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Quantum theory describes quantum waves that expand at the speed of light until they are observed and collapse to a physical event. Quantum realism interprets these waves as processing waves, as follows.

Processing is the creation information by choosing one physical state over others, so our information is static, based on a fixed state while processing is dynamic, based on a choice event. Information derives from a known physical state while processing involves an unknown event by the definition of choice. And processing on our networks doesn’t spread, so it is in this sense static, as if your computer runs a program, it doesn’t spread to the Internet by itself. Now imagine a dynamic process that once it starts on any network node immediately spreads to its neighbors, and this repeats in the next cycle. It follows that quantum processing is the creation of processing, just as processing is the creation of information. Quantum processing is then processing creating processing.

Quantum processing on a network then creates a processing wave that behaves like a quantum wave. Starting in one node, it not only runs a process in that node but also immediately passes it to all its neighbors. The next network cycle, those nodes also begin the process and again pass it on to their neighbors, and so on. Just as a water wave spreads the activity of water, a quantum processing wave spreads a quantum process.

Processing waves are events not things and the only way to “save” an event is to run it again. As in process philosophy, the premise is that existence is dynamic and that dynamic nature is fundamental to reality. One can save and reload static states but not events, as the act of storing an event is another event. The next chapter explains in detail how quantum waves match the properties of light waves, but for now note that it accounts for two key properties of light. First, that light waves always spread, and second that light as a quantum wave can collapse. Unlike physical waves, a processing wave can restart from any one of its many locations if a node point reboots. That light is a quantum processing wave offers a possible explanation for quantum collapse.

Quantum processing as the creation of processing is what makes quantum computing, based on qubits, more powerful than physical computing. A bit is a choice between two states but a qubit also allows their superposition, as a one-bit computer only has the values 0 or 1 but a one-qubit computer can also be 0/1 and 1/0, so it can be zero and one at the same time, as in Schrödinger’s alive/dead cat. A bit is one process making one choice in one place but a qubit is two choice processes and that allows superposed options. Superposition lets quantum processing choose all possible options at once rather than just try one at a time.

The result is that quantum processing isn’t just better than physical processing, it is exponentially better, so doubling my computer’s processing needs double the bits but adding just one qubit to a quantum computer doubles its power. If physical processing is like going to the moon, quantum processing is like going to the nearest star in the same time. As expected, what generates physical reality is far beyond anything we can physically achieve.

Quantum waves are all around us all the time and they never stop. We don’t “make” quantum computers as we do physical ones but just use what naturally occurs. We tap into quantum processing rather than make it work, just as we tap into the sun’s warmth but make a fire to warm us. We don’t create quantum processing, it creates us.

The revelation of quantum theory, that quantum waves cause physical events, was the greatest discovery of last century, on a par with evolution the century before and finding that the earth goes round the sun centuries earlier. But while orthodox religion denied the earlier advances, orthodox science denied Heisenberg’s conclusion that:

“The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.” (Rosenblum & Kuttner, 2006) p104

Bohr denied the world of possibilities that quantum theory describes by calling it unreal. That orthodoxy denies innovation is no surprise but who expected scientific orthodoxy to be the denier? Imagine if astronomers believed the sun went around the earth but still used heliocentric equations. That would be preposterous but physics today uses equations based on quantum waves that they deny exist! It’s time to explore the dangerous idea of quantum reality.

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Some links that might be interesting but don’t necessarily agree with quantum realism.

The World is an Illusion – Quantum Physics (Video). Contrasts what physics says about quantum waves and the matter substance we normally take as reality.

The Simulation Hypothesis Documentary (Video). A pretty good video outlining the basic argument behind virtualism.

For The New Atheists (Video) Johanan Raatz presents the Digital Physics Argument and then argues for a universal mind.

Have we reached the end of physics? (Video, TED talk) Harry Cliff, a CERN particle physicist glumly concludes that the Large Hadron Collider is not producing a new physics.

The Simulation Argument. Bostrom presents papers and links relating to his proposal that we are probably living in a simulation created by our future ancestors. See my comments on the simulation hypothesis.

Arguments for and against the simulation hypothesis. An excellent discussion of the pros and cons of the simulation hypothesis, e.g. that it doesn’t predict anything.

Why we are probably not living in a simulation (based on classical processing). Theoretical physicists crunch the numbers to show that building a classical computer to explain physics would need more atoms than there are in the universe.

Tom’s Top 10 interpretations of quantum mechanics. A brief overview of the main interpretations of quantum theory. Does not include quantum realism, that the quantum world described is real.

The Scale of the Universe. An excellent online display of the scale of the universe.

Sine Wave Animation. A visual representation of how a circle creates a sine wave.

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Here are some questions about quantum realism (QR) and their answers. Please check this list before sending questions to bwhitworth@acm.org

1. A universe as big as ours must be real.

Answer. It is only “big” relative to our bodies just as we are big relative to bacteria. Our universe may be tiny compared to what contains it. We don’t know the scale of what is going one.

2. A universe that has been going for billions of years must be real.

Answer. Again, only relative to us. Our whole lifetime is just a flash compared to that of a planet, star or galaxy. In Hindu time, a “day” of Brahma is about 4 billion years. In Buddhism, a small kalpa is about 16 billion years. Again, it all depends on your scale.

3. It would take a computer bigger than the universe to simulate it.

Answer. A physical computer yes, but QR is based on a quantum processing power far beyond physical processing. If physics can accept a multiverse, why can’t a quantum bulk contain our universe?

4. So who is the programmer?

Answer. I don’t know. Does there have to be a central director? Maybe we are all programming it.

5. Computers need physical hardware so the argument is circular. Processing based on the physical world can’t simulate the physical world. That’s recursive.

Answer. A physical world can’t create itself as a virtual reality but a non-physical quantum world can. Processing as the changing of information isn’t defined in physical terms, so quantum processing doesn’t need a physical base. There is no circularity.

6. Can we hack into the system?

Answer. Quantum computers already tap into it, but the quantum no-cloning theorem doesn’t let us manipulate quantum states directly by physical means. Chapter 6 considers the observer “back-door”.

7. Is this like The Matrix, with Keanu Reeves as Neo?

Answer. No. Neo dropped out of The Matrix virtual reality into another physical world but the QR“Matrix” is a quantum world that, according to quantum theory, isn’t at all like our physical world.

8. This just defers the problem of fully explaining everything to another level, so it can’t be a theory of everything (TOE).

Answer. Quantum and relativity theory dispelled the myth that mechanics fully explain everything last century. TOE is a myth but science is not, so quantum realism is a query of everything (QOE) not a TOE.

9. If virtual reality calculations are performed by “something”, then it would be a system (like our Universe) that would need its own explanation, and we are back to square one, so to speak.

Answer. The “something” you refer to is described by the advance of quantum theory, which didn’t leave us “back to square one” but one square further on. Likewise, QR is another step, as it unites quantum theory and relativity theory. Science is about progress not perfection.

10. A theory that some other world creates this world is not testable.

Answer. Of course it is. A theory about heaven isn’t testable because we can’t agree what heaven is. In contrast, a theory that this physical world is a quantum output is testable because we agree what quantum theory describes. That the physical world is a processing output is testable because we know how the physical world behaves and we know how processing behaves.

11. It is all just meta-physics, like the number of angels on a pinhead.

Answer. Meta-physics is speculation on unknowable things but the quantum world is knowable by its physical results. Quantum realism is a statement about the world we see, so it is not just meta-physics.

