Understanding the similarities in logic between quantum physics/mechanics and Chinese medicine.
In my quest to gain a better understanding of the ways of the world, I decided to revisit Richard Feynman’s teachings of physics.
For those who are unfamiliar with Feynman, he was considered one of the most brilliant teachers and physicists to have graced the planet because of his ability to explain the complicated ideas of high-level physics to “non-scientists” with minimal technical jargon.
Upon rereading Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces, I couldn’t help but see the uncanny similarities between the logic of Chinese medicine theory and theories of quantum physics!
“What is quantum physics (quantum mechanics)?
Put simply, it’s the physics that explains how everything works: the best description we have of the nature of the particles that make up matter and the forces with which they interact. Quantum physics underlies how atoms work, and so why chemistry and biology work as they do.” — thenewscientist.com
I guess it’s true that once you dive deeper into one subject, you start to see connections everywhere.
I know. I sound crazy, but let me try to explain because this is just too cool.
Let’s start with Feynman’s famous analogy about understanding the world as it is — a grand chess game played by gods.
1. The real-world is too complex. It is like a grand chess game played by gods where we are only observers.
Both Chinese medicine and quantum physics understand that everything is relative. Both subjects accept that we will never know everything and their logic is built upon intrinsic uncertainty.
Feynman explains this concept with a “chess game played by gods” analogy.
A Chinese Board Game called “Go” or Wei qi I played as a kid. https://www.go-jigs.eu/what-is-go/
Feynman describes that trying to understand the world is like observing a great chess game played by the gods in which we are solely observers with no clue as to what the actual rules are. Like any game, if we observe long enough, we may be able to get the gist of some of the rules. These rules, he says, are like the fundamentals of physics.
“Even if we knew every rule, however, we might not be able to understand why a particular move is made in the game, merely because it is too complicated and our minds are limited.” — Richard Feynman
This analogy reminds us that our limited understandings cannot explain the entirety of how nature works. What we are able to see is only a fraction of what actually goes on.
Nature is so complex that it would not be able to understand every detail of every move.
Feynman’s “Great Chess Game” analogy is precisely the logic that Chinese medicine adopted two thousand something years ago. It is the idea that we only understand the pieces and parts of the ever-so complex system and that we will never understand all the invisible interconnections present. We are limited to observing only what our senses are capable of capturing. There will be rules in which we will have to accept without being able to see.
Therefore, the entire basis of Chinese medicine was to understand the body in relation to nature and all its complex systems. It makes sense of what we can see and draws relationships based on observations and reoccuring patterns.
Chinese medicine and quantum physics are both logical frameworks developed to understand how the world works. They both understand that there will always be uncertainty due to the incompleteness of our knowledge of the “too-complex” world. Knowing that we will never know everything brings us to the concept of intrinsic uncertainty.
2. Intrinsic uncertainty logic prevails.
The grand chess game analogy is a metaphor for explaining the complex idea of intrinsic uncertainty. Both Chinese medicine and quantum physics are rooted in the logic of intrinsic uncertainty.
Intrinsic uncertainty in quantum physics:
It was discovered that things on a small scale behave nothing like things on a large scale […] the way things behave on a small scale is so “unnatural”; we have no direct experience with it. Here things behave like nothing we know of, so that it is impossible to describe this behavior in any other than analytic ways. It is difficult, and takes a lot of imagination. — Richard Feynman
Quantum physics was born in the 1920s after it was shown that the Newtonian laws (we learned growing up regarding forces and inertia) do not work in the world of subatomic particles.
Specifically, classical physics separates waves and particles into two distinct frameworks. You would be able to calculate precise values for waves and particles separately but not if they were mixed together.
However, upon the birth of quantum physics, it was found that subatomic particles were shown to be a strange combination of both waves and particles. Thus making it impossible to predict precise values. Check out the famous Schrödinger’s cat.
Certainty and precise values of classical physics were replaced by probabilistic predictions of quantum physics when dealing with subatomic particles.
This discovery brought upon a new way of thinking — one that embraced the acceptance of infinite unknowns.
Another most interesting change in the ideas and philosophy of science brought about by quantum mechanics is this: it is not possible to predict exactly what will happen in any circumstance.” — Richard Feynman
Which developed the new subject of quantum physics into a logical framework for understanding uncertainty.
“The intrinsically deterministic character of values in classical physics is replaced in quantum theory by intrinsic uncertainty” — ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
Leaping from classical physics to quantum physics is one that is difficult to understand because it involves “very small scales and phenomena that are not visible to the naked eye.” Thus the need to understand reality by knowing you will never know everything.
