Inside Versus Outside: Endo- and Exo-Concepts of Observation and Knowledge in Physics, Philosophy and Cognitive Science: v. 63 (Springer Series in Synergetics) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3540570888 ISBN 13: 9783540570882

Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K, 1994

Synopsis

In our daily lives we conceive of our surroundings as an objectively given reality. The world is perceived through our senses, and ~hese provide us, so we believe, with a faithful image of the world. But occ~ipnally we are forced to realize that our senses deceive us, e. g. , by illusions. For a while it was believed that the sensation of color is directly r~lated to the frequency of light waves, until E. Land (the inventor of the polaroid camera) showed in detailed experiments that our perception of, say, a colored spot depends on the colors of its surrounding. On the other hand, we may experience hallucinations or dreams as real. Quite evidently, the relationship between the "world" and our "brain" is intricate. Another strange problem is the way in which we perceive time or the "Now". Psychophysical experiments tell us that the psychological "Now" is an extended period of time in the sense of physics. The situation was made still more puzzling when, in the nineteen-twenties, Heisenberg and others realized that, by observing processes in the microscopic world of electrons and other elementary particles, we strongly interfere with that world. The outcome of experiments - at least in general - can only be predicted statistically. What is the nature ofthis strange relationship between "object" and "observer"? This is another crucial problem of the inside-outside or endo-exo dichotomy.

About this title

Synopsis

This text discusses a fundamental problem of the natural sciences, namely the observation of physical and biological systems and the principles by which we gain information about these systems. Is it relevant whether the human observer is a part of the system in question? What difference does this make to our representation of the physical world? These difficult questions have occupied scientists and philosophers from Decartes to Bell. In the light of recent advances in quantum mechanics and the theory of dynamical systems, there is good reason to tackle these problems afresh. This book should provide stimulating reading for scientists and philosophers interested in the fundamentals of their trade.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3540570888
• ISBN 13: 9783540570882
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 427
• Editor: Atmanspacher Harald, Dalenoort G.J.