Foundations of Physics

, Volume 8, Issue 5–6, pp 463–480 | Cite as

Can an effect precede its cause? A model of a noncausal world

  • Helmut Schmidt
Article
Received:

Abstract

The world appears causal in the sense that the result of a measurement may depend on the past history of the observed system, but not on what the experimenter will do with the system after the measurement. This raises the question whether noncausality at a macroscopic level would necessarily lead to an “unreasonable” world. The study of a model world with axiomatically well-specified properties shows that noncausal systems can be discussed in a logically consistent manner so that noncausality might well exist in the real world as a weak, but so far overlooked, effect.

Keywords

Real World Past History Macroscopic Level Consistent Manner Model World 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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References

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    J. A. Wheeler and R. P. Feynman, Interaction with the Absorber as the Mechanism of Radiation,Rev. Mod. Phys. 7, 157 (1945).Google Scholar
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    H. Schmidt, Model of an Oscillating Cosmos which Rejuvenates during Contraction,J. Math. Phys. 7, 494 (1966).Google Scholar
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    H. Schmidt, Evidence for Direct Interaction between the Human Mind and External Quantum Processes, inProceedings of the International Conference on Cybernetics and Society (1977), p. 535.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1978

Authors and Affiliations

  • Helmut Schmidt
    • 1
  1. 1.Mind Science FoundationSan Antonio

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