Complementarity & Reality

Abstract

Niels Bohr developed the framework of complementarity in response to the binding of measuring device and quantum system into an irreducible whole or "individual" at the instant of measurement. On the grounds that an organism and its environment are also bound irreducibly upon interaction, Bohr extended complementarity to biology and psychology, treating mechanistic reduction of the organism and neural objectification of consciousness as mere perspectives opposed by equally valid perspectives. In contrast to Bohr's aversion to metaphysical speculation, Heisenberg suggested that the quantum-mechanical wave function represents a real entity which determines probable outcomes of measurements given the forces acting on the system. In light of Bohr's parallel between quantum and biological systems, the probability wave of the atom ought to be mirrored in the equally intangible consciousness of the organism. I propose further that life is indeed an irreducible property of the organism and that mechanistic biology mischaracterizes life. Key to my analysis is the dual nature of time.