12. This theory is unproven.

Answer. So is the physical realism alternative! To fail one theory by a criterion the alternative also fails is bias. If science compares impartially, quantum realism explains more and assumes less.

13. This theory is based on assumptions.

Answer. So is every scientific theory. The method of science is to assume a hypothesis then test it by physical world data. Reverse engineering the physical world as a design science takes that approach.

14. Denying the axiom that there is nothing outside the physical universe opens the floodgates to let anything convenient through, no matter how unlikely or even absurd.

Answer. No floodgates open if we keep to the scientific method. To ask a question about the physical world is science, even if that question happens to be “Is the physical world a processing output?”

15. This theory would end science, as you can’t study what you can’t by definition see.

Answer. Not true. Science studies quarks no-one has see and it is still fine. The end of science will be when people stop asking questions. Science works as well in a local reality as in an objective reality.

16. A theory that postulates the unseen is not scientific.

Answer. That science must only refer to what is observable is logical positivism, a simplistic nineteenth century fallacy now discredited in almost every discipline. Quantum waves aren’t observable but quantum theory is science. Observable constructs aren’t a demand of science, only observable predictions are.

17. This theory can never be decided.

Answer. Not true. Science compares theory alternatives based on observable evidence. If science can decide that our universe had a beginning, it can decide if it is a processing output.

18. The theory contradicts Occam’s razor.

Answer. Occam’s razor prefers the simplest theory that fit the facts. Last century the facts favored physical realism but today space bends, time dilates and quantum entities teleport. If you compare quantum realism’s one quantum network and one quantum process with the five fields, thirty-eight basic particles, sixteen charges, fourteen bosons and twenty-four result-fitted parameters of physical realism’s standard model, Occam’s razor now cuts the other way.

19. This is not mainstream physics.

Answer. Of course it is not mainstream. Nothing new is ever mainstream.

20. This is a crazy idea.

Answer. That doesn’t make it untrue. Even if this theory is found to be wrong, we might learn something. Science advances by testing crazy ideas.

21. This is just another God theory.

Answer. No it isn’t. God theories put no constraints upon God but reverse engineering physical reality requires consistency. Postulating that a quantum world creates the physical world is not a God theory because quantum theory describes that quantum world and makes successful predictions. In contrast, Everett’s postulate of the multiverse is a God theory!

22. Is the programmer God?

Answer. Don’t worry, whether quantum realism is true or false, we can still argue about God! It doesn’t change that argument one way or another. Maybe God is the programmer, maybe advanced aliens or maybe even ourselves from the future! In my view, the physical world is a record of all quantum choices.

23. This model implies a phantom spirit world reality, alongside the physical world.

Answer. No it doesn’t. Dualistic religions imply a spiritual world alongside the physical world we see. Quantum realism is a monism, so the quantum world is real and the physical world is the phantom. In the observer-observed interaction of physical reality, it takes the observer as real not the observed.

24. It isn’t possible that everything we see is information!

Answer. We already know that is possible because neurons are on-off devices like transistors. Yet quantum realism isn’t solipsism, that the universe is created by our minds. A dream doesn’t exist without the dreamer but this universe doesn’t need humanity to dream it. It “dreamed” itself for billions of years before we came along. If we die out something else will take our place – maybe rats will evolve sentience. But QR does not propose that everything is information. Information comes from physical processing, so that would imply some physical hardware somewhere running some master program, as in The Matrix. QR implies no physical hardware nor a master program. It proposes quantum processing. While the output of physical processing is information described by bits, the output of quantum processing is described by qubits that are fundamentally different. 

25. Where are the equations?

Answer. They are already there, e.g. Schrödinger’s equation describes a processing wave expanding in three-dimensions. Physics has the equations already but where is the meaning?

26. Equations that work are enough. Physics doesn’t need meaning.

Answer. Bohr’s Copenhagen position enshrined the carry-on-calculating approach. If you are happy with this, then fine, but why object to others wondering what it means?

27. I don’t think the world is a fake.

Answer. Neither do I. In QR, the physical world is a local reality not a fake. It doesn’t exist in or of itself, as an objective reality, but to those within it, it is as real as it gets. In QR, there is a real world “out there” generating our experiences, but it isn’t the world we see. We see an interface to the real world.

28. If the physical world is virtual, then we don’t really exist!

Answer. Sort of. If my physical body is virtual, like the pixels of an avatar in a game, then it is not real, but the game player is always outside the game and so not made of pixels. Reality 101 is that the observer must be apart from the observed and indeed we each feel personally that we exist – even if we know nothing else. In QR, we exist in the sense that the physical world as a virtual reality needs an observer outside it.

29. Whoever is playing my character is pretty boring.

Answer. Sorry about that. Have you tried all the options? Try pressing different buttons.

30. This contradicts common sense.

Answer. Common sense also told us that the sun went around the earth, but it doesn’t.

31. This is not a new idea.

Answer. True. It goes back at least to Plato’s story of prisoners in a cave, taking their shadows on the wall as reality. Modern virtualism precedents include Conrad Zuse, Edward Fredkin and Tom Campbell.

32. Why would anyone create a world like this?

Answer. We can only guess. Perhaps reality wanted to know itself and this was the only way?

33. This theory makes no difference in practice.

Answer. Yes it does.If light created matter, money spent colliding matter should be spent colliding light and the $30 billion Higgs project just found another dead-end in the evolution of matter. Why waste time and money on WIMPs that don’t exist, proton decay that doesn’t happen and strings that don’t predict?

34. Are paranormal powers like healing and precognition implied?

Answer. They are not ruled out but would you build a virtual world and let the players flout the rules? I don’t see any holes in this system. Quantum reality tries every option before it “writes” a physical result, so when they build up over time to create an effect there is no unfairness. There is no magic pill for reality.

35. Could the experiments at CERN start a new big bang?

Answer. In QR, the quantum world created the physical world from itself, when a once-only chain reaction made all the free photons of our universe, that since then have been constant. For billions of years, the system has experienced extremes beyond anything we know, and this hasn’t changed. To think that our accelerators can harm the quantum world is like online Sims thinking they can hurt our world.

36. Is this like Seth Lloyd’s theory that the Universe is in fact a giant quantum computer?

Answer. No. In QR, it is no more possible for the physical world to compute itself than it is possible for two hands to draw each other. To embed quantum processing in a fixed space and time contradicts relativity, which states that there is no fixed space or time. Conversely, if quantum processing creates a virtual physical world and its space and time, it can’t exist in that space-time. See here.

37. Does this imply the existence of a Creator?

Answer. If by Creator you mean a super-being who looked down from “above” and created us, then no. If you mean that something bigger than the physical world created it, then yes.

38. Has QR something to do with Leonard Susskind’s Holographic Principle?

Answer. Yes. The Holographic principle, that everything physically knowable about a spatial volume transmits across the surface surrounding it, is a necessary prediction of quantum realism.

39. Is this panpsychism?

Answer. Not really. Panpsychism is that all the physical elements of nature (pan) have a psyche, which is mind, spirit or soul however you interpret the Greek word. It relates to Plato’s anima mundi, that the physical world is animated by a vital essence or pneuma (breath), which religion calls soul or spirit and the east calls Tao or mind essence. Nagel defines panpsychism as accepting materialism, that matter exists in and of itself, which quantum realism denies. If you want to label quantum realism, it is a neutral monism that refers to what existed before brains came on the scene. In quantum theory, quantum reality is literally “the unknowable”.

40. Does quantum realism support evolution?

Answer. Yes. It implies that not only did life evolve but so did matter, and this physical evolution is ongoing today in the stars.

