UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3673 ▶ |
| Object type | Epistemology, ontology or semantics, Methodology or model |
- “It is impossible to simultaneously measure the position and the momentum of atomic particles with an arbitrary degree of accuracy”.
K. KRIPPENDORFF writes: “The principle recognizes the fact that, on the atomic level, any measuring process involves energy which by necessity interferes with the energy measured” (1986, p.78). This is because both energetic actions are at more or less the same level of intensity.
It would be advisable to better distinguish indeterminacy from uncertainty.
The first word relates more closely to any situation in which it is impossible to know exactly and simultaneously two (or more) characteristics of an observed object, especially in the realm of micro-physics.
Trying to better the instruments of observation is practically useless, as noted by H.H. PATTEE: “… the more you describe the measuring device, the less effectively it measures or describes the system” (1977, p.262).
On the other hand, HEISENBERG himself speaks also of an “Uncertainty Principle” (not merely indeterminacy), which introduces obviously an epistemological problem. J.C. TABARY states: “No information about Nature ”in itself“ can reach us, but merely informations on our own deformation when in contact with Nature: Nature's image becomes the image of our physical relation with Nature” (1989, p.278).