Intrinsic uncertainty in Chinese medicine logic:
Similarly, Chinese medicine philosophers back then understood that everything is relative. Everything is interconnected in some way — tangible or intangible. Again, we will never know the entirety of how nature works or how the body really works. The dynamics of interconnections are infinite.
They too understood that “there were phenomena that are not visible to the naked eye” (instead of focusing on subatomic particles, they understood this idea in relation to the body).
Thus, understanding that they can’t define every interaction of the human body, the Chinese developed a wholistic logical system for identifying common patterns (similar to probabilities) of dynamic interactions to get closer to understanding reality or “truth” (what they call the root cause).
In other words, intrinsic uncertainty involves understanding patterns of the whole to get closer to understanding reality of which, we will never fully fathom.
That leads us to the next concept of “approximation”.
3. Approximation vs. Definition (Allows for inclusivity rather than exclusivity)
Intrinsic uncertainty can be tested by “approximation”.
By understanding our limitations of not being able to see and understand every single complicated process of nature, Feynman explains that “approximation” is probably the best way to see if our ideas are “right”.
“Each piece, or part, of the whole of nature is always merely an approximation to the complete truth, or the complete truth so far as we know it.” — Richard Feynman
The understanding of “approximation” and the understanding that each piece of the whole is just an approximation of the truth is another reason why Chinese medicine has stood the test of time. Using approximation allows for inclusion rather than exclusion.
2.a. The approximation of the concept of “heat” in Chinese medicine is one way to describe this.
For example, when we talk about “heat” in Chinese medicine, we can mean fevers, redness in skin, irritability, anger, dark yellow urine, etc. These are all signs of “heat” by “common sense” and by feeling. By approximation.
That explains why someone who is often angry and stubborn is described as someone “hot-headed” or “hot-blooded” — yes, even in the English language — because these are literal descriptions of natural phenomena.
Anger causes blood to rush to the head (where the brain is). In fact, the Chinese word for anger translates into “rising qi/rising energy” (生氣). Areas with increased blood flow become warmer to the touch. That causes “heat” and the head to feel hot.
If that person gets angry a lot, blood flow shoots up to the head region and causes poor circulation throughout the body. Over time, that starts causing other physiological damage to the body in a cascade effect leading to possible migraines, insomnia, tinnitus, dizziness, strokes. Those are general possible patterns but how it presents in real life differs depending on the specific constitution (genetics and environmental factors) of the individual — multivariable in play.
Chinese medicine looks for the patterns of these effects and comes up with a diagnosis and a treatment. The treatment principle is simple regardless of the manifestations — anchor the emotions and cool the body. It allows for many different ways for one to treat this as long as we follow the general treatment principle.
It cuts through the mess of confusing symptoms that differs for every individual and focuses on the overall pattern. That’s why we say Chinese medicine focuses on treating the root of the problem.
Using this example of “heat”, Chinese medicine does not strictly define “heat” to be a certain degree or qualitative number. It is a loose definition that allows for quantitative and multivariable reasoning. It is an approximation because it accepts the incompleteness and opacity of knowledge of the exact workings of nature.
Now that approximation is better understood, let’s move onto spectrums and dimensionality.
4. There is no black and white. But rather, a spectrum/gradient. This is approximation expanded.
Chinese medicine, like quantum physics, describes a spectrum of natural phenomena (through approximation) rather than a static, stand-alone definition that other sciences such as biology rely on. Approximation allows for spectrums.
Going back to the “heat” example, there are again, many spectrums of “heat” depending on the signs and symptoms that one’s body exhibits.
In Chinese medicine, we don’t define each “heat” independently as a number ie. once someone reaches 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit they are “heated”, but instead, we look at the entire health picture of a patient with all the signs and symptoms to understand where on the spectrum the overall signs of “heat” fall.
4.a Examples of the spectrum of “heat” in Chinese medicine
For example, someone with excess “heat” has a thick greasy yellow coating on the tongue, red tongue body, red face, extreme thirst, foul breath, dark - yellow foul-smelling urine, constipation with pain, pounding-fast pulse, extreme irritability. The combination of these symptoms fit the pattern of someone with excessive “heat”.
Similarly, someone with body fluid dryness can also exhibit signs of “heat”, but that of heat caused by deficiency. The “heat” here will be less intense and may manifest as: a thin cracked tongue that is red, hot soles of hands and feet, constant thirst satisfied with small sips of water, dark urine but not as foul-smelling, goat-pebble dry stools tending towards constipation, thin-rapid pulse, anxious and easily irritable. The combination of these symptoms fit the pattern of someone with heat caused by deficiency.
These subtleties allow us to catch signs that someone’s body exhibits signs of excess “heat” before they have to reach 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or before it shows up as advanced cancer etc. Spectrums help us predict the general direction of where a disease is headed. It is the key to prevention.