41. Is there a place for the soul in quantum realism?

Answer. Maybe. In Descartes’ body-soul dualism, a soul exists inside a body as a non-physical reality, so there are two realities, one interpenetrating the other. A theist might call the soul a “non-physical something within the physical body“. Quantum realism is a monism, with only one reality, but unlike physical realism, it sees the non-physical quantum world, not the physical world, as real. In this view, quantum reality isn’t “within” physical reality at all but rather the reverse. If you play a computer virtual reality game, are you “within” the game? In one sense you are but in another sense you are not. Where does that leave the soul? I am no expert on the soul, but everywhere I guess.

42. Does QR support Einstein’s statement “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Answer. In quantum realism, physical reality is an interface rather than an illusion. It interfaces to quantum reality, which is not an illusion but real.

43. So does consciousness causes quantum effects, as suggested by Von Neumann and Henry Stapp, or does quantum activity cause consciousness, as suggested by Penrose?

Answer. A physical event needs an observer but they aren’t the only cause, as the “dreaming” of solipsism implies. In QR, a physical event is a quantum interaction. Quantum reality is on both sides of the interaction, to create both the observer we call conscious and the observed we call physical. QR supports Penrose but not the biocentrism that only human consciousness causes quantum effects.

44. Magritte painted a picture of a pipe entitled “This is not a pipe”. Is this picture less real than the pipe he painted or are both real if I remember a pipe in my mind? Is the pipe painted by Magritte less real in my memory than the pipe that was a model for Magritte’s picture?

Answer. Layer upon layer doesn’t alter the basics. A painting of a pipe is a physical symbol of a physical object and so is not a pipe, as Magritte’s title said. A memory of a pipe is a neural reconstruction and so is not a pipe. In QR, the pipe Magritte painted was a virtual reality generated by quantum waves that are nothing like what we imagine a pipe to be. Seeing a painting of a pipe, remembering a pipe and painting a pipe are real observer events but what is seen, remembered or painted is not a pipe. Maybe the physical world should come with a label “This is not reality”.

45. Is consciousness, the feeling of “I”, a part of the brain? Is it independent of physical realm? Is it simply the experience of reality? An emergent concept or a world in itself?

Answer. If only quantum reality exists, the feeling of “I” must also come from it, so it isn’t a part of the brain or anything else physical. Our experience of reality is the quantum world interacting with itself. Consciousness as the observer can’t “emerge” from physical reality but is fundamental to its virtual existence, as in the figure here

46. What is conscious according to QR?

Answer. Everything! Life is an evolutionary continuum, so who can draw the line? Are viruses “alive” or not? In physics, even a photon “knows” when a physicist observes it go through two slits and changes its behavior accordingly

47. Are we dreaming?

Answer. Yes, but there is still a real world out there and we are not alone. Perhaps the best way to describe our reality is to say that we are a part of some sort of miracle.

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Definitions are based on current physics, computer science and quantum realism (QR), where the first two are accepted but the latter is a new theory.
Click on the term to go to a section that discusses it in more detail. Download Entire Glossary.

Anti-matter. Every matter entity has an anti-matter version with the same mass but opposite charge and magnetism, for a reason that current physics can’t explain.
QR: Anti-matter exists because matter processing can run in reverse. Any matter process run backwards gives an anti-matter version with the same mass but opposite charge and magnetism.

Anti-time. In Feynman diagrams, anti-matter enters events going backwards in time.
QR: Anti-matter time is matter time in reverse because it runs matter processing in reverse.

Asynchrony. When processors cycle at their own rate with no common clock.
QR: The quantum network is asynchronous but the transfer of light mostly synchronizes it.

Attention. The ability to select a local brain activity to experience, like sound, sight, or smell.
QR: Attention occurs when a global observation collapses to a point in the brain’s electro-magnetic field.  

Bandwidth. The capacity of a channel to transfer information or processing.
QR: One quantum channel has a bandwidth of one quantum process.

Being. A person or thing that exists (Cambridge Dictionary).
QR: That which observes and chooses.

Big bang. That all the matter and energy of the universe expanded from a point singularity.
QR: The universe began from a little rip in the quantum fabric, not a big bang.

Black hole. A region of space with gravity so strong that not even light can escape from it.
QR: A black hole occurs when the bandwidth of space is full.

Blindsight. The ability to catch a ball while unable to see anything at all.

Boson. An integer spin particle, like a photon, that is said to never collide with itself.
QR: The boson-fermion distinction isn’t fundamental because matter was created from light.

Brain waves. Electromagnetic waves caused by neural synchrony that scalp electrodes detect.

Breit-Wheeler process. A process that allows photons to create electron-positron pairs.

Cartesian space. In a space defined by orthogonal linear dimensions, any point can be represented by real coordinates (x, y, z, …).
QR: A Cartesian space expands at its edges from a center in that space, but our space has no center and expands everywhere at once.

Casimir effect. Two conducting plates placed close together in a vacuum experience a force pushing them together, so empty space is not empty.

Cerebellum. Part of the brain that bulges out from its base and contains about 80% of its nerves.

Channel. A link between two network points that can transmit processing, up to its bandwidth.
QR: A quantum channel between adjacent space points has a bandwidth of one quantum process.

Channel set. The set of channels that let a point in space accept a ray of light with photons in every possible polarization plane.

Charge. An inherent property of matter that causes electrical effects.
QR: Charge is the quantum processing left over after matter is created, that never runs. It is a positive-negative byproduct of how matter is made, not a property of matter.

Childhood amnesia. The inability to remember events before a certain age, because the limbic system that lays down memories hasn’t yet matured enough to do so.

Choice. The ability to independently select one from a set of available physical options. Physics confirms that physical history can’t predict atomic choices, so they can’t have a physical cause.
QR: Where a physical event occurs depends on server choices made outside physical space.

Client-server relation. A network relation that partitions work between a server and one or more clients. A printer or screen getting data from a laptop is a client-server relation. The server directs the client printer or screen to manifest letters or pictures.
QR: A photon is one quantum process spreading on the client network we call space. It spreads as processing waves until a client point overload reboots the server in a physical event.

Coherence. Waves are coherent if their frequency and waveform are identical. When coherent quantum waves overlap and restart, they entangle into an ensemble that runs as one.

Complex plane. The plane into which light waves vibrate, said to be imaginary.
QR: The complex plane is a quantum dimension that actually exists, so it isn’t imaginary.

Consciousness. The unalloyed capacity to experience a physical observation.
QR: Human consciousness is the ability to experience the observation of a physical event.

Conservation of photons. That the number of photons in the universe has been constant since inflation ended, because matter is light trapped in a standing wave.

Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory. That imaginary quantum waves exist only for the purpose of physics equations, so quantum theory is a useful description of nothing.
QR: Quantum theory describes quantum waves that exist and so aren’t imaginary.

Corpus callosum. The 800 million nerves that connect the hemispheres of the brain.
QR: Cutting the corpus callosum divides consciousness, giving each hemisphere its own.

Cortex. The folded layer of nerves that evolved from the forebrain to wrap around the midbrain and the hindbrain. It occupies 80% of the human brain but only has 20% of its nerves.

Cosmic background radiation. White hot light from the early universe that is now cold due to the expansion of space.
QR: Cosmic background radiation is still all around us because our space curves back on itself.

Cycle rate. The processing cycles per second, so a gigahertz processor is a billion cycles/second.
QR: The quantum cycle rate is about ten million, trillion, trillion, trillion cycles per second.

