2019/03/20 by Stephen Boughn, S. P. Boughn, Boughn, Stephen
Arts and Humanities · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Biofield Effects and Biophysics #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #Philosophy and History of Science #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Quantum Physics (quant-ph) #physics.hist-ph #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1903.08673
9 pages plus references, includes 2 new references and note added in proof
openalex publication_date 2019/03/20 · arxiv created 2019/04/12 · arxiv updated 2019/04/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The concept of "reality" is often raised in the context of philosophical foundations of physics or interpretations of quantum mechanics. When this term is so raised, it is a warning to me that I am about to be led down a rabbit hole. Such diversions usually lead nowhere unless you consider endless discussions of Schrodinger's cat, wave function collapse, quantum non-locality, and parallel universes to be useful. A prime example is the famous Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper wherein they concluded that the quantum wave function cannot provide a complete description of physical reality. In this essay I suggest that, in physics discourse, the term "reality" should be avoided at all costs.