INTRODUCTORY:
A scientist should notaccept or rejectanything without evidence. Even for denying, s/he must seek evidence for its non-existence. Non-availability of evidence is not the same as non-existence. Evidence is the instrumentation (observation/experiment) for/against generating identical result of measurement under similar conditions that is spatiotemporally invariant. Validity of evidence is judged by spatiotemporal invariance of such perception or measurement. Everything is interconnected and interdependent as described in Madhu Braahmanam. Nature is anything that exists, manifests itself through some intelligible effect directly or indirectly, and can be described in a formal language. Theory is a statement that explains the process at all times unambiguously and universally without contradictions.
In all perception by everyone, though the object of perception changes, the perception itself as: “I know…(it is like that concept/information I perceived earlier; hence it is that)” remains invariant making it universal. It is not measurable, because measurement is a process of comparison between similars and there is nothing similar to consciousness to be treated as a unit to measure it. Hence we have to observe different aspects of life to know how consciousness reveals itself through inert objects to make it come ‘alive’. For searching answers to the question of life and rebirth, we should search clues from conscious beings. We will scientifically examine the descriptions of Gita, Shrimad Bhagavatam, the Vedas and other texts. Since freewill is associated with life and conscious actions, the perception of which is related to the uncertainty relation, causality (determinism) and according to some, retro-causality, let us discuss these first.
The left hand side of all equations or inequalities represents free-will, as we are free to choose (or vary within certain constraints) the individual parameters. The right hand side represents determinism, as the outcome is based on the input in predictable ways. The equality (or inequality) sign prescribes the special conditions to be observed or matchedto achieve the desired result. Only conscious beings can have freewill, though it is not unrestricted.
KARMANYEVAADHIKAARASTE MAA PHALESHU KADAACHANA:
When Heisenberg proposed his conjecture in 1927, Earle Kennard independently derived a different formulation, which was later generalized by Howard Robertson as: σ(q)σ(p) ≥ h/4π. This inequality says that one cannot suppress quantum fluctuations of both position σ(q) and momentum σ(p) lower than a certain limit simultaneously. The fluctuation exists regardless of whether it is measured or not, implying the existence of a universal field. The inequality does not say anything about what happens when a measurement is performed. Kennard’s formulation is therefore totally different from Heisenberg’s. However, because of the similarities in format and terminology of the two inequalities, most physicists have assumed that both formulations describe virtually the same phenomenon. Modern physicists actually use Kennard’s formulation but mistakenly call it Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. “Spontaneous” creation and annihilation of virtual particles in vacuum is possible only in Kennard’s formulation and not in Heisenberg’s formulation, as otherwise it would violate conservation laws. If it were violated experimentally, the whole of quantum mechanics would break down.
Our sense organs and measuring devices have limited capacity, so that they measure in phases (limited aspects in limited intervals) and then we generalize it. We see something when the radiation emitted by it interacts with that in our eyes. We touch mass that radiates light. Thus we do not touch what we see (radiation) and see what we touch (mass) – anavarne ime bhumih. Since time evolution is not uniform, but conditional on interactions, we do not see each step from flapping of the wings of the butterfly till it turns into tempest elsewhere. Creation is highly ordered and there is no randomness or chaos. Nature prohibits reductionism. Whole is a sum of its parts and more. We fault Nature to hide our inability to know everything fully. This inability introduces uncertainty in applying the result of past measurements to plan future actions.
The uncertainty relation was reformulated in terms of standard deviations, where the focus was exclusively on the indeterminacy of predictions, whereas the unavoidable disturbance (perturbations) during the processes of measurement was ignored. A formulation of the error–disturbance uncertainty relation, taking the perturbation into account, was essential for a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Masanao Ozawa directly measured errors and disturbances in the observation of spin components. His inequality: ε(q)η(p) + σ(q)η(p) + σ(p)ε(q) ≥ h/4π suggests that suppression of fluctuations is not the only way to reduce error, but it can be achieved by allowing a system to have larger fluctuations. Nature Physics (2012 doi:10.1038/nphys2194) describes a neutron-optical experiment that records the error of a spin-component measurement as well as the disturbance caused on another spin-component. The results confirm that both error and disturbance obey the new relation but violate the old one in a wide range of experimental parameters. Even when either the source of error or disturbance is held to be nearly zero, the other remains finite. Thus, uncertainty is universal.
Gita says: you have control over your actions but not over other factors that influence the final outcome. Further, it warns: maa karmaphalaheturbhuh – do not think that if you do something in a particular way, you will definitely get the desired result – it can boomerang. You cannot exist without action (maa te sangastwakarmani), hence try to refine your skills. Result determined by natural principles (God’s Will?) will follow. Freewill can only respond to it – not prevent it. “Causa sui” (self-caused cause) also depends on degrees of freedom – hence not totally free. Quantum mechanics admits statistical cause. That only shows a band width and our inability to measure precisely. Atomic time is multiple readings of many clocks to find an average second because transition time between two energy levels of the cesium atom is not uniform. Yet, the numbers of transitions are still related to the old second – a fraction of the Earth’s rotation time.
Retro-causality in QM stems from Bell’s Theorem and the non-locality it seems to entail. Bell thought that “retro-causality” conflicts with freewill and certain basic assumptions of science, and the dilemma can be avoided if the properties of quantum systems are allowed to depend on what happens to them in both future and the past. But Past is not related to present in the same way as present is related to future. Space, Time and coordinates arise from our concept of sequence and interval. When it is related to objects, we call the interval space. When it is related to events, we call the interval time. When we describe inter-relationship of objects, we describe the interval by coordinates. Past, Present and future are segments of these sequences of intervals that are strictly ordered – all of future always follow present. The same sequence is not true for past, because any past event can be linked to the present bypassing the specific sequence of its occurrence but we cannot move from past to future or from present to distant future violating the sequence. Further, we can think of or use the information relating to past with certainty, but cannot do the same for future. This proves unidirectional time – hence strict causality.
Fantasies such as a traversable wormholes or the region near hypothetical cosmic strings have been used by some to claim that causality can be reversible – effect can sometimes precede cause. This is negated in Vaisheshika. Consider an example: A + B → C + D. Here a force makes A interact with B to produce C and D. The same force cannot act on C and D as they do not exist at that stage. If we change the direction of the initial forces, then B acts on A. Here only the direction of force and not the interval between the states before and after application of force (time) will change and the equation will be: B + A → C + Dand not B + A ← C + D (C and D did not exist then). Hence it does not affect causality. There is no negative direction for time.
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