Dark energy. A negative energy that pushes the universe apart, that current physics can’t explain.
QR: New points of space receive but don’t transmit processing for their first cycle, so dark energy is caused by the expansion of space.

Dark matter. An invisible halo of matter that gives galaxies more gravity than their stars and planets allow, and so stops them flying apart.
QR: A black hole at the center of a galaxy traps a light halo around it, to create mass that isn’t visible as matter.

Delayed choice two-slit experiment. A two-slit experiment where an observation made after a photon passes through the slits decides if it traveled as a particle or wave, which is the future affecting the past according to physical realism.
QR: Occurs because the instance that restarts the photon wave, and decides its physical path, is chosen when it arrives to be observed, not when the wave starts.

Deliverance premise. That the divinity behind human beings offers them a path to immortality.

Dependence premise. That the visible world depends on an invisible divinity to exist.

Distributed processing. Processing shared between processors. Processing distributed between more processors runs slower not less.

Divinity premise. That an all-powerful reality exists unseen beyond the visible physical world.

Down quark. A first-generation quark that has a minus one third charge, for no known reason.
QR: A down quark is a head-head-tail three-way collision of extreme light that almost completes the channels of a node plane, with a minus one-third quantum processing remainder.

Dualism. That two different realities co-exist, a mind substance and a body substance.

Egocentric speech. A running spoken commentary on perceived events actions generated by the intellect, usually in young children.

Einstein’s equation. E=mc² That the energy of matter is its mass times the speed of light squared.
QR: This equation can be derived from the definition of matter as trapped light.

Electric field. A field that surrounds a charge to attract or repel other charges.
QR: A quantum field remainder gradient that moves other charged matter entities by biasing their natural quantum tremble.

Electromagnetic field. A field whose electrical and magnetic aspects cause each other.
QR: The quantum field causes both electricity and magnetism.

Electromagnetic spectrum. All the frequencies of light, including radio waves and X-rays.
QR: All the frequencies of light are one quantum process distributed more or less.

Electron. An elementary particle with a negative charge that exists at a point with no extent.
QR: A head-head standing wave of extreme light that repeatedly completes all the channels of a point axis, with minus one quantum process remaining that never runs.

Electron shell. Electrons occupy shells/sub-shells in an atom based on ad hoc quantum numbers.
QR: Electron occupy shells/sub-shells based on their wave radius, harmonic and direction.

Electron spin. An electron has “half-spin” because only half its spin can be measured.
QR: An electron has half-spin because it exists in a plane, so only half its photons can be observed for any direction.

Emotion. A neural representation of reality by the limbic system based on visceral sensations and emotional memory.

Empty space. Space with no physical matter or light in it should be nothing at all, but it isn’t.
QR: A network that has nothing to do is still null processing, so the vacuum of space is “full”.

Encapsulation. In computing, different processes can’t input each other’s output, so Notepad can’t input pictures and Paint can’t input text. Hence, different regions of the brain can’t exchange data without protocols that brains don’t have.

Energy. A physical system’s capacity to perform work. Can be kinetic (based on matter moving), radiant (based on light frequency), heat (based on temperature), or potential energy (based on gravity).
QR: Energy as the quantum processing transfer rate at the node explains all of the above.

Ensemble. When quantum entities entangle to become one entity, it is called an ensemble.

Entanglement. When one event creates two photons that leave in opposite directions, observing either spin, which is random, instantly makes the other the opposite, regardless of distance.
QR: Entanglement merges the photon servers to run both photons. Measuring either restarts one server randomly, leaving the other to run the opposite-spin photon. The effect ignores distance because client-server relations don’t depend on client distances.

Entrainment. The tendency of overlapping oscillating waves to become synchronous.

Entropy. The amount of disorder in a closed system, which always tend to increase.
QR: The Law of All Action increases disorder by trying every option, and decreases it by finding new combinations that are stable. Our universe is increasing order even as it decays.

Evolution. An iterative trial-and-error process that selects attributes that let creatures continue to exist by producing descendants.
QR: Matter also evolves by an iterative trial-and-error method that lets stable combinations continue to exist by constantly recreating themselves as standing waves.

Existence. An entity exists if it occurs whether it is observed or not. It is currently believed that physical entities exist whether we observe them or not.
QR: Physical entities don’t exist when they aren’t observed but quantum waves do.

Experiential science. The science of human experiences.

Extreme light. The highest possible frequency of light, with a two Planck length wavelength.

Family generations. Electrons, neutrinos, and quarks have three generations, each like the last but heavier, then no more. The standard model can’t explain why.
QR: Higher electron, neutrino, and quark generations occur because space has two extra dimensions into which their wave structures can repeat.

Field. A mathematical technique that assigns a value to every point in space, which is equivalent to assuming another dimension of space.
QR: All the fields of physics are equivalent to assuming one or more dimensions to space.

Field theory. The theory that invisible fields spawn virtual particles. It is used to allow particles to explain forces like gravity. that act at a distance.
QR: The quantum field explains all the equations of field theory without the need to invent virtual particles that appear and disappear to fit the equations.

Fundamental particle. Any matter that particle accelerator collisions can’t break apart is said to be fundamental, to exist at a point with no size or substructure.
QR: The fundamental particles of physics are neither fundamental nor particles.

Gauss’s flux law. A flux spreading in three dimensions reduces as the inverse square of its radius.
QR: Gauss’s flux law applied to the spread of quantum processing explains the inverse-square laws of gravity, magnetism, and charge.

General relativity. The theory that the force of gravity equates to the force of an acceleration.
QR: Gravity is equivalent to acceleration because both are based on photon exchanges.

Gluons. Massless virtual particles that are said to bind quarks in the atomic nucleus.
QR: Quarks bind by photon sharing, so gluons are unnecessary agents that don’t exist.

Goldilocks effect. That our universe has an unreasonable number of physical parameters set just right for life, without which we couldn’t have evolved.
QR: Life is fine-tuned to physical reality because it evolved within it, just as crocodiles are fine-tuned to rivers because they evolved in them.

Graviton. A virtual particle invented to explain gravity, based on no evidence at all.
QR: The quantum field gradient around matter causes gravity, so gravitons are unnecessary agents that don’t exist.

Gravity. The force that draws matter together at a distance.
QR: The quantum field gradient around a large mass biases the random movements of other matter towards it.

Grounded theory. A scientific method that iteratively acquires data to form predictive theories.
QR: Quantum realism applies grounded theory to reverse engineer physical events.

Just-in-time computing. The policy of leaving processing choices until the last possible moment.
QR: Nature uses this policy to choose a photon’s physical path when it arrives, not before.

Kinetic energy. Energy associated with the movement of matter.
QR: Matter moves when it acquires extra photons that bias its movement in a direction.

Hidden variables. The idea that hidden physical causes explain quantum theory.
QR: The hidden variable is quantum reality, which is not physical.

Higgs particle. A virtual particle invoked to explain another virtual particle that was invoked to explain neutron decay.
QR: Yet another unnecessary agent that doesn’t exist, invented to support particle theory.

Holographic principle. That everything physically knowable about a spatial volume transmits across the surface surrounding it.
QR: Quantum realism requires the holographic principle to be true.

Huygens principle. That light is a wave spreading out, with each point a new wave source.
QR: Describes a processing wave passed on by instantiation on a processing network.

Hypersphere. A four-dimensional sphere, whose surface has three dimensions.
QR: Our space is the inner surface of a four-dimensional bubble expanding in the quantum bulk.

Idealism. That the physical world reflects something else that isn’t physical.
QR: The physical world as a virtual reality reflects quantum reality, which isn’t physical.

