Abstract
To the question ‘It from Bit or Bit from It?’ this essay replies, ‘It from Bit AND Bit from It.' Bringing fun and substance to Wheeler's famous phrase, this wording and emphasis is backed by the creation of a new particle (the first It from Bit) and by the link that ends the EPR-Bell era (fusing EPR's missed Bit with Bell's missed It). Then, proving material objects more fundamental than information, a fresh big Bit from phantasmic It. That is, ‘collapse' - so-called, and problematic in QM - is but a short-cut in a new mechanics, wholistic mechanics, wm, with its commonsense philosophy of wholistic-local-realism (WLR) and its aversion to subjectivity (replacing probability with prevalence). WM delivers a whole new particle family, while WLR itself, claiming its EPR-Bell birthright - uniting local-causality (no causal influence propagates superluminally) and physical-realism (some physical properties change interactively) - revives local causality in line with the early hopes of folks like Aspect, Bell, Clauser, Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen. Among findings reported from analysis judged fit for well-taught highschool seniors: Naive realism is a doctrine of limited value, being false in spin-entangled contexts; EPR is vulnerable to a naive-realistic interpretation; Bell's theorems and inequalities are constrained by their basis in naive realism; correlated tests on correlated particles produce correlated results, absent nonlocality, spooky-actions, mystery; like other valued shortcuts, QM wavefunctions and their collapse are abstractions; eliminate collapse, farewell nonlocality, predict with certainty the value of a physical quantity, for there exist elements of physical reality creating that quantity. Suggesting that WLR will feature in the future of physics, that wm will benefit from any and all comments and critiques, this essay invites us to join in the creative fun that goes with such research; and boldly requests: Please respond critically. In a word: Enjoy!
Gordon Watson