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In quantum field theory on curved spacetime backgrounds, the notion of a particle is observer-dependent. Particles are departures from the lowest energy state,
by auntienomen 8y ago
In quantum field theory on curved spacetime backgrounds, the notion of a particle is observer-dependent. Particles are departures from the lowest energy state, but which state has lowest energy can depend on an observer's acceleration. Consequently, different observers can disagree about whether and which particles are present in a physical system. (This phenomenon is the theoretical basis for the Hawking Effect.)
If your particles aren't real, are you real?
It's silly to base a discussion of human identity on field quanta.
- TheOtherHobbes 8y agoIt is silly - not because the question is silly, but because the article ignorantly misses the fact that there's an established and much-discussed philosophical background to these questions, and the author seems completely unaware of it. It would be hilarious if David Chalmers is right, and science is looking through the telescope the wrong way. Instead of there being no subjectivity, perhaps there is only subjectivity - different points of view experiencing different elements of reality, loosely constrained by probabilities, limited only by relative complexity of perception, freedom of action, and processing power.