Inflation. That immediately after the big bang, an immense anti-gravity field from nowhere inflated it faster than light to avoid a black hole. This doesn’t explain where that field came from, how it acted faster than light, or why it stopped.
QR: Inflation began when the original quantum reality made the first photon in the first space, to give a chain reaction that created photons at faster than light speed, until the expansion of space stopped it.

Information. A property of a physical state chosen from a set, defined as Log₂N, for N options. It is undefined if N is unknown so a physical book has no information in itself.

Instance. A server template run by a client is an instance of that template.
QR: A photon is a wave of instances of one quantum process that spreads on the space network.

Instantiation. The act of providing processing to be executed independently, so any number of screen buttons can be instantiated from one server template.
QR: A photon wave spreads on the client network of space by instantiation.

Interference. When two or more processes try to access the same resource at the same time, at least one must fail and try again, increasing the time that processing takes to run.
QR: When generations of matter overlap dimensions, interference increases the net processing that is mass, so a third-generation electron (a muon) is 200x the mass of an electron.

It from Bit. Wheeler’s conjecture that matter comes from some sort of information processing.
QR: Quantum realism proposes It from Qubit, that matter comes from quantum processing.

Law of all action. That everything physically possible actually occurs at the quantum level, so whatever can happen, eventually will.
QR: The law of all action underlies both the second law of thermodynamics, which decreases order, and the evolution of matter and life, which increases order.

Law of least action. That in nature, the amount of action used for any physical change is always the least possible, so light always takes the fastest path to any destination.
QR: A photon always finds the fastest path to any observed destination because its waves take every path, and first instance to arrive at the destination triggers an observed event. 

Life. A biological system that can replicate itself.
QR: Life is an inevitable result of evolution in the universe.

Light. A transverse vibration of the electromagnetic field into a dimension outside physical space, that is said to be imaginary.
QR: Light vibrates on physical space, which is the inner surface of a hypersphere.

Limbic System. A midbrain evolution that can lay down memories (Hippocampus), receive sensory input (Thalamus), recognize threats (Amygdala) and cause body states (Hypothalamus).

Little rip. The “big bang” was really a little rip in the fabric of quantum reality.

Local reality. A reality that is real from within but not from without, just as Monopoly money affects what you can buy in the game but has no value outside the game.
QR: The physical world is a local reality with respect to the quantum reality that creates it.

Magnetic field. A field that surrounds a magnet to attract or repel other magnets.
QR: A quantum field spin gradient that moves magnetic matter by biasing its quantum tremble.

Many-worlds theory. The theory that every quantum choice spawns a new universe.
QR: A zombie theory invented by physicists to explain away quantum choice.

Mass. The property of matter that prevents other matter from existing in the same space.
QR: Mass is the amount of quantum processing that runs per cycle, and matter is a quantum standing wave that repeatedly runs on the network of space to exclude other matter.

Mass problem. That the mass of a complex matter entity is more than its constituents, so the mass of a proton made of three quarks is 100 times that of three quarks.
QR: Mass is the total processing that runs, so when processes interfere, mass increases.

Materialism. The belief that physical matter is the fundamental reality.
QR: Matter is not fundamental because it is made of light.

Matter. An inert physical substance that occupies a space to keep other matter out.
QR: Matter as a quantum standing wave occupies space by constantly running there first.

Matter time. Time passes for matter when it completes a forward processing cycle. Time passes for anti-matter when it completes a backward cycle. Anti-matter time runs backwards relative to matter time but even so, no physical event can be reversed because a reboot is irreversible.

Measurement problem. That a quantum wave can never be observed because any attempt to do so will collapse it to a point physical event.
QR: We can’t observe quantum waves because they create observation itself.

Meson. A particle combination that has zero spin, so is said to be a boson that carries no force.
QR: A meson has no spin because its matter and antimatter spins cancel, so it isn’t a boson.

Monism. The belief that there is only one reality, so physical realism is a monism.
QR: Quantum realism is the monism that the only reality is quantum reality.

Movement. A change in the spatial location of light or matter.
QR: Light and matter move differently, light by node-to-node transfer and matter by teleporting.

Multiverse. The theory that there are parallel universes with alternate timelines.
QR: A zombie theory that proposes a clockwork multiverse instead of a clockwork universe.

Murphy’s law. The law that if anything can go wrong, it probably will.
QR: A world of constant change usually has more ways for things to go wrong than right.

Network. A set of processing points that interact with each other.
QR: Space is a network where each point of space is a quantum processor.

Network density. The ratio of actual connections to possible connections. If constant, it defines how many neighbors each node connects to.
QR: The density of the quantum network of space defines Planck’s constant.

Neural synchrony. When distant nerves constantly fire at the same time with great precision.

Neutral Monism. That both mind and matter arise from a more primal reality.
QR: That the primal reality that causes mind and matter is quantum reality.

Neutrino. An elemental matter particle with a tiny variable mass but a neutral charge.
QR: An asynchronous head-tail collision of extreme light, with no quantum processing left over, whose small mass varies with the asynchrony of the collision.

Neutrino asymmetry. Neutrinos always spin left, so the universe is left-handed.
QR: The universe is left-handed because the first photon chose to spin left and the rest followed. We live in a universe of matter not anti-matter for the same reason.

Neutron. The neutral result when an up quark and two down quarks combine.
QR: When these quarks share photons in a closed triangle, no quantum processing remains.

Nihilism. The belief that everything is pointless so it doesn’t matter what one does. It is expressed today as scientific nihilism, that the cosmos has no purpose.
QR: The physical world is a virtual reality that is costly to maintain, so it must exist for a reason.

No-cloning theorem. That we can’t copy quantum states, because reading a quantum state requires a physical event that destroys it.
QR: We can’t copy quantum states but the quantum server that generates them can.

Node. A point in a network, that can be a person in a social network, a device in a computer network, or text in a hyperlink network.
QR: Space is a processing network whose points receive, run, and transfer quantum processing.

Non-physical detection. For an object to be detected without physically interacting with it isn’t possible in a purely physical world, but it can happen in our world.
QR: Non-physical detection is possible because what quantum theory describes exists.

Nuclear fission. Breaking apart atomic nuclei to release energy, as in atomic bombs.

Nuclear fusion. Joining nuclei to create energy, as Hydrogen forms Helium in stars.
QR: Nuclear fusion is how matter evolves.

Nucleosynthesis. How stars and supernovae make complex matter from simpler matter.
QR: All the atoms of the periodic table were created by nucleosynthesis.

Nucleus. The proton and neutron center of an atom that contains nearly all its mass.
QR: A nucleus is a folded quark string, with at least one neutron per two protons.

Null process. A processing activity that produces no net result, like a computer idling.
QR: The vacuum of space is not emptiness but the quantum client network null processing.

Observation levels. The levels of observation used by science include physical, informational, experiential, and social. All can be valid ways to view quantum reality.

Observer. The final destination of any information received in a physical interaction.
QR: Every physical event is an observer interaction, not just those that involve us.

Observer effect. That how one observes a quantum entity alters what is observed.
QR: The observer effect arises because the physical world is a virtual reality.

Occam’s razor. That theories shouldn’t multiply causes unnecessarily, so if two theories explain the same facts, science should prefer the simpler one.
QR: If one quantum field explains what many virtual particles do, it is a simpler theory.

Order. The degrees of freedom of a physical system, where fewer choices mean more order.
QR: When quantum entities entangle, choices reduce so order increases.

Panpsychism. The theory that all matter is conscious to some degree.
QR: Consciousness is a property of quantum reality but matter only exists as a view. 

