{"id":1395,"date":"2026-08-09T08:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T07:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/?p=1395"},"modified":"2026-08-09T09:12:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T08:12:23","slug":"physics-and-the-gurus-of-the-occult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/2026\/08\/09\/physics-and-the-gurus-of-the-occult\/","title":{"rendered":"Physics and the “gurus of the occult”."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Previously, I showed the differences between the Scientific Method and the so-called “human, social, health sciences, etc.,” which are nothing more than empirical knowledge or technological development, and in which the scientific method is neither used nor applied (only a small part, and in a dubious way).

Now, here is another error I frequently encounter: “gurus of the occult” attempt, through distortion and ignorance, to use physics as “proof” of their “theories” or “philosophies.”

The relationship between science and occultism has always been, is, and will be, exactly the opposite of what these “gurus” intend: Occultism is a field where ideas and theories can be directed and absorbed, and then, by systematizing, depersonalizing, and rationalizing them, they can give rise to new physical theories.

The adulterations and misinterpretations of physics by “gurus” of the occult (especially “quantum mysticism”) are a well-documented phenomenon of pseudoscience. They consist of extracting real terms and concepts from physics\u2014especially quantum mechanics\u2014emptying them of their technical and mathematical meaning, and reusing them to justify mystical beliefs, self-help, “quantum healing,” the Law of Attraction, vital energies, telepathy, etc. The scientific community classifies this as quantum mysticism, quantum woo, or quantum flapdoodle (a term coined by Murray Gell-Mann).

Main adulterations and recurring errors <\/mark>

The “observer effect” and the collapse of the wave function
In physics, “observation” means physical interaction (measurement by an instrument). It is not “human consciousness looking.” Popularizers of the occult transform this into “the mind creates reality” or “positive thoughts collapse desired possibilities.” This has no experimental basis. Any interaction with the environment (decoherence) already eliminates superposition on macroscopic scales.

Wave-particle duality and double-slit experiment
Used to claim that \u201ceverything is a wave of energy\/consciousness\u201d or that thought changes the interference pattern. The experiment shows quantum behavior of subatomic particles; it does not prove conscious mental influence on matter on a human scale.

Quantum entanglement
Correct interpretation: non-local correlations between interacting particles, without faster-than-light information transmission.
“Occult” version: \u201cwe are all connected\u201d, \u201ctelepathy\u201d, \u201cdistance healing\u201d or \u201ceverything is one\u201d. There is no evidence that this operates in human brains or bodies (decoherence destroys the effect quickly).

\u201cEverything is energy\u201d and vibrations\/frequencies
In physics, energy has a precise definition (capacity to do work) and units. In occult discourse it becomes \u201cvital energy\u201d, \u201cquantum chi\u201d, \u201chealing frequency\u201d or crystals that \u201cvibrate in resonance\u201d. It confuses colloquial meaning with physical meaning and ignores that hot and humid macroscopic systems (like the body) do not sustain relevant quantum coherence.

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
Transformed into “the universe is uncertain, therefore mystical free will exists” or justification for anything subjective. The principle limits the precision of pairs of conjugate quantities.

Other concepts
Zero-point energy \u2192 “free energy” or miraculous devices.
Relativity\/space-time \u2192 “astral travel” or manipulation of time by thought.
Superposition \u2192 “you can be everything at the same time until you decide”.

Typical authors and products that popularized this: Fritjof Capra (The Tao of Physics), Gary Zukav, Deepak Chopra (\u201cquantum healing\u201d), Amit Goswami, the film What the Bleep Do We Know?, books like The Secret, \u201cquantum coaching\u201d, quantum tables, pendants, etc.; in addition to many \u201cpopularization\u201d (or rather: fiction) programs on TV.

Why this happens and why it’s a mistake <\/mark>

Quantum mechanics is genuinely strange to those who haven’t studied it constructively and counter-intuitively. This creates fertile ground for superficial analogies with Eastern mysticism or New Age. Some founders of the theory (Wigner, to some extent) speculated philosophically about consciousness, but these ideas were never part of the formal theory nor were they experimentally confirmed. The vast majority of physicists reject any special role for human consciousness in the collapse.

Scales matter: \u201cmysterious\u201d quantum effects dominate the atomic and molecular world. In large, hot, and interactive systems (brain, body, everyday objects), decoherence causes classical behavior to prevail. Extrapolating these to \u201cconsciousness creates reality\u201d or \u201cthought cures cancer\u201d violates the very laws of quantum physics.

The practical result is a lucrative market of courses, books, therapies, and products without evidence, which use the authority of physics to sell hope. Physicists and philosophers of science (Victor Stenger, Philip Moriarty, Natalia Pasternak, and others) consistently point out that this is empty jargon, fallacies of authority, and deliberate or naive distortion.

In short:<\/mark> real physics is powerful, depersonalized, and precise The adