Related papers: Without microphysical causation, just anything can…
The causal closure of physics is usually discussed in a context free way. Here I discuss it in the context of engineering systems and biology, where strong emergence takes place due to a combination of upwards emergence and downwards…
Causality has been often confused with the notion of determinism. It is mandatory to separate the two notions in view of the debate about quantum foundations. Quantum theory provides an example of causal not-deterministic theory. Here we…
This paper explains why internal and external validity cannot be simultaneously maximised. It introduces "evidential states" to represent the information available for causal inference and shows that routine study operations (restriction,…
In previous work with Joost Vennekens I proposed a definition of actual causation that is based on certain plausible principles, thereby allowing the debate on causation to shift away from its heavy focus on examples towards a more…
"Bell's theorem" can refer to two different theorems that John Bell proved, the first in 1964 and the second in 1976. His 1964 theorem is the incompatibility of quantum phenomena with the joint assumptions of Locality and Predetermination.…
Model independent arguments following from the Covariant Entropy Principle imply that causal diamonds in the very early universe were entirely filled with a single equilibrated system with finite entropy. A universe where this condition…
It is often claimed that one cannot locate a notion of causation in fundamental physical theories. The reason most commonly given is that the dynamics of those theories do not support any distinction between the past and the future, and…
Modern physics is founded on two mainstays: mathematical modelling and empirical verification. These two assumptions are prerequisite for the objectivity of scientific discourse. Here we show, however, that they are contradictory, leading…
A history of the discovery of quantum mechanics and paradoxes of its interpretation is reconsidered from the modern point of view of quantum stochastics and information. It is argued that in the orthodox quantum mechanics there is no place…
Temporal Relationalism is that there is no time for the universe as a whole at the primary level. Time emerges rather at a secondary level; one compelling idea for this is Mach's: that time is to be abstracted from change. Temporal…
According to the "Hilbert Space Fundamentalism" Thesis, all features of a physical system, including the 3D-space, a preferred basis, and factorization into subsystems, uniquely emerge from the state vector and the Hamiltonian alone. I give…
The cognitive frame in which most neuropsychological research on the neural basis of behavior is conducted contains the assumption that brain mechanisms per se fully suffice to explain all psychologically described phenomena. This…
We argue that the classical theory of electromagnetism is based on Maxwell's macroscopic equations, an energy postulate, a momentum postulate, and a generalized form of the Lorentz law of force. These seven postulates constitute the…
It is shown that if physical space time were truly compact there would only be of the order of one solutions to the classical field equations with a weighting to be explained. But that would not allow any peculiar choice of initial…
I argue that our judgements regarding the locally causal models which are compatible with a given quantum no-go theorem implicitly depend, in part, on the context of inquiry. It follows from this that certain no-go theorems, which are…
By relating and ordering events, causality constitutes a pivotal feature of our world. On the one hand, there are information-theoretic notions of causality defined in terms of the information processing ability of agents and on the other…
Quantum theory allows for the superposition of causal orders between operations, i.e., for an indefinite causal order; an implication of the principle of quantum superposition. Since a higher theory might also admit this feature, an…
A theorem of Hegerfeldt shows that if the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is bounded from below, then the propagation speed of certain probabilities does not have an upper bound. We prove a theorem analogous to Hegerfeldt's that appertains to…
The apparent nonlocality of quantum theory has been a persistent concern. Einstein et. al. (1935) and Bell (1964) emphasized the apparent nonlocality arising from entanglement correlations. While some interpretations embrace this…
Newtonian mechanics posited mass as a primary quality of matter, incapable of further elucidation. We now see Newtonian mass as an emergent property. Most of the mass of standard matter, by far, arises dynamically, from back-reaction of the…