Particle. Physics calls any energy spike in an accelerator collision, however brief, a particle.
QR: All the “particles” of physics are just events, even those that repeat.

Particle model. A reality model based on particles that are said to exist inherently.
QR: All the particles of physics are quantum events, not things that inherently exist.

Pass-it-on protocol. A network protocol where nodes first pass on their processing to their neighbors, then run whatever processing they have received, so no transfer is ever lost.
QR: The proposed transfer protocol for the network that is our space.

Pauli exclusion rule. The after-the-fact rule that opposite-spin electrons can occupy the same point of space.
QR: Works because opposite spin electrons at the same point occupy different quantum spaces.

Periodic table. A table of matter elements arranged by number of protons and electrons, that shows recurring trends in chemical properties.
QR: The periodic table represents the evolution of matter.

Photon. A pulse of light with one frequency, polarization plane and direction.
QR: A photon is one quantum process distributed more or less over many nodes.

Physical event. What happens when physical entities interact.
QR: Physical events occur when quantum waves overload the network of space.

Physicalism. The theory that the physical world is real, in and of itself.
QR: In quantum realism, the physical world is virtual and only the quantum world really exists

Physical realism. The theory that the physical world is all that exists.
QR: Quantum realism is theory that that quantum reality is all that exists.

Physical state. The result of a physical interaction, that is said to exist apart from observation.
QR: There are no physical states, only observations that exist for a moment.

Physical world. The set of all observable physical events.
QR: The set of all observable physical events is caused entirely by quantum waves.

Planar circle. A circle in space of all a point’s neighbor connections in a plane, that represents all possible directions in that plane from that point.

Planck’s constant. The smallest unit of energy exchange.
QR: A transfer of one quantum process per quantum cycle is the smallest energy exchange.

Planck’s relation. A photon’s energy is Planck’s constant times its frequency (E=h.f).
QR: E=h.f can be derived if a photon is a distributed quantum process spreading on a network.

Planck length. The smallest possible observable physical length.
QR: The smallest possible observable length is the distance between adjacent points of space.

Planck time. The smallest possible observable physical time.
QR: The smallest possible observable time is the completion of one quantum cycle.

Plato’s cave. That we are like prisoners in a cave, who see their own shadows on a wall from the sunlight behind them, and take them to be real.
QR: One could say that the physical world is a “shadow” of the quantum “sunlight”.

Point particle. An elemental particle that has no spatial extent, like a quark. Such particles are said to fill space as matter because virtual particles from invisible fields keep them apart.
QR: A point of space has no extent but fills a part of space as a pixel fills part of a screen.

Polar space. A space defined by orthogonal circular dimensions, where a point is represented by coordinates (r, θ, φ, …), with r the radius and the rest angular directions.
QR: Space as a three-dimensional hypersphere surface can be represented by polar coordinates.

Positivism. The nineteenth century fallacy that science must only refer to what can be physically observed. According to this view, quantum theory is not science.
QR: Quantum theory is a science because it predicts observable physical events.

Potential energy. The energy that a matter entity has due to its position in a gravitational field.
QR: Potential energy is gained or lost by photon exchanges in the gravitational field.

Program. Processing stored as static information that can be read and executed.
QR: The physical world can’t be both a static program and its executed output.

Processing. The act of creating or changing information. Processing can be stored as static data that a processor can later load and rerun.
QR: Processing that exists alone can’t store itself, because to do so is a different process, so a quantum process running on a network can’t use any static storage.

Proton. The positively charged result when two up and one down quark combine.
QR: When these quarks share photons in a triangle structure, one quantum process is left over.

Ptolemy’s standard model. The medieval standard model, that heavenly bodies move in perfect circles, or circles within circles (epicycles), around the earth. It wasn’t true, but it “predicted” star movements for centuries, as its followers altered the model to fit new discoveries.
QR: The standard model of physics today isn’t true either, but physicists alter its invisible fields, virtual particles, and imaginary charges to fit any new discoveries.

Quantum collapse. When quantum waves instantly restart at a point, in a physical event.
QR: Quantum waves can restart at a point in space when it overloads and reboots.

Quantum directions. The directions outside space, into which light waves vibrate.
QR: Every point of space has three quantum directions at right angles to the three orthogonal planes through it, and to each other. A photon polarization plane is a quantum direction.

Quantum field. The result of quantum waves spreading in space. Electromagnetism is a quantum field, and quantum field theories add other fields to explain other effects.
QR: One quantum field can explain the electrical, magnetic, gravitational, strong, and weak effects of physics, so no other fields are needed. 

Quantum network. The non-physical network of space that transmits light waves.

Quantum paradox. That unreal quantum events cause real physical events.
QR: There is no paradox if real quantum events cause unreal physical events.

Quantum process. The basic command of the quantum network, which sets a circle of values at right angles to the surface of our space.

Quantum processing. Quantum processing is described by qubits rather than bits.
QR: Quantum processing is essentially the processing of processing.

Quantum randomness. Quantum collapse is truly random because no prior physical history can predict it. An example is atomic radiation.
QR: Quantum collapse is defined by quantum server choices that we have no access to, so we can’t predict it. Physics calls it random because it is a choice made outside physical space.

Quantum realism. The theory that quantum reality creates the physical world as a virtual reality.

Quantum space. The four-dimensional space defined by quantum network connections.

Quantum spin. The imaginary rotation of a quantum entity into a dimension outside our space.
QR: The real rotation of a quantum process into a dimension outside our space.

Quantum tunneling. When a matter entity appears outside a barrier it can’t pass through.
QR: Quantum tunneling occurs because matter moves by teleporting. Every cycle it restarts somewhere in its quantum field, so quantum tunneling is just matter moving as usual.

Quantum wave. A three-dimensional wave that vibrates in a dimension outside our space, that is said to be imaginary.
QR: Quantum waves vibrate into a quantum dimension that is outside our space.

Quarks. Elementary particles with one-third charges that can’t exist alone.
QR: The phase options when three extreme light rays collide in a point of space to almost fill the channels of a plane. One quark isn’t stable but groups of them form stable protons and neutrons.

Quark string. A closed string of quarks sharing photons. A three-quark string is a proton or neutron. The nucleus of every atom is a closed string of quarks with triangular connections.

Reboot. When a processor restarts its processing from scratch. A device that hangs has to reboot.
QR: When a point of space overloads and reboots, its processing restart is a physical event.

Realism. That a reality exists apart from our observation of it.
QR: Physical realism calls that reality physical, but quantum realism calls it quantum reality.

Reality. That which exists apart from the observer, to cause an observation.
QR: Quantum reality causes every observation.

Relativity principle. That the laws of physics are the same in every reference frame.
QR: This is true because matter adjusts its time and space when it moves.

Reliability. That a measurement result is repeatable by others. See here.

Renormalization. A mathematical technique that makes the infinities of field theory go away if particles interact by means of other particles, hence the need for virtual particles.
QR: Renormalization is the mathematical trick that lets unreal particles explain quantum effects.

Reverse engineering. The iterative method of deducing processing by observing its output.
QR: Quantum realism reverse engineers physical events to deduce quantum processing.

Schema. A sensorimotor sequence created by the cerebellum that represents a motor event.

Second law of thermodynamics. That disorder always increases for a closed system over time.
QR: The law of all action that causes the second law also makes order evolve, by discovering more complex entities that survive, by stability or replication.

Server. A processing source that can pass a template to one or more clients for it to run.
QR: A photon wave is an entity because the server that generates it can also restart it.

