This is my latest book project, under contract for delivery July 1, 2008.

Synopsis:

In God: The Failed Hypothesis I argued that science shows that a God who plays an important role in the universe and in human life does not exist. This still leaves open the possibility of other gods or spiritual realities. The recent popular documentary films What the Bleep Do We Know? and The Secret have promoted the claim that we can make our own reality just be thinking of it. For over thirty years now, New Age gurus have alleged that quantum mechanics has verified ancient teachings from the East that the human mind is part of a cosmic consciousness that pervades the universe.

In the meantime, Christian theologians have launched an intensive effort to find a way for God to act in the world that does not violate any laws of physics. While God can do whatever he wants, he would be acting against himself if he violated his own laws. Again quantum mechanics is proposed as a means for God to intervene. If he stays within the bounds of the quantum uncertainty principle, then his actions would not be detectable to humans. However such actions would not be an efficient way to control evens on the human scale. Chaos theory has been proposed as a mechanism for amplifying those actions.

Quantum mechanics is shown to provide no basis for cosmic consciousness or the belief that the human mind makes it own reality. It is also shown not to provide a viable basis for divine action, with or without chaos theory. Some theologians have proposed a new kind of deism in which God creates a universe with many possible pathways determined by chance. However, since the universe began in chaos it retains no memory of such a God. This leaves as the only possible God one who plays dice with the universe.

Further information:

Quantum mechanics is weird. But that does not mean everything that is weird is the result of quantum mechanics. This and my earlier book The Unconscious Quantum (Prometheus, 1995) are the only books in which a physicist directly criticizes the claims of quantum mysticism. The current book is also the only analysis by a physicist of the claims of quantum theology. A detailed answer is provided to the common question; “Is anything out there?” The answer is yes, but it is matter and nothing more. No evidence can be found for any immaterial or supernatural element in the universe.

Your comments welcome: