A Unified Physical-Philosophical Explanation of Quantum Mechanics: The Peer-to-Peer Simulation Hypothesis

Abstract

Quantum mechanics is an exquisitely well-verified theory of how our physical world operates at a microscopic level. However, it presents us with two very deep puzzles: one of interpretation and one of explanation. First, there is the question of how to interpret its equations. Although there are dozes on different interpretations of the equations of quantum mechanics, every mainstream interpretation appears problematic. Second, there is the much deeper – and less well-understood – question of not just interpreting its equations, but of explaining why the world is quantum mechanical, that is, why the world operates according to such bizarre laws of nature. For, make no mistake about it, quantum mechanics is bizarre. According to quantum mechanics, microscopic objects such as electrons: A. Simultaneously have the properties of particles and of waves (wave-particle duality), B. Can effect one another instantaneously across arbitrarily large distances (quantum entanglement), C. Exist in many different states – different locations, different spins – all at once (quantum superposition), D. Come to occupy determinate states only when measured (wave-function collapse), such that, finally, E. Where a given object (e.g. electron) will be measured to be can, in principle, only be predicted probabilistically prior to measurement (quantum indeterminacy). It is commonly recognized, both in physics and the philosophy of physics, that we have no idea why the world has these features.This paper provides a unified explanation of quantum phenomena using the new model of reality that Marcus Arvan proposes and defends in his recent article, “A New Theory of Free Will.” Arvan proposes, in a nutshell, that our reality is structurally identical to an ordinary peer-to-peer (P2P) networked computer simulation. The present paper explains in more detail precisely what a P2P simulation is, and then, how all of the above quantum phenomena inevitably emerge from the structure of any P2P simulation. §1 explains the P2P Hypothesis in detail. §2 then shows how it explains quantum superposition and wave-function collapse (§2.1.), quantum indeterminacy (§2.2.), wave-particle duality (§2.3.), and quantum entanglement (§2.4.).