Penrose (2004: 853, 854-5):
The upshot of the above argument seems to be that a quantum superposition of two states ought indeed to decay into one or the other of its constituents in a time scale of the order ħ/EG. …
We now have what appears to be a plausible proposal for an objective state reduction which applies, at least, in situations when a quantum state is a superposition of two other states, each of which is stationary (in the aforementioned Schrödinger–Newton sense). According to this proposal, such a superposed state will spontaneously reduce into one or the other of its stationary constituents in an average timescale of about ħ/EG, where EG is the gravitational self-energy of the difference between the two mass distributions. I refer to this proposal as gravitational OR (where OR stands for the ‘objective reduction’ of the quantum state). …
It is my own standpoint, with regard to quantum state reduction, that it is indeed an objective process, and that it is always a gravitational phenomenon. …
A full theory is certainly lacking, and I have provided no actual dynamics for the reduction of the state, according to this OR process, even in the case of the particular superpositions that I have been considering.
Blogger Comments:
From the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistic Theory, the process here is not one of decay or reduction, and the two states are not constituents. The 'constituents' of a quantum superposition are alternative potentials, and the 'decay' of a quantum superposition of two states into one of the two states is the instantiation of potential construals of experience as meaning as one actual construal of experience as meaning.
In this view, the problem here lies in treating potential as actual, and in excluding the construal of experience as meaning from the explanation.
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