Physicist Chris Isham considers "Jungian" Idealism

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Sciborg_S_Patel

Here's a discussion in which Chris Isham talks about thinking about Jung lead him to consider Idealism, and how he feels the Kochen-Specker Theorem might already suggest Idealism.

Here he is discussing reality - What is Real?

Isham on Jung & Metaphysics

This is where he talks about Jung's notion that space & time are products of the collective unconscious.

Some choice quotes from an fq(x) piece:
“Most scientists are arrogant,” he says. “They tend to think that particles and forces is just all there is to be said about reality. But I do think there are profound mysteries in the world.”

“There’s a lot out there that’s not part of mainstream science,” he says, “like telepathy, for instance. I try to keep an open mind, and it enables me to take part in interesting meetings on the twilight zone between physics and religion.”
 
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A research student interviewed Chris Isham about 2004 (not published):

Chris Isham is a theoretical physicist in the Physics Department at Imperial College and is working on a new mathematical basis for quantum theory. He thinks that quantum physics is a partial theory and that in its current state it doesn’t imply a connectedness between people. He did, however, feel that it may be a precursor to a more advanced theory that will have implications of connectedness.

He has also been involved in several dialogues, conferences around science and spirituality. He is Christian but also has a strong interest in philosophy and Buddhism. He has been particularly influenced by the work of Jung, who suggested a connection between quantum physics and psychology and has become a popular figure in the new age movement. Chris also knew David Bohm. The first time I spoke to Chris, he put across a strangely conflicting point of view. Although he said he wanted there to be a connection between science and spirituality, he adamantly argued a hard line materialistic view – continuously emphasising the distinction between what one wants to be true and what the evidence points to. I was so intrigued by this apparent contradiction that I went back for a second interview. I wanted to find out more about the spiritual side that he had hinted at but not gone into, what he loved about science and why he was interested in the connection between science and spirituality. I framed the second interview in more of a personal way, replacing the radio microphone with a discrete tape recorder and asking fewer pre-prepared questions. I conducted the interview as a discussion between friends. The response was as different to the first interview as it could have been. He spoke about a series of mystical experiences and a book by David Bohm that had inspired him to study theoretical physics and his intuitive feelings of the mystical nature of mathematics and a connectedness in the world.

In Chris Isham I noticed a similar play-off between value systems. During the first interview, he persistently insisted on making a distinction between what we would like to be true and what the scientific evidence actually points to. He seemed to be maintaining two alternative and contradictory world views. On the one hand an official view of a materialist physicist, which he suggested the evidence pointed to; and on the other hand the view of an idealist philosopher, which he said he prefers. During the first interview his official scientific value system seemed to be smothering his idealist values. He continuously emphasised the importance of empirical evidence saying that there is more evidence for the spiritual being a function of the material than the other way round. He claimed that science works very well according to its own terms. What remained unclear in the first interview is what motivated him in his science. The question arose: why does he enjoy it if it continuously contradicts his preferred world view? The answer to this question emerged in the second interview when he spoke about the mystical visions he had experienced as a young man. These visions gave him the sense of a mystical connection between mathematics, physics and truth. They changed the course of his life. He took up theoretical physics to pursue this intuitive sense of truth and connectedness. He told me how he is currently working on a new mathematical basis for quantum physics that he believes will harmonise more with his idealist world view. So, although on the surface he supported a hard-line scientific value system, underneath his motivations were closer to the ‘new-age’ value system. It is also important to note that both these values systems contributed to his notion of what makes a good theory.
 
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