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Causality, Hume, and Quantum Mechanics Essay

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Causality, Hume, and Quantum Mechanics

It is my intention, in the course of this essay, to take the work of David Hume and reapply it to causality using quantum mechanical theory.

When I refer to causality, I am referring to the belief that events have a relationship of action "A" causing action "B" where "A" is considered to be the final cause of "B." I also refer to the belief that we can know and understand these causal relationships and thusly know how the system works.

This is a concept that I do not agree with. This "mechanistic causality," I feel, is a category of the mind.

I wish to make it clear, before I begin, that I am not questioning the idea that cause/effect interactions do occur in reality. I am, however, …show more content…

Instead of saying, "I dropped the egg, it broke because of that action," one would say or think, "The event of the egg breaking is an event preceded by an acceleration downward toward the floor. That event is preceded by a slip of my hand, or some external force. The event of the slip is preceded by a distracting thought and/or a moistening of my hand from contact with a wet surface, or by neither event. The event of the distracting thought being preceded by a memory of meeting an attractive person and/or having too much coffee, or by neither event. The event of the moist hand being preceded by failing to wipe the counter properly and/or inadequate drying of my hands, or by neither event." To be thorough, each of these strings of events would have to be traced back through each branch and go back until one finally reaches the beginning of each string of events, the beginning of the universe, if there is one.

But even this examination of events is not sufficient to describe all that goes on in this event. Each portion of the "causal mechanism" is divisible within itself into internal causes.

Take the slip of the hand as an example. Some internal firing of neurons resulted in the slip of the hand. To be thorough, we

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