The Quantum Society: Mind, Physics and a New Social Vision [Hardcover]

Mirroring quantum-observer dependent reality: whether this book is praised or criticized depends upon how it is observed--how it is "measured" so to speak by the mind's experiential setup. I can praise the author's efforts from a global "wave" perspective as I am in agreement with the general principles of the society she envisions for the future, but inappropriately labels "quantum." That earned one star. Most of my criticism comes from "particle" dissection. Either view reflects as much (if not more) about the observer as that which is observed, so I confess that I'm favoring the latter approach, employing a kind of Noam Chomskian critical analysis (although by no means exhaustive). My primary criticism is the fundamental premise of the book: answers to questions regarding the human and social scale phenomena can be found in microphysics, (or physics in general for that matter). The mistake leading to the mechanistic view of reality was not, as Zohar claims, using the wrong physics (classical Newtonian), but looking to physics in the first place. After science differentiated from the Medieval amalgamation of the knowledge spheres, it engulfed religion and philosophy, reducing the ultimate measure of truth to empirical verification. Physics says nothing about human nature and society. It the popular press that says so and creates mythology. Even Heisenberg confessed that quantum theory says nothing about biology or life. The domain of biology is not the domain of microphysics. My second criticism has to do with using concepts from quantum theory to "explain" phenomena outside the domain of microphysics. Such metaphors are illustrations by analogy, but they don't explain anything. Furthermore, Zohar picks and chooses among quantum concepts to support her thesis, leaving out quantum features that would annihilate her quantum society (e.g. nuclear fission and weapons of mass destruction). And the quantum contraband she freights up to the human scale is derived primarily from the non-standard, non-Copenhagen quantum theory favored by Einstein, Schrodinger, Bohm, et. al. Quantum Society is an example of borrowing and misapplying metaphors from one domain as an explanatory mechanism in another unrelated domain. Susan Langer in "Philosophy in a New Key" points out this common trend in popular culture when a word becomes a "generative idea." The word "quantum" which literally means "discontinuous" (from the Latin, how much) has acquired mythological status and is overused, misapplied, and mass-marketed. (It sells books!) The concepts Zohar uses to construct her new society (concepts I do find admirable) could just as readily (and perhaps more appropriately) be labeled "Taoist." However, the parallels between quantum theory and mysticism are not, as many suppose, indications that they are describing the same external phenomena; they are reflections of internal phenomena. Both utilize the same cognitive operational schemas to describe their "objects of cognizance." (See Ken Wilbur's Quantum Questions.) While Zohar does correctly identify "emergence" as a key to mental and social phenomena, emergence is not rooted in quantum phenomena; it occurs at all scales of organization. Calling her society "quantum" represents the very reductionistic error she argues against. Discarding the machine metaphor in favor of a "Bose-Einstein condensate" hasn't gained much holistic ground in my opinion. Quantum society literally translates into "discontinuous society":--not the holistic vision Zohar had in mind. Many of the concepts used to build quantum society have more to do with complexity theory than with quantum theory. There's nothing wrong with borrowing terms from different realms to convey a concept. Our linguistic system uses this process to continually expand our knowledge base. But the grand mistake is to literalize the metaphor into the reality of an explanation. Such is the power of myth. (An earlier similar work is Frijoff Capra's The Turning Point.)

There is definitely a physicis to quantum entanglement. Cogent analyses on this subject, generated for the intelligent lay public, can be found in either Gregg Braden PhD's "Divine Matrix" or in Dean Radin PhD's "Entangled Minds." However, nothing is without use: "The Quantum Society..." can be used as an ersatz door-stop in a pinch. Bless the author for that.