Schrödinger’s cat. An attempt to extend quantum superposition to a live/dead cat.
QR: The superposition isn’t maintained because the cat knows if it is alive or dead.

Science. A way to ask questions of reality, not a fixed set of facts.
QR: Quantum realism is compatible with science but not the theory of physical realism.

Simulation hypothesis. That our physical reality is a simulation so realistic that its participants are unaware that they are living in a simulation, e.g. The Matrix movie.
QR: The physical world is a virtual reality that doesn’t reflect any other physical reality, so it isn’t a simulation of anything.

Singularity. The prediction that the matter in a black hole exists at a point of infinite density, based on extrapolating equations beyond their known application.
QR: A black hole is a region where the bandwidth of space is full, so there is no singularity.

Solipsism. That the physical world exists only as a dream of the mind.
QR: Quantum realism isn’t solipsism because it has a real world out there, beyond the observer.

Space. The three dimensions that matter exists and moves in.
QR: Our space is the 3D surface of a hypersphere, so it can transmit quantum waves.

Special relativity. The theory that matter alters its space and time to keep the speed of light constant when it moves.
QR: Is true because matter moves by teleporting, which alters its space and time.

Speed of light. The speed at which light moves in a vacuum is constant, for an unknown reason.
QR: The speed of light is constant because the ability of space to transfer light is fixed.

Standard model. A model that uses 5 invisible fields, 62 fundamental particles, 16 charges, 14 bosons and 24 data-fitted parameters to explain the findings of physics.
QR: The standard model predicts gravitons and gluons without evidence, uses invalid virtual particles like the Higgs, and can’t explain why most of the mass of the universe is dark energy and matter. It predicts after-the-facts, like Ptolemy’s standard model of cycles and epicycles.

Standing wave. When waves constantly collide to give a stationary wave form.
QR: Matter arises when light waves constantly collide on the space network.

String theory. That one-dimensional strings acting in 11 dimensions cause all physics equations.
QR: A zombie theory whose 10⁵⁰⁰ versions don’t predict anything.

Strong force. The force that holds quarks together in the nucleus, attributed to virtual W bosons.
QR: Quarks in a nucleus bind together by sharing photons in a closed string, so W bosons are imaginary agents that don’t exist.

Superposition. That a quantum wave can be in many places at once, so a photon wave can pass through two slits at once.
QR: A photon is a processing wave whose instances can pass through two slits at once.

Teleport. When an entity moves to a point with no physical way to travel there.
QR: All matter moves by teleport, by restarting itself at a point in its quantum field.

The binding problem. How can a decentralized brain bind together information from distant brain areas to allow unified percepts, choices, and actions?
QR: Distant nerves synchronize and entangle into a quantum entity that observes and chooses.

The hard problem. That we experience observation when there is no physical way to do that.
QR: Quantum entities observe on every scale, and larger entities observe more.

Thought. A neural representation of sensory patterns created by the neocortex.

Time. What separates different events at the same point. Time passes for some reason.
QR: Time passes when quantum cycles complete, to eventually give different physical events.

Time travel. The idea that time is a dimension that one can travel back or forth along, like space.
QR: Travelling back or forth along a time dimension denies causality and choice, respectively.

Transfer problem. That a transfer between the points of a network could be lost.
QR: The pass-it-on protocol ensures that every transfer of space is accepted, as an interrupt.

Transverse circle. A circle of values transverse to the surface of space that represents a photon vibrating in its polarization plane.

Young’s two slit experiment. A light shining through two slits gives a screen interference pattern.
QR: The pattern occurs because photons are waves not particles, as quantum theory states.

Uncertainty principle. That one can know a quantum particle’s exact position or momentum but not both at once.
QR: Occurs because measuring a wave can reveal position or wavelength, but not both at once.

Up quark. A first-generation quark with a strange plus two-thirds charge.
QR: A head-tail-tail three-way collision of extreme light that almost fills the channels of a plane through a point of space, with two-thirds of a quantum process left over that never runs.

Validity. That a theory construct represents what it is said to represent. See here.
QR: Virtual particles are invalid constructs because there is no evidence that they exist at all.

Virtual reality hypothesis. That our physical reality is a virtual reality so realistic that its participants are unaware that they are living in a virtual reality.

Virtualism. That physical events are the processing output of some unspecified “other”, whether of a great mind, another physical world’s processing, or quantum reality.
QR: In quantum realism, the “other” is quantum reality.

Virtual particle. A particle that mediates a force at a distance, but can never be validated because it is created and consumed in the same event.
QR: Virtual particles are unnecessary agents, as quantum processing explains all their effects.

Wave-particle duality. The ability of a quantum particle to be a wave or a particle as required, though no physical particle can act like a wave, nor can any physical wave act like a particle.
QR:  Quantum entities are processing waves that reboot to appear as particles in physical events, so there is no wave-particle duality.

Weak force. That virtual weak bosons turn neutrons to into protons after about fifteen minutes in empty space, but protons in space didn’t turn into neutrons as predicted.
QR: Neutrinos turn neutrons to into protons in space, but the reverse requires high energy electron interactions that only occur in stars.

Weak bosons. Virtual particles with mass that were invented to explain the weak force.
QR: Weak bosons are unnecessary agents because neutrinos explain the weak force.

WIMPs. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. The standard model predicted that they would explain dark matter, but there no evidence at all that they exist.
QR: Another standard model prediction that failed.

Zitterbewegung. A natural trembling of quantum matter predicted by quantum theory.
QR: Zitterbewegung is the basis of all matter movement.

Zombie theory. A scientifically “dead” theory that doesn’t predict but can’t be falsified, like a zombie that has no progeny but can’t be killed e.g., multiverse theory, string theory, solipsism.

Next

A world of inert matter just exists but virtual realities need power to run. If the power fails during a computer game, even for a second, we lose the current state and must restart from our last save. If our world is a virtual reality generated by quantum processing that can’t be saved, it is like an iron man game that has no saves, so the only restart is from the beginning, which for our universe was 14 billion years ago! An unbroken causal chain links the universe now to the first event so it must have run all that time without losing a single quantum cycle. The quantum power needed to support a virtual universe as big as ours for that length of time is vast.

One can create a thing and walk away but a virtual reality must be constantly sustained, so whatever made our universe had to also sustain it for every moment that followed. It beggar’s belief that the power needed to run a virtual reality that big for so long was pointless. If the universe is a joke, it is a ridiculously expensive one, even in quantum terms. Virtual realities don’t run for no reason because it takes power to sustain them, so if our world is a virtual reality, why is it running?

Virtual realities don’t exist for themselves. The purpose of the game civilization isn’t to create a civilization to conquer a virtual world, as if it was, it would work better without players. Likewise, SimCity doesn’t exist to build a virtual city, Minecraft doesn’t exist to dig virtual tunnels and the Witcher game doesn’t exist to slay virtual monsters. None of these virtual realities exist for any purpose within themselves but rather exist to benefit their observers in various ways.

A physical universe may have no purpose in itself but if it is virtual, it must benefit its observer. Every virtual reality has an observer benefit, as a virtual reality has no point if it isn’t observed. If the physical world runs not for itself but for its observer, then its evolution must also benefit the observer. This raises the question of what observes our virtual reality?

Science agrees that we are in an observer-observed universe, what physics calls a participatory universe, but there is no agreement at all about who or what is the observer? This chapter ends the analysis of physical reality from a quantum realism perspective to raise the question of what is the observer reality? The next chapter applies quantum realism to the mystery of consciousness.

