AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 239, Issue 5 365-R371, Copyright © 1980 by American Physiological Society
Choosing the right fictions of scientific law
D. O. Walter
Fictions are well established in the theory and practice of civil law;
similar importance is here claimed for fictions in the theory and
application of scientific law. A puzzle from quantum mechanics, previously
referred to in this Journal [Am. J. Physiol. 238 (Regulatory Integrative
Comp. Physiol. 7(: R277-R290, 1980], is reinterpreted by suggesting quantum
logic as a source of relevant fictions, which indicate a solution to that
puzzle. Another physiological application of quantum theory suggests that
the concept of "the state of the brain" may, in its usual classical sense,
not be useful for an individual brain--but may well be suggestively modeled
by a quantum state. The notion of "myths," usually only pejoratively
applied in positivistic writings, is suggested for rehabilitation, in view
of their helpful function (often unnoticed) even in positivistic thinking.
Finally, an example of a biological simulation (of a tumor by a cell
culture) is presented, to show that its multilayered fictionalizations
illustrate the surprising fact that a simulation that is insulated from the
system being simulated can be logically more powerful than any uninsulated
simulation.