Essentially what we do during diagnosis in Chinese medicine is to decode and translate spectrums and interactions using our laws of approximations to get a general understanding of how far a disease has progressed.
Or, simply said, understanding a general health picture allows us to find ways to change the direction of the progression of the body as a whole.
5. Balance of multiple variables.
The one main point here is that both quantum physics and Chinese medicine concern themselves over the balance of multivariable systems. Multivariable systems are created by interactions and relationships. The balance is a spectrum.
“The ultimate basis of an interaction between the atoms is electrical […] All things, even ourselves, are made of fine-grained, enormously strongly interacting plus and minus parts, all neatly balanced out.” — Richard Feynman
Balance is key. When balance is disturbed, the scale is tipped and things happen. Sometimes they get wonky.
In Chinese medicine, patterns of symptoms give us an idea of where the balance has been shifted and what diseases are likely to occur if that balance of the complex dynamic system is not corrected. We take into account even the smallest signs and symptoms ie. details about sleep, poop, stress, pain, etc.
It is much easier to correct the balance when the problem is still small and manifests as small annoyances. Annoyances are ways of your body telling you there is something going on and that it should be addressed. Cancer doesn’t happen overnight.
Lastly, we will transition into the discussion of the energy systems that help maintain “balance”.
6. Instead of the interactions of atoms, Chinese medicine uses the concept of “Qi” to describe pathways of energy.
Both Chinese medicine and quantum physics require an understanding of the way energy interacts and is distributed.
For both subjects, this understanding of energy cannot be seen or precisely defined. It can only be described with “approximation.” It is important to note that both atoms and “Qi” are dynamic in their natures.
Feynman describes that atoms “do not stop moving”. Even when they reach absolute zero, “they still jiggle”. They are dynamic in the sense that they are continuously moving. Energy is being continuously transferred. They have their own rules and ways they move.
In the realm of quantum physics, Feynman describes it impossible to predict where an “electron will arrive in a given circumstance” and that “we can only predict the odds.”
Energy in Chinese medicine:
Instead of understanding the world as merely electrical interactions between atoms, Chinese medicine describes that similar natural phenomena as “Qi” (pronounced Chee). It is a broader concept and it explains the movement and characteristics of a similar concept of “energy” in relation to the body and the environment. Qi does not stop flowing. It has set paths to flow through. It is continuously being transformed. Disease arises when the flow is disrupted or the direction of the flow is reversed.
The abstract concept of energy is very similar but since the purpose of Chinese medicine theory was not to explain how the world works, but rather, to come up with a system to help prevent and treat illness, its theory developed with a focus of using that energy concept to describe the physiological functions of the body in relation to its environment.
Conclusion? Feynman would probably have been an excellent Chinese medicine practitioner/acupuncturist!
Yes, the concepts of both quantum physics and Chinese medicine are abstract because they are sophisticated in their understandings. Other forms of science focus more on precise, single variable direct cause-and-effect relationships.
Both Chinese medicine and quantum physics take into account the “real world” of things. They accept that we will not know everything but that we can still try to understand it from a broad-concept open-minded view.
“Curiosity demands that we ask questions, that we try to put things together and try to understand this multitude of aspects as perhaps resulting from the action of a relatively small number of elemental things and forces acting in an infinite variety of combinations.” — Richard Feynman
Both Chinese medicine and quantum physics understand reality is in higher dimensions than that of which can be observed and that the overly complex interactions/connections cannot be fully accounted for. Thus both subject’s logics are built upon intrinsic uncertainty, allowing them to get closer to understanding multi-dimensional (beyond 2-D) reality. Traditional sciences are only able to see the world in 1-D and 2-D cause-and-effect view. Source
Feynman writes at the end of the Six Easy Pieces book that quantum physics theory depends on the “correctness of the uncertainty principle” stated by Heisenberg. So far, the uncertainty principle has held and that “no one has figured a way out of this puzzle”.
Nature may very well be a puzzle that may likely be impossible to beat. But we can get close to understanding some rules by knowing we cannot know it all.
Interestingly enough, I so happened to pick up another book on Chinese medicine called Between Heaven And Earth. It seems that I am not the only one who saw the logical similarities between quantum physics and Chinese medicine!
“Chinese medicine echoes the logic of quantum physics, which suggests that we exist in a relative, process-oriented universe in which there is no ‘objective’ world separable from living subjects.” — Between Heaven and Earth
With that said, thank you for bearing with me as I try to explain my mindblowing breakthrough. I hope that explains a little more about why Chinese medicine theory has survived thousands of years and why it is a system of immense sophistication often misinterpreted as “rudimentary” due to its simplicity.
XOXO Steph
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