The Quantum Physicist Obsessed With Ancient Indian Philosophy

Introduction. You know about Schrodinger's cat. But do you know about Schrodinger's dog? He named him Atman - a Sanskrit word for our soul. Schrodinger, a Nobel prize winning physicist, was a close reader of ancient Indian philosophy and borrowed from it. Read on 👇

William Thomson calculated the lowest possible temperature in the universe: -273.15°. Quite the achievement. Yet today he’s known for a failed prediction made in 1900: “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.”

The next century would bring Albert Einstein, Quantum physics, the uncertainty principle. Western Science, built on reason, made a shocking discovery in the 20th century that rocked it to its core. The discovery: Reality rests on a substrate of weird.

Heisenberg created the uncertainty principle which shows that the more precisely you measure the position of a particle, the less precisely you can measure its momentum. And vice versa. Heisenberg: “Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?"

Science promises clarity, but when things get pushed to their extremes, it leaves us hanging. In his essay "The Vedantic Vision," Schrodinger writes: “In a considerable number of cases logical thinking brings us up to a certain point and then leaves us in the lurch."

Why was Schrodinger, an Austrian physicist, reading the Vedanta - a collection of ancient texts from India? Because they helped him understand his strange findings in the quantum world. The western mind needed a “blood transfusion from eastern thought” - but those can be tricky.

Schrodinger: “We must beware of blunders - Blood transfusions always need great precaution to prevent clotting. We don't wish to lose the logical precision that our scientific thought has reached.” But in the “Vedantic vision” he found a different yet compelling sort of logic.

This is Schrodinger’s Vedantic Vision: “You can throw yourself flat on the ground, stretched out upon Mother Earth, with the certain conviction that you are one with her and she with you. You are as invulnerable as she.” But how can a scientist believe that man is “invulnerable”?

We feel vulnerable as we think we're separate from everyone and everything else. But Schrodinger says this thought is “produced by deception.” Just as the “many facets of a diamond” split the Sun into multiple images “Maya” splits one life force into many different forms.

Schrodinger’s interest in Vedanta rubbed off on his friends. His girlfriend wrote in a breakup letter: “I looked into your eyes and found that spirit which you said was no more you or me, but us, One mind, One being. You can love me all your life, but we are Two now, not One.”