Symbols, Pictures and Quantum Reality

Book excerpt: Information about the reality outside flow via our sense organs into the body, and the brain forms a picture of reality. It is argued that the symbols in the picture have in general no similarity with the objects in the outside world, and many facts support such a view. This conception is discussed in connection with quantum reality. In particular, the role of space and time within quantum theory is also investigated from the historical point of view, highlighting the original ideas. New aspects are covered in connection with the particle concept, particle-wave dualism, locality, the time operator, the superposition principle, and the role of the observer.