Commitment to “Forbidden Questions” in Quantum Phenomena Requires a Philosophical Stand

The theory of quantum mechanics, as formulated by the Copenhagen school, has been controversial since its inception. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle asserts that certain aspects of reality are not simultaneously defined, forbidding certain questions. Recognition has recently been given to experimentalists who have asked these “forbidden questions”. Aephraim Steinberg at the University of Toronto conducted the double slit experiment using weak measurements to construct average trajectories of particles traveling through both slits. To an adherent of the Copenhagen view of reality, however, these average trajectories will constitute nothing more than a mathematical contrivance. Experiments like these will only prove fruitful if we are willing to reject quantum mechanics’ restrictive philosophical approach. This paper will isolate the controversial physical postulate of quantum mechanics (the postulate of wave collapse) and the philosophical approach that gave rise to it. This approach reflects an instrumentalist philosophy which claims that science must only account for the results of measurements, and has nothing to say about their underlying causes. Such an approach has put an epistemic moratorium on discovering the causes underlying quantum phenomena. Notable progress has been made by those who reject this moratorium. Steinberg et al. found the average particle trajectories by rejecting the idea that there is no underlying reality to our measurements. Bell, more notably, was able to discover details of quantum entanglement by using his concept of “beables” to question the built-in epistemology of quantum mechanics. Because quantum mechanics does not explicitly define wave collapse and prescribe what causes it and when it is supposed to happen, the theory cannot give explicit solutions to a certain class of experiments. This so called measurement problem is assuaged by Zurek’s theory of decoherence, which has had great success in predicting the results of recent experiments. Despite this, decoherence contains the same philosophical oversights as the original theory; it does not propose, or even address, the issue of the underlying causes for quantum phenomena. While most scientists try to steer clear of such philosophical controversies, underlying causes cannot be discovered without the conviction that it is the job of science to discover them

The reasons for the decline of American hegemony and its impact on China's regional policies in the Middle East

The present study examines the causes of the decline of American hegemony and its impact on China's regional policies in the Middle East. Discussion of the decline of American hegemony is one of the materials on which there are different views. This issue is of great importance because of its impact on international politics. The reasons for the declining US hegemony trend and its impact on China's regional policies in the Middle East have not been addressed yet. The key question that has been addressed in this regard is what are the reasons for the decline of American hegemony and its impact on China's regional policies in the Middle East? The present study is a descriptive-analytic one and uses library method to investigate the mentioned question. The results indicate that the trend toward US hegemony is declining, citing the need for multilateralism, the US financial crisis, and its impact on the country's financial and manufacturing industry and the emergence of new powers, including China. The declining trend of American hegemony has influenced China's regional policy. The decline in US influence has provided China with an opportunity to trade and energy. China's strong need for energy resources in the Middle East has made it present more actively than ever in the Middle East as it has concluded numerous oil contracts with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran