Zero point field strikes again!

[suyver]

Check this out:
http://www.ode.nl/scripts/article.php?aID=3773

Lots of really deep misunderstanding of physics! [;)]

My favourite part:
The so-called Zero Point Field (the name comes from the fact that even at the absolute zero point, energy can still be measured) appears to provide the explanation for countless known phenomena and processes that had stumped the scientific community for generations. Gravity, electromagnetism, clairvoyance, telepathy and the spontaneous healing of wounds: the origins of these diverse phenomena can all be traced back to this quantum field. [o)]

So yeah, I guess that the zero point field (I'm assuming they are talking about the non-zero energy that e.g. a harmonic oscillator has when it is in the groundstate) is the origin of gravity as well as electromagnitism! [6)]

Cheers,
Freek Suyver.

[Kerrie]

In her book The Field (HarperCollins, 2001), investigative journalist Lynne McTaggart provides an overview of recent scientific discoveries that demonstrate that there is an all-encompassing energy field connecting man and matter.

i have skimmed this book and it explains through physics how everything is interconnected...

[Jonathan]

As to how ZPE explains psychic stuff, I'm very skeptical. However, I have looked into this stuff for some time and have come to the conclusion that ZPE could really lead to a GUT or ToE if such are possible (I still have my doubts). So far, SED (Stochastic Electrodynamics) seems promising. Something few people know is that Quantum Mechanics has next to no explaintion for almost all of the phenomena that it describes, it is really more of a massive collection of equations, and no one really knows for sure why many of them work. The whole field is one of experiments, with very little theory.

[FZ+]

The whole field is one of experiments, with very little theory.
Er... no. The trouble with modern QM is that there are too many theories and interpretations - with no clear experimental distinction (so far) between them. Bohmian hidden variable, copenhagen ghostiness, everett multiple universe all work equally well, usually giving the same results.

ZPE, in the form of virtual particles, have been very useful in formulating the standard model, with quantum theories of electromagnetism and the nuclear forces. But talking about gravity, "clairvoyance, telepathy and the spontaneous healing of wounds" is stretching things somewhat stratospherically, especially as much of the latter is certainly not generally accepted.

[Jonathan]

FZ+, you know tht is not what I meant. We have ten thousand million zillion theories for gravity, and yet if someone asks you what the theory of gravity is you say "We don't know yet". having a multitude of theories that explain the evidence and give rise to the equations doesn't mean anything if many very different theories could do the same job about as well. Having many theories for the same things is a sign of ignorance, not intelligence.