Re: Why physicists should pay attention to the mind

In message <d75cjc$mb9$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Ralph Hartley <hartley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes 
I don't have time to reply to your whole post right now (and it would be
off topic). In this post I will restrict my comments to one point,
relating to the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics.

rof@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: 
Second, I want to set the stage by caricaturing a "debate" in
philosophy, namely the debate between ontologists and epistemologists.
In physics, there is a corresponding debate between people
who call themselves realists and those who don't.

Ontologist: I'm examining the things that exist. Really really exist.
Like the world. That really really exists. It's really real.

Epistemologist: We need to pay attention to the way in which we
acquire knowledge, and to the status of that knowledge.
..
2. The vast majority of physicists are ontologists. 

I don't think so.

The reason physicists don't like to talk about interpretations of
quantum mechanics is that they are epistemologists.

It's probably the other way round. They are epistemologists because they can't talk sensibly about interpretations of quantum mechanics, finding that they get drawn into fruitless arguments. But yes, these days physicists are trained to be epistemologists. I suspect not too many jobs otherwise.



Regards

--
Charles Francis

.

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