Origins Quest
  • Home
  • Life Did Not Begin by Itself
  • The First Three Days of the Earth
    • Reconciling Science and the Bible >
      • Precise Science Confirms the Bible
      • Moses Foresaw Three Discoveries >
        • First Discovery >
          • Mass and Weight of Energy
          • Transformations and Materialization
          • Different Kinds of Rays and Materialization in Empty Space
          • Was Energy the Source of Material
        • Second Discovery
        • Third Discovery >
          • The First Light
          • Separating Light from Darkness
        • Early Ideas about the Beginning
        • An Up-to-Date Ancient Cosmology
        • The Confirmation
        • A Challenging Question
      • Cycles of Darkness and Light >
        • Teaching Children
        • The Idea the Word “Day” Expresses >
          • A Day, Not “The First Day”
          • Not “Literal, 24-Hour Days”
        • How Long Did the First Three Days Last?
        • The Earth’s Rotation and the First Two Days
        • The Duration of the First Day
        • The First Three Cycles of Darkness and Light
      • Was There a Beginning? >
        • An Uncreated, Unchanging Universe
        • Evidence for a Beginning >
          • Elements in the Stars
          • Natural Radiation from Space
          • Stars Consume Their Fuel
        • Cosmology and Relativity
        • Instability, Determinism, Uncertainty, Predestination >
          • Instability
          • Stability and Determinism
          • Predestination, Indeterminacy, Uncertainty
        • Einstein, Science, and Philosophy
        • Predestination versus Timely Intervention
    • Simple Elements and Morning Stars >
      • First Evening: Energy and Particles >
        • The Energy of Different Kinds of Rays
        • The Most Energetic Rays
        • Natural Particle Production >
          • Simulating the Process
          • Particles from Darkness
        • Darkness in the Bible >
          • Why Darkness Comes First
          • Isaiah’s Insight on Darkness and Light
      • First Morning—Simple Elements >
        • Doppler Shift, Expansion, and Cooling >
          • The Beginning of Nucleosynthesis
          • Four Forces
          • Forces Present in Empty Space
        • Nucleosynthesis >
          • The First Elements
          • The First Halt in Nuclei Production
          • Insufficient Complexity
        • The First Light Was Good >
          • The Immediate Cause of the First Light
          • Forming the Light
          • The Confirmation of Darkness and Light
    • Stars that Formed Complex Elements >
      • Second Evening—Expansion >
        • The Expanding Universe >
          • The Giant Atom that Exploded
          • Expansion, Not a “Big Bang” Explosion
          • Expansion Preserves Order
        • Expanding Now But Later What? >
          • Expanding but Uncreated
          • Continuous Creation
          • The Cyclic Version of Continuous Creation
        • The Expanding Universe Prevails
      • Second Morning—Heavy Elements >
        • Heat and Light Make Heavy Elements >
          • Differences in Stellar Composition
          • Nuclear Binding Energy
        • Energy from Fusion and Fission >
          • The Proton-Proton Reaction
          • Nuclear Stability
        • Different Kinds of Fission
        • Burning Helium and Heavier Elements
    • Forming the Sun and Earth >
      • Third Evening—A Dusty Yellow Star >
        • Supernovas Begin the Third Evening
        • Extraterrestrial Water
        • Lighting the Sun’s Fire
        • The Carbon to Oxygen Reaction
        • The Darkness of the Third Evening
      • Third Morning—The Earth Forms >
        • The Search for a Planet Suitable for Life
    • How Does God Create? >
      • Conditions at the Very Beginning >
        • Creation from Nothing
        • Can We Create Energy? >
          • God Works to Create Energy
          • The Work Necessary to Create the Universe
        • Denial of Creation
        • The Simplest Explanation
        • Creation in a Singularity >
          • Can We Investigate the Instant of Creation?
          • The First Light Has Fluctuations
      • The Next Three Days >
        • Structure in the Genesis Narrative >
          • Examples of Parallelism
          • Parallel Structure in the Creation Narrative
        • Day Four >
          • Not All Stars Formed on the Fourth Day
          • When Did the Stars and Sun Start to Shine?
          • Signs for Animals and People
      • What Is the Origin of the Universe?
    • Appendices >
      • Appendix A
      • Appendix B
  • Design or Luck?
    • Creative Design >
      • Darwin and Adaptive Variation >
        • Finches and Form Adaptation
        • Adaptive Behavior and Structure
        • Intelligence and Autonomy
      • Biological Structure and Reproduction
      • Adaptive Form
      • Darwin’s Idea Extrapolated to Darwinism >
        • The Development of the Sciences
        • Contrasting Darwinism and Thermodynamics
        • Darwinism Today
      • The Limits of Automatic Design
    • Why Aren’t All Darwinists Rich? >
      • Automatic Design: Artificial and Natural >
        • The Automatic Lens-Design Program
        • Company Top Secret
        • Comparing Evolution and Lens Design
        • My Colleagues’ Reaction
      • Conclusion: Darwinism Doesn’t Work >
        • Can Design Be Automatic?
        • Darwinism and “Automatic” Design
      • How Far Can Small Steps Take Us? >
        • Small Improvements Are Merely Engineering
        • The Vastness of Hyperspace
        • Primordial Alphabet Soup >
          • Wide Coding Overcomes Noise
          • DNA is a Natural Language
          • Common Ancestry
          • Accepted Words Span the Space
        • Is Creative Design Consistent with Darwinism >
          • Engineering Design
          • A Challenge for Darwinists
    • Thermodynamics >
      • Thermodynamics, Information, and Creation >
        • The First Law of Thermodynamics
        • The Second Law of Thermodynamics >
          • Entropy
          • Perpetual Motion
        • Information and Order >
          • Entropy, Probability, and Information
          • Multiplying Probability and Adding Entropy
          • Probability and Information
        • Structure, Design, Intelligence, and Creativity >
          • Structure and Breakdown, Death and Decay
          • Perfection and Beauty
      • Earth-Sun Thermodynamics >
        • A Simple Example of a Thermodynamic Process
        • The Example Applied to the Sun and Earth
      • Another Error about Thermodynamics >
        • A Darwinist Argument about Thermodynamics
        • Sunlight and the Earth’s Temperature
        • What Makes Sunlight Suitable?
      • The Night Sky Is Dark >
        • Olbers’ Paradox
        • A Black Forest and the Stars >
          • Seeing to the Far Limit of the Universe
          • The Limit of the Known Universe
          • Ordinary Darkness
      • A Planet Suitable for Life
      • The Thermodynamics of Life >
        • Living Organisms and Heat Engines >
          • The Thermodynamics of Life without Sunlight
        • Entropy, Thermodynamics and Prigogine >
          • Darwinism and Thermodynamics
      • Thermodynamics and the Universe >
        • Formless and Dark but Energetic and Orderly >
          • Entropy and Penrose
        • Creative Agencies and Their Characteristics
    • Complex Order, Life, Intelligence >
      • Random Action and Complexity
      • Does Matter Organize Itself?
      • Complexity Can Be Specified
      • Information and Physical Laws
      • Did Our Life Begin Elsewhere?
      • Discovering Alien Life Will Change Nothing
      • Creative Design Suits the Universe for Life
    • The Quest Continues
  • Creationism that Scientists Can Accept
  • About
  • Contact
  • DVD
  • Booklet
Einstein, Science, and Philosophy

