*Quantum Bayesianism (QBism): An interpretation of quantum mechanics based
on quantum information theory*
Hans Christian von Baeyer, Professor of Physics, emeritus
College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
January 2014
I am honored and proud to be asked by Pedro to
Dear Joseph, Jerry, Pedro, and all:
1. QBism seems not to consider the option of using non-standard,
non-Kolmogorivian probabilities to describe quantum and non-quantum nature,
that is, with values 0 but 1.
It is difficult enough to get physicists to consider the standard
interpretation of
Stan asks: Would we be justified in viewing QBism the latest venture of
[social] constructivism?
WOW, I sure hope not! While it is true that there are fads in science, and
that the direction of research is influenced to some degree by the society
that funds it and consumes its fruits, I think
Dear friends -- Pedro informs me that as lecturer I'm allowed four
responses per week. Not having kept track very well, I take this
opportunity to answer some questions, and will start a fresh count on
Monday -- if that's OK.
Gordana -- l am out of my depth in a discussion of
Physicists generally don't spend much time on distinguishing among
philosophical isms. However, since my New Year lecture was on an ism, I
can't very well avoid them!
Gordana speaks of Instrumentalist Epistemology and Epistemological
Instrumentalism. As I understand it, instrumentalism was a
Dear friends -- Pedro had suggested that the mini-session of responses to
my New Year Lecture should last about two weeks. I think that the lesson
of QBism for FIS is indirect. In order to make sense of quantum mechanics,
which has been spectacularly successful, the interpretation of
Dear Friends: In keeping with the message of my lecture, that knowledge of
the world is based on the ensemble of individual experiences, more than on
assumed objective, actual properties of an external reality, I will tell
you about my experiences of writing and discussing the New Year Lecture. I
Dear Dino and friends, thanks for bringing up the issue of probability
amplitudes. Since they are technical tools of physics, and since I didn't
want to go too far afield, I did not mention them in my lecture. The
closest I came was the wavefunction, which, indeed, is a probability
amplitude.
It seems to me that Pedro himself incarnates the third element of his AP.
What undoubtedly accounts for most of the success, and certainly for the
longevity of FIS, is his profound, utter, and unshakeable KINDNESS -- a
virtue that may not be as deep as compassion or love, but that has a much
Thank you Pedro for mentioning my new book.
Actually, there is a connection between my book and the curious tale.
QBists look at the future as a web of interlaced personal, numerical
probability estimates, with no certainties anchored in REAL mechanisms.
The probability that CERN will blow up the
For entropy we do need the log, because the chemists already knew that it
is additive, whereas probability and "the number of ways", are
multiplicative.
Hans Christian von Baeyer
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