‘Beyond quantum theory: a realist psycho-biological interpretation of reality’ revisited

It is hypothesised that quantum physics is not the ultimate theory of nature, but merely a theoretical account of the phenomena manifested in nature under particular conditions. These phenomena parallel cognitive phenomena in biosystems in a number of ways, and are assumed to arise from related mechanisms. Quantum and biological accounts are complementary in the sense of Bohr, and quantum accounts may be incomplete. In particular, following ideas of Stapp, ‘the observer’ is a system that, while lying outside the descriptive capacities of quantum mechanics, creates observable phenomena such as wave function collapse through its probing activities. Better understanding of such processes may pave the way to new science, including an understanding of why quantum reality has the form it does.