Einstein versus Bohr

Copenhagen is not a last name but the residence of Neils Bohr. Bohr originally raised certain philosophical questions about quantum mechanics, which became the Copenhagen interpretation or position. Bohr wasn’t a philosopher. Some philosophers think his statements are imprecise or defective, but perhaps philosophically correct if restated properly.

The questions revolve around his discussions with Einstein. Einstein was always trying to figure out a thought experiment in which a physicist could potentially measure both the location and the energy or frequency or velocity of an electron with less than the uncertainty of Heisenberg. Bohr always punched holes in Einstein’s ideas. After a while they gave it up. However, Bohr’s victory was only that of a spoiler. Einstein’s followers could always say that no one had yet found a way to defeat the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

Einstein began by making significant contributions to quantum theory, but later drew back because of his preference for determinism. Einstein rejected the probabilistic formulation of quantum mechanics and sought a deterministic theory that would explain the behavior of small particles like electrons.

Meanwhile other physicists developed quantum mechanics separately from general relativity and went on to brilliant success. Theoreticians defined many differences between quantum and classical physics. Experimentalists proved that the behavior of small particles is consistent with quantum mechanics and inconsistent with classical physics.

One physical constant, known as the electron g-factor, is a measure of the slight difference between the real electron magnetic moment and the magnetic moment an electron would have in a classical or deterministic model of the atom. Quantum mechanics produces an agreement within 4 parts per million millions between the experimentally measured and theoretically predicted values of the electron g-factor. That makes quantum mechanics the most successful and precise physical theory known to date.

