Скачать или смотреть Collapsing the State Vector Metaphor

The spatial metaphor which is used to understand time, and which figures in expressions such as 'the past is behind me now', and 'the deadline is approaching' also (I think) provides the template for how we think about 'determinism' and 'free will'. We imagine we can choose events in the future as we choose paths across a field whereas the past is understood as fixed as the path that we have already walked is fixed. This spatial metaphor, in which the future is a 2 dimensional plane and the past a 1 dimensional line, is not just present in casual speech but also demarcates and structures some of the language of science. For example, the famous Shroedinger's Cat thought experiment in quantum physics describes the point at which the box is opened as the 'collapsing of the state vector'; prior to this moment the future holds two possible outcomes, visualised as 'vectors', or paths across a 2 dimensional planar surface. At the moment of 'decision making' these vectors are conceived of as collapsing into a single 1 dimensional line that recedes into the past behind us.

Map of Free Will (Texas):
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=e...