From: gerald_a_levy (gerald_a_levy@msn.com)
Date: Fri Nov 22 2002 - 22:12:55 EST
Re Paul C's [8038]: > * In particular, could the HUP have application when examining > the systematic connections between a mode of production and > (non-human) nature? > --------------------------------------------------------- > No. To think that it does is to fall for the most vulgar > idealist interpretations of quantum mechanics Oh my -- well I certainly wouldn't want to do that. I see the HUP as just one of a number of perspectives in the natural sciences related to uncertainty and indeterminacy that might have extensions for comprehending the present mode of production. E.g. chaos theory, complexity theory, and the theory of relativity. As suggested by a previous post, uncertainty is a characteristic and necessary feature of the value process and the production and circulation of surplus value and capital. Hence it seems reasonable to ask whether postulates concerning uncertainty in other disciplines have relevance for comprehending a specific social system that is characterized by uncertainty. A connection of a more concrete historical nature relates to our understanding of the possible social consequences of nuclear power and other forms of energy which capital and the state in their arrogance have ignored. Let us not forget that Werner Heisenberg after developing the "Indeterminacy Principle" in the 1920's later conducted research for Germany during WW2 on their nuclear fission program. Also, in the US the research on nuclear energy progressed in ways that could not have been fully anticipated by theoretical physicists like Einstein. Even Oppenheimer -- late in his life -- realized that nuclear power posed unquantifiable and unimaginable horrors for the future. The social implications of the HUP were all to real to Oppenheimer and his generation of physicists -- and it was for speaking out against the uncertain consequences of nuclear energy that the US government blacklisted him. As I understand it, you also take a principle from physics -- laws of thermodynamics -- and attempt to develop extensions related to political economy. Isn't that right? In solidarity, Jerry
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