Next

Barcelo, C., Liberati, S., Sonego, S., & Visser, M. (2009). Black stars not holes. Scientific American, 301(4), 20–27.

Barrow, J. D. (2007). New theories of everything. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cowen, R. (2013). Universe may be curved, not flat. Nature News.

Dawkins, R. (1995). River Out Of Eden. New York.

Feynman, R. P., Leighton, R. B., & Sands, M. (1977). The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Reading, Ma.: Addison-Wesley.

Galfard, C. (2016). The Universe in Your Hand: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond (First Edition edition). New York: Flatiron Books.

Gould, S. J. (1990). Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Greene, B. (2004). The Fabric of the Cosmos. New York: Vintage Books.

Harrison, E. R. (1986). Masks of the Universe. Cambridge University Press.

Lane, N. (2015). The Vital Question: Why is life the way it is? (Main edition). Profile Books.

Morris, S. (2003). Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe. Cambridge University Press.

Smolin, L. (2006). The Trouble with Physics. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Strogatz, S. H. (Steven H. (2003). Sync: The emerging science of spontaneous order. New York : Hyperion. http://archive.org/details/syncemergingscie00stro

Wilczek, F. (2008). The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether and the Unification of forces. New York: Basic Books.

Next

The following questions are addressed in this chapter. They are better discussed in a group to allow a variety of opinions to emerge. The relevant section link is given after each question:

1. How can quantum theory and relativity theory both be correct? (5.1.1)

2. Why can’t quantum theory explain gravity as relativity theory does? (5.1.2)

3. If the earth is a moving platform, how fast is it carrying us? (5.2.1)

4. Why did Einstein say that special relativity is why our reality isn’t weird? (5.2.2)

5. Why does causality require the speed of light to be constant? (5.2.3)

6. Could I travel to a star that is 100 light years away and back in my lifetime? What is the downside of doing this? (5.2.4)

7. How can the same photon pass rockets going towards and away from it at the same speed? (5.2.5)

8. What is zitterbewegung? What theory makes it possible? (5.3.1)

9. How can a photon move at all if time stops for it, as special relativity says? (5.3.2)

10. How do solar sails convert radiant energy into kinetic energy of movement? (5.3.3)

11. How can earth’s gravity change the time and space of objects around it? (5.4.2)

12. How can the earth accelerate a free-falling parachutist with no direct contact? (5.4.3)

13. How does gravity bend light that has no mass? (5.4.4)

14. What quantum field changes cause opposite charges to attract? (5.5.2)

15. What quantum field changes cause opposite magnetic poles to attract? (5.5.3)

16. What three matter properties give gravitational, electric and magnetic fields? (5.5.4)

17. According to current physics, where is potential energy stored? (5.6.1)

18. Is energy universally conserved? What is universally conserved? (5.6.2)

19. How did the evolution of matter increase order? (5.6.5)

20. According to quantum realism, how will our universe end? (5.6.6)

21. Could our world be simulation generated by another physical world? Why or why not? (5.7.1)

22. How does quantum realism differ from the simulation hypothesis? (5.7.1)

23. Does that evolution is a physical process with random events mean life has no purpose? (5.7.2)

24. Why is the observer relevant to the purpose of a virtual reality? (5.7.3)

Next

Ever since science parted from religion on the origin of man, biology has denied that evolution has a direction. It currently sees evolution as a purposeless process going nowhere, so if time was reversed to let evolution run again, it would give entirely different results because the same random events would be unlikely to repeat (Gould, 1990). But others note that given the same conditions, evolution repeatedly finds the same solutions despite random events, so replaying the evolutionary tape might give much the same results (Morris, 2003). For example, birds, bats, insects and fish all evolved wings to fly, despite following unrelated evolutionary paths, because it benefits survival.

The argument is that replaying evolution would still give cells with membranes, reproduction, predators and prey, parasites and hosts because that system works. A way to capture solar energy like photosynthesis would still arise, giving plants as primary producers and animals as secondary consumers, with sight, smell, hearing and mobility based on fins, limbs or wings. The argument isn’t that playing the tape again would give humans but that something like us is likely to reappear.

Evolutionary algorithms are programs that work the way evolution does. They create a set of solutions, randomly tweak those that work, then repeat until a best solution emerges. This method can solve difficult problems that direct calculation can’t because it tends to the same answer if only one way works. If a best answer exists, rerunning the algorithm repeatedly finds it, so while it uses trial-and-error, it has a direction that it always arrives at.

If evolution is an algorithm exploring what life forms work, rerunning it might give the same results if they are the answers that work. In evolutionary potential studies, researchers replaying the tape of life on a small scale with generations of bacteria find that Gould’s idea that evolution never repeats is incorrect. Natural selection isn’t a chess player that plans several moves ahead but it isn’t just happenstance either, because exploring all the options eventually leads to a solution. Hence, we run evolutionary algorithms to get answers not random outcomes

It pays to try every option, good or bad, because some changes lead to later benefits. Evolution is the exploration of quantum combinations that survive, like electrons, quarks, atoms, molecules, cells and organisms. Each gives a local order increase if it can preserve itself. To ask if evolution converges to common results or diverges to new results is to ignore that it does both. Mostly it converges but sometimes it diverges to create a new branch of the evolutionary tree.

The scale of evolution is hard to comprehend, so it is indeed egotistical, as Gould says, to think that our vast universe has run for billions of years for our sake. The universe isn’t just for us, as it existed long before we came and will no doubt continue long after we are gone.

Life involves permutations and combinations so vast that we can’t conclude that a hairless ape had to result. Homo-sapiens was the lucky ape that won the evolution lottery but after four billion years, some species had to because beings like us are possible. The unfortunate corollary is that if we prove unstable, something else may take our place, as the grand evolution is far from over.

If evolution in general increases order by finding combinations that are stable, then the tree of life is growing in a direction that can be measured by the evolutionary steps that increase order. For example, the merging of simple cells into a complex cell that led to plants and animals (Lane, 2015) was an order-increasing evolutionary step as merging atoms into molecules was. Biologists currently say that bacteria are just as “evolved” as we are, or more so as they have been around longer, but time elapsed doesn’t actually measure evolution. In terms of order, a human is more evolved than a simple cell because there are more order increasing steps in the ancestry of humans.

The earth took about a billion years to discover the self-replicating molecules that led to life, and it was another three billion plus years before sentient beings like us emerged. Given the effort involved, who are we to call it pointless? The first atom was an accident, as was the first molecule, the first cell, the first plant and the first animal, but the trend to increase order is no accident because it happened again and again. That evolution uses accident doesn’t make evolution itself an accident.

In biology, the argument that the universe is purposeless takes the form that the genes causing us have no purpose so neither do we:

“The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. … DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is. And we dance to its music.” (Dawkins, 1995) p133.

It is evident that physical causes like genes have no purpose but to conclude that life in general has no purpose requires the additional assumption that the physical world is all there is. It doesn’t matter that the physical world is a machine with no purpose if it something else created it, as the conclusion that our universe began suggests. The argument that biology implies purposelessness is thus essentially based on a physical realism that isn’t obviously true at all. If the universe was created to evolve, whether it has no purpose is an open question not a foregone conclusion.

Our universe is constantly trying every possibility, as if it was looking for something, like an algorithm set up to solve a problem. Maybe evolution doesn’t have a design because it is the design. If biological evolution is part of a universal evolution that created the matter, stars and galaxies that planets like earth needed to evolve life, why was it set up to do this? That the physical world is a virtual reality suggests the answer has something to do with what observes it.

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