Personality and Belief: Lent 2024, Day 27

Watching an interview with British theoretical physicist Christopher Isham yesterday, I was struck by his observation that how one interprets quantum mechanics boils down to whether one is an extrovert or an introvert. Here's the quote:

"There is some link between people's interpretation of quantum mechanics and their psychological type in a  Jungian sense. This is the distinction between introvert and extrovert; an extrovert being someone whose primary attention is outside and the introvert is someone whose primary attention is inside. I noticed that those physicists who are extrovert tend to favour the empirical pragmatic probability of measurements as being all that we can say about the world, whereas people like me who are strongly introvert favoured anything but that, and that was the reason they argued so much because they never could understand each other's point of view."

Wow. Now extrapolate this from interpretations of quantum mechanics to philosophy. Could there be a link between extroversion and materialism on the one hand, and introversion and a metaphysical perspective on the other? Put it another way; if you're an extrovert, are you less likely to believe in a supernatural divine power than an introvert?

I have written before about personality type in the sense of the panoply of behavioural disorders categorised by modern psychiatry. I believe that we all, to a lesser or greater degree, are on the spectrum of one or more of the main forms of disorder, however very few of us have these on a scale significant enough to merit diagnosis or clinical intervention. 

Examples of these disorders include depression, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, dyslexia, hoarding disorder, anorexia, bulimia, substance abuse, schizophrenia, narcissism, paranoia, to name the better-known ones. The percentage of the population clinically diagnosed with such conditions is low. However, diagnosed cases are but the tip of the iceberg, with the vast bulk of people demonstrating low-level symptoms in a way that isn't debilitating in their day-to-day functioning or social interactions but which nevertheless still manifest themselves enough to affect personality.

So – is the way we experience reality a product of our biology? If your personality is indeed shaped by manifestations of your behavioural traits, which themselves are thought to be genetic in origin – then do your genes shape the way you look at the world?

This is another aspect of the free-will/determinism debate. Is your worldview determined? 

I'd posit that there does exist a metaphysical will above that ego-driven material will, which seems increasingly to me to be determined by external factors (upbringing, environment and, yes, biology). The metaphysical will is intuitive; it functions by openness to the cosmic stream of consciousness, ethical in purpose, unfolding along with the Universe. Alignment with the Flow.

There is a clear correlation between spirituality and sense of purpose and meaning to life. People with that strong spiritual belief system do tend to be happier. Meaning brings hope; being trapped within materialism brings on hopelessness. The more you push back against the demands of your ego in favour of the calm voice of your consciousness, the happier you get.

More tomorrow.

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