Amit Goswami
Amit Goswami | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American (born in India) |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Known for | Idealistic (consciousness-based) interpretation of quantum mechanics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Theoretical physics, quantum consciousness |
| Institutions | University of Oregon |
Amit Goswami is a theoretical physicist and author known for advocating an idealistic, consciousness-based interpretation of quantum mechanics. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Career
Goswami was born in India and earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Calcutta. He served as a professor of physics at the University of Oregon from 1968 until his retirement in 1997. Since then he has written and lectured widely on the relationship between physics and consciousness.
Ideas
In his 1989 paper "The Idealistic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics" (Physics Essays, vol. 2, p. 385), Goswami argues that consciousness, rather than a physical measuring apparatus, collapses the quantum wave function. He presents this as an ontological extension of the Copenhagen interpretation and as an attempt to resolve the quantum measurement problem. Building on this view, he developed a program he calls "science within consciousness," summarized in his book The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World (1993).
Goswami's position holds that materialist science is not the whole picture and that consciousness is the ground of all being. These claims lie outside the scientific mainstream, which treats quantum measurement as a physical process not requiring conscious observers. He has also appeared in several popular films on the subject, including What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004) and The Quantum Activist (2009).