfire.
This is my final response to Dr. Rabinowitz to whom I still wish all the
best.

Related Articles: B'Tsel HaTorah