There is a longstanding problem of making sense of quantum theory. Feynman’s assertion, “I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics” remains unchallenged. Yet, experimentalists tell us quantum mechanics is the most successful theory in history. One experimental physicist colleague noted that, ‘I don’t need to understand it to be able to use it.’ Per hypothesis, the difficulties in understanding quantum theory arise because it is not a classical type of theory, as Bohr, Heisenberg and Pauli emphasized. The failure to make sense of quantum theory is most simply the failure to make sense of it within the framework defined by the symmetry and conservation presuppositions of the classical mechanical research program. I will argue that quantum theory can only be made sense of in a participatory Systems Engineering Thermodynamic framework. This thesis builds on the holistic Participatory Universe theme of John Archibald Wheeler and the recent experimental confirmations by 2022 Nobel laureate, Anton Zeilinger.https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/systems_science_seminar_series/1126/thumbnail.jp
