The Difference Between Quantum Mechanics and Pseudoscience

Here's an article from the UK's Daily Mail in which a scientist claims to have found proof of the afterlife. Quantum mechanics is one of the most interesting but least understood areas of science. It is also one of the most quoted by proponents of pseudoscience who use it to support any number of claims without the need for empirical evidence. One of the most vocal is lifestyle guru Deepak Chopra, who has built a whole belief system around the idea that ill-health is caused by 'quantum imbalance' within an individual. (For these and similar claims Chopra was awarded the IgNobel Prize for Physics in 1998).

I posted something a while ago about Schrodinger's Cat and quantum weirdness. The same simple statement applies here I think: while sub-atomic particles exist in a quantum universe, cats (and people) do not and are therefore not subject to quantum laws.

I've posted a youtube clip below in which a UK physics professor refutes the Daily Mail article, and becomes increasing irate as he does so. Towards the end of his talk, he gives a nice account of how the media, by elevating pseudoscience, can change the public perception of physics and even its funding in the future.

Perhaps this is also a good point at which to quote Carl Sagan (one of the most open-minded of people himself):

"Be open-minded, but not so open minded that your brains fall out".

Quantum Physics Proves That There is an Afterlife