Yet Einstein continued to reject quantum mechanics. Toward the end of his career Einstein isolated himself increasingly from the scientific community to dedicate all his energy to finding a “unified field theory” that would replace quantum mechanics, extend to gravity, and restore determinacy. He even published a theory but later retracted it. He died without producing a field theory that satisfied him.

​Einstein’s theory about gravity, general relativity, has been proved accurate time and time again. Aerospace engineers must take into account general relativity to get space probes precisely to distant planets. Yet half a century after Einstein’s death, there is still no unified theory for quantum mechanics and gravity. Gravity shapes the universe in the large, and quantum mechanics is about the very small. The difficulty is that gravity is extremely weak. In quantum mechanics one measures the interactions between very small particles. But one needs particles too heavy to lift to produce gravity strong enough to measure. Without a unifying theory to resolve the differences between general relativity and quantum mechanics, the philosophical debate rages on. It is still Einstein versus Bohr, determinism versus uncertainty.
Logical Positivists are Still Waiting
Logical positivists claim that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge and that positive knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences. Verification is done by observation. There is no problem observing the properties of large bodies like stars and galaxies, but the very process of observation may disturb small bodies like electrons.

The impasse between Einstein and Bohr left the logical positivists without resolution of a key step in their program to destroy theology and metaphysics.

