THE MIDDLE-WAY APPROACH TO SCIENCE
I accidentally realized in 1999 that classical physics and quantum mechanics are two opposite
extremes (classical physics assumes all physical phenomena are fundamentally deterministic,
while quantum mechanics assumes all physical phenomena are fundamentally indeterminate).
These two opposite extremes of course exclude each other. No wonder why all unification efforts
of classical physics and quantum mechanics have run into brick walls after achieving some initial successes.
This led to my second realization, that in order for science to be consistent with all
observed phenomena, it must lie between the two extremes. In other words, physical phenomena
are neither fundamentally deterministic nor fundamentally indeterminate. I called this second
realization “The Middle-Way approach to science”.
(My apologies to the Buddha and Confucius for borrowing the term Middle-Way without
their permission.)
“The Middle-Way approach to science” proved to be the
breakthrough that I had been looking for. It forced me to re-examine the foundation
of the Probability theory. This re-examination led to the first part of the book
“The End of Probability and the New Meaning of Quantum Physics”
The Probability theory cannot explain why the repeated tossing of a coin always converges
to a fixed long-term ratio of heads/tails. (Instead of convergence as a certainty,
the theory has to settle for a “high probability of convergence”, which is scientifically
unsatisfactory). I solved the problem by showing that there is a finite randomness level
associated with each and every coin tossing process. The key word of my theory is
“finite randomness”. In contrast, “infinite randomness” is the built-in assumption
of the Probability theory. With finite randomness, the repeated tossing of a coin must converge.
Because I tried to reach the general public, the proof for “finite randomness” that I gave in the book
may not be rigorous enough for the math savvy readers, but it contains all of the essence of my argument.
I have included an improved version of my argument at this website, you can go to it by clicking
Logic for the End of Probability.
The extension of the “finite randomness” argument to quantum physics has been more
successful than even my wildest dreams.
I suggest you read the article
"The Space-Time Foundation of Quantum Physics" where I presented my thesis. If you
find this article too heavy, you
may want to try the lighter version of it, namely
"The Resolution Limits of Space and Time". And of course, how can we discuss quantum physics
without mentioning the celebrated Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle; which shook the foundation of
physics when it came out in 1927? You will see that this principle actually makes sense by reading
"Resolution Limit Interpretation of the Heisenberg's
Uncertainty Principle".
But that is only quantum physics. If whoever up there does not take “the book of wisdom” away from me, I should have a full account of classical physics in my future book “The Science of Space Time and Existence”.
I will take the opportunity here to reiterate a claim that I made in my first book,
that “The Middle-Way of Science” will easily accommodate all of the humanity sciences. I have to delay the “How” to a later date. I will make the announcement on this website when the time is right.
Updated by DangSon Tran
September 22, 2002 (first written 8/30/02)
Thinh Tran's Home
The END OF PROBABILITY and the NEW MEANING OF QUANTUM PHYSICS
—Foreword
—Summary
—Excerpts
MIDDLE-WAY APPROACH (PAPERS)
—Logic for the End of Probability
—The Space-Time Foundation of Quantum Physics
—The Resolution Limits of Space and Time
—Resolution Limit Interpretation of the Heisenberg's Uncertaitnty Principle
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