1.0 Introduction
Apart from the fact that Einstein contributed fundamentally to physics, he is also known for his life-long opposition to the most successful physical theory – the quantum theory. In this context, he made his famous statement “God does not play dice [with the universe]”. It is difficult to find the exact reasons why the man who at first said that quantum theory was revolutionary, later found objections to the developments in field (especially,
2.0 Einstein a Realist
We will start with a quote by Einstein, “It is basic for physics that one assumes a real world existing independently from any act of perception” (Einstein, quoted in Gomatam, pp. 4). From this quote it appears that Einstein was a realist in the sense it is commonly accepted. But on further analysis we find that such a conclusion is not tenable. As Einstein said, “I agree physics concerns the ‘real’, but I am not a realist.
Einstein differs from the conventional views of scientific realism on two counts. First, is that he was not interested in the “context of justification”. He was more interested in the in the relation between physics and reality at the level of theory creation i.e. “context of creation”. Secondly, even at the level of theory creation his conception of realism involves, not the relation between theory and reality, but between the physicist and the reality (Gomatam, pp. 1).
Einstein’s claim is that physics is the attempt at the conceptual construction of a model of the real world and of its lawful structure and that by means of conceptual thinking we can grasp reality. Now, we can see some insights into a prospective solution to the original question of why Einstein made the statement that “God does not Play dice”? According to Einstein, reality can be grasped by means of conceptual thinking, but this is not possible in the
3.0 Relation between creator-physicist and reality
The author brings out a very important point about the process of theory creation as viewed by physicists themselves. “Going by their [physicists] testimonies, the creation of a successful theory is grounded in a profound grasp of the physical reality that is neither purely conceptual nor deduced logically from experiences. It seems to be, as it were, a mystical insight into nature, ‘akin to religious worshipper’ as Plank puts it” (Gomatam, pp. 6).
According to Einstein, the physics concerns the real in the sense that physics is an effort of the physicist to express the grasp of reality that he has in his thinking through mathematically constructed concepts that have empirical usefulness. Author points out that Einstein’s realism concerns the relationship between the creator-physicist and reality. From this it is quite clear that there is component of subjectivity in the Einstein’s realism. MacKinnon remarks on this, “The unparalleled success of Einstein’s early efforts gave his realism an extremely personal quality…” Given this form of realism, it becomes clear why Einstein could not fully accept the Copenhagen interpretation because it settled for a probabilistic, non-visualizable account of physical behavior thus even the physicist(the creator of the theory) did not grasp the reality. Hence he said that, “Quantum mechanics is certainly imposing. But an inner voice tells me that it is not yet the real thing. The theory says a lot, but does not really bring us any closer to the secret of the ‘old one’.”
4.0 Conclusion
The paper very clearly brings out some aspects of Einstein’s worldview which help in clarifying the reasons of his objection to quantum theory as the final theory. Although the fact that Einstein’s realism has a subjective component can be attacked. Plank and possibly
5.0 References:
1. Gomatam R. (2005) ‘Einstein’s Conception of Scientific Realism’, Unpublished Manuscript.
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