What does it mean to ‘interpret’ Quantum Mechanics?

by Massimo Pigliucci

When I wear my hat as a philosopher of science (partially distinct from my other hat as an evolutionary biologist), I eventually run into a scientist (I could name names, but I won’t) who smugly tells me that philosophy obviously doesn’t make progress. The evidence? Philosophers disagree on all sorts of things and there is no emerging consensus—unlike in science, especially physics.

Setting aside that this kind of reasoning largely reflects ignorance of how philosophy works (surprise—it’s different from science!; see Pigliucci 2017), it turns out that there is at least one area of science where things appear to be characterized by utter confusion and lack of consensus: interpretations of quantum mechanics. And we have the empirical evidence to prove it.

Sujeevan Sivasundaram and Kristian Hvidtfelt Nielsen, of Aarhus University in Denmark, carried out a study of physicists’ attitudes concerning foundational issues in quantum mechanics (Sivasundaram and Nielsen 2016). The results are eye-opening. The survey is based on 149 responses to a questionnaire that the authors sent to 1,234 physicists affiliated with eight universities. … (continue at Skeptical Inquirer)