Abstract

Quantum theory’s irreducible empirical core is a probability calculus. While it presupposes the events to which (and on the basis of which) it serves to assign probabilities, and therefore cannot account for their occurrence, it has to be consistent with it. It must make it possible to identify a system of observables that have measurement-independent values.What makes this possible is the incompleteness of the spatiotemporal differentiation of the physical world. This is shown by applying a novel interpretive principle to interfering alternatives involving distinctions between regions of space. Applying the same interpretive principle to alternatives involving distinctions between things makes it safe to claim that the macroworld comes into being through a progressive differentiation of a single, intrinsically undifferentiated entity. By entering into reflexive spatial relations, this entity gives rise to (1) what looks like a multiplicity of relata if the reflexive quality of the relations is not taken into account, and (2) what looks like a substantial expanse if the spatial quality of the relations is reified. The necessary distinction between two domains (classical and quantum, or macro and micro) and their mutual dependence is best understood as a distinction between the manifested world and its manifestation. [Paper presented at BergeFest, a conference celebrating the 60th birthday of Berge Englert, held at the Centre for Quantum Technologies, National University of Singapore, 22–25 April 2014]