{"title":"Collapse of the Ontological Gradient","authors":"Ted Dace","doi":"10.29202/phil-cosm/24/8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Because an unmeasured quantum system consists of information -- neither tangible existence nor its complete absence -- no property can be assigned a definite value, only a range of likely values should it be measured. The instantaneous transition from information to matter upon measurement establishes a gradient between being and not-being. A quantum system enters a determinate state in a particular moment (being) until this moment is past (not-being), at which point the system resumes its default state as an evolving superposition of potential values of properties, neither strictly being nor not-being. Like a \"self-organized\" chemical system that derives energy from breaking down environmental gradients, a quantum system derives information from breaking down the ontological gradient. An organism is a body in the context of energy and a mind in the context of information.","PeriodicalId":42240,"journal":{"name":"Philosophy and Cosmology-Filosofiya i Kosmologiya","volume":"52 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Philosophy and Cosmology-Filosofiya i Kosmologiya","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/24/8","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"PHILOSOPHY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Because an unmeasured quantum system consists of information -- neither tangible existence nor its complete absence -- no property can be assigned a definite value, only a range of likely values should it be measured. The instantaneous transition from information to matter upon measurement establishes a gradient between being and not-being. A quantum system enters a determinate state in a particular moment (being) until this moment is past (not-being), at which point the system resumes its default state as an evolving superposition of potential values of properties, neither strictly being nor not-being. Like a "self-organized" chemical system that derives energy from breaking down environmental gradients, a quantum system derives information from breaking down the ontological gradient. An organism is a body in the context of energy and a mind in the context of information.