​It is ironic that Einstein never saw that quantum indeterminacy prevents God from using physical means to control people’s thoughts. If he had accepted quantum mechanics, he would have seen that God can still justly judge the world.
Philosophy versus Science
In reality there was no reason for interference between philosophy and science. Let’s consider this philosophical question: If there is a supreme being that can do anything, can he give his creatures so much independence that they, not he, are responsible for their own actions? The answer “no” violates the premise that their creator can do anything. The answer “yes” removes the problem.
Predestination versus Timely Intervention
Previous
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  • Home
  • Life Did Not Begin by Itself
  • The First Three Days of the Earth
    • Reconciling Science and the Bible >
      • Precise Science Confirms the Bible
      • Moses Foresaw Three Discoveries >
        • First Discovery >
          • Mass and Weight of Energy
          • Transformations and Materialization
          • Different Kinds of Rays and Materialization in Empty Space
          • Was Energy the Source of Material
        • Second Discovery
        • Third Discovery >
          • The First Light
          • Separating Light from Darkness
        • Early Ideas about the Beginning
        • An Up-to-Date Ancient Cosmology
        • The Confirmation
        • A Challenging Question
      • Cycles of Darkness and Light >
        • Teaching Children
        • The Idea the Word “Day” Expresses >
          • A Day, Not “The First Day”
          • Not “Literal, 24-Hour Days”
        • How Long Did the First Three Days Last?
        • The Earth’s Rotation and the First Two Days
        • The Duration of the First Day
        • The First Three Cycles of Darkness and Light
      • Was There a Beginning? >
        • An Uncreated, Unchanging Universe
        • Evidence for a Beginning >
          • Elements in the Stars
          • Natural Radiation from Space
          • Stars Consume Their Fuel
        • Cosmology and Relativity
        • Instability, Determinism, Uncertainty, Predestination >
          • Instability
          • Stability and Determinism
          • Predestination, Indeterminacy, Uncertainty
        • Einstein, Science, and Philosophy
        • Predestination versus Timely Intervention
    • Simple Elements and Morning Stars >
      • First Evening: Energy and Particles >
        • The Energy of Different Kinds of Rays
        • The Most Energetic Rays
        • Natural Particle Production >
          • Simulating the Process
          • Particles from Darkness
        • Darkness in the Bible >
          • Why Darkness Comes First
          • Isaiah’s Insight on Darkness and Light
      • First Morning—Simple Elements >
        • Doppler Shift, Expansion, and Cooling >
          • The Beginning of Nucleosynthesis
          • Four Forces
          • Forces Present in Empty Space
        • Nucleosynthesis >
          • The First Elements
          • The First Halt in Nuclei Production
          • Insufficient Complexity
        • The First Light Was Good >
          • The Immediate Cause of the First Light
          • Forming the Light
          • The Confirmation of Darkness and Light
    • Stars that Formed Complex Elements >
      • Second Evening—Expansion >
        • The Expanding Universe >
          • The Giant Atom that Exploded
          • Expansion, Not a “Big Bang” Explosion
          • Expansion Preserves Order
        • Expanding Now But Later What? >
          • Expanding but Uncreated
          • Continuous Creation
          • The Cyclic Version of Continuous Creation
        • The Expanding Universe Prevails
      • Second Morning—Heavy Elements >
        • Heat and Light Make Heavy Elements >
          • Differences in Stellar Composition
          • Nuclear Binding Energy
        • Energy from Fusion and Fission >
          • The Proton-Proton Reaction
          • Nuclear Stability
        • Different Kinds of Fission
        • Burning Helium and Heavier Elements
    • Forming the Sun and Earth >
      • Third Evening—A Dusty Yellow Star >
        • Supernovas Begin the Third Evening
        • Extraterrestrial Water
        • Lighting the Sun’s Fire
        • The Carbon to Oxygen Reaction
        • The Darkness of the Third Evening
      • Third Morning—The Earth Forms >
        • The Search for a Planet Suitable for Life
    • How Does God Create? >
      • Conditions at the Very Beginning >
        • Creation from Nothing
        • Can We Create Energy? >
          • God Works to Create Energy
          • The Work Necessary to Create the Universe
        • Denial of Creation
        • The Simplest Explanation
        • Creation in a Singularity >
          • Can We Investigate the Instant of Creation?
          • The First Light Has Fluctuations
      • The Next Three Days >
        • Structure in the Genesis Narrative >
          • Examples of Parallelism
          • Parallel Structure in the Creation Narrative
        • Day Four >
          • Not All Stars Formed on the Fourth Day
          • When Did the Stars and Sun Start to Shine?
          • Signs for Animals and People
      • What Is the Origin of the Universe?
    • Appendices >
      • Appendix A
      • Appendix B
  • Design or Luck?
    • Creative Design >
      • Darwin and Adaptive Variation >
        • Finches and Form Adaptation
        • Adaptive Behavior and Structure
        • Intelligence and Autonomy
      • Biological Structure and Reproduction
      • Adaptive Form
      • Darwin’s Idea Extrapolated to Darwinism >
        • The Development of the Sciences
        • Contrasting Darwinism and Thermodynamics
        • Darwinism Today
      • The Limits of Automatic Design
    • Why Aren’t All Darwinists Rich? >
      • Automatic Design: Artificial and Natural >
        • The Automatic Lens-Design Program
        • Company Top Secret
        • Comparing Evolution and Lens Design
        • My Colleagues’ Reaction
      • Conclusion: Darwinism Doesn’t Work >
        • Can Design Be Automatic?
        • Darwinism and “Automatic” Design
      • How Far Can Small Steps Take Us? >
        • Small Improvements Are Merely Engineering
        • The Vastness of Hyperspace
        • Primordial Alphabet Soup >
          • Wide Coding Overcomes Noise
          • DNA is a Natural Language
          • Common Ancestry
          • Accepted Words Span the Space
        • Is Creative Design Consistent with Darwinism >
          • Engineering Design
          • A Challenge for Darwinists
    • Thermodynamics >
      • Thermodynamics, Information, and Creation >
        • The First Law of Thermodynamics
        • The Second Law of Thermodynamics >
          • Entropy
          • Perpetual Motion
        • Information and Order >
          • Entropy, Probability, and Information
          • Multiplying Probability and Adding Entropy
          • Probability and Information
        • Structure, Design, Intelligence, and Creativity >
          • Structure and Breakdown, Death and Decay
          • Perfection and Beauty
      • Earth-Sun Thermodynamics >
        • A Simple Example of a Thermodynamic Process
        • The Example Applied to the Sun and Earth
      • Another Error about Thermodynamics >
        • A Darwinist Argument about Thermodynamics
        • Sunlight and the Earth’s Temperature
        • What Makes Sunlight Suitable?
      • The Night Sky Is Dark >
        • Olbers’ Paradox
        • A Black Forest and the Stars >
          • Seeing to the Far Limit of the Universe
          • The Limit of the Known Universe
          • Ordinary Darkness
      • A Planet Suitable for Life
      • The Thermodynamics of Life >
        • Living Organisms and Heat Engines >
          • The Thermodynamics of Life without Sunlight
        • Entropy, Thermodynamics and Prigogine >
          • Darwinism and Thermodynamics
      • Thermodynamics and the Universe >
        • Formless and Dark but Energetic and Orderly >
          • Entropy and Penrose
        • Creative Agencies and Their Characteristics
    • Complex Order, Life, Intelligence >
      • Random Action and Complexity
      • Does Matter Organize Itself?
      • Complexity Can Be Specified
      • Information and Physical Laws
      • Did Our Life Begin Elsewhere?
      • Discovering Alien Life Will Change Nothing
      • Creative Design Suits the Universe for Life
    • The Quest Continues
  • Creationism that Scientists Can Accept
  • About
  • Contact
  • DVD
  • Booklet