“Du findest nur Bekanntes, das ihm gleicht,
Und deines Geistes höchster Feuerflug.” – Johann W. Goethe
This was the quotation from the poem “Prooemion” that Erwin Schrödinger used in his 1925 book “Meine Weltansicht” to explain his own belief in the idea that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. This was his belief in Vedanta being made clear to the world …. he wrote this book just before he discovered what is now known as the Schrödinger equation in December of that year. It is reasonable to conclude that it was these concepts that played on his mind when he came up with his hugely important equation that explained the quantum wave function.
Remember, this is THE Erwin Schrödinger, not some new-age wacko and somebody whose analysis of the mysteries of consciousness cannot be easily dismissed. In my humble opinion Schrödinger was probably profoundly “qualified” with regards to his knowledge of quantum mechanics to make such an observation… and his intellect created in him a belief in Vedanta.
I guess that he should be dismissed as a peddler of “New Age” rubbish … or maybe his mystical and esoteric interests should be carefully ignored …. as have been similar interests ignored with regards to Wolfgang Pauli and even Isaac Newton. These really great scientists, and many others, did not fall into the hubristic arrogance of many of those now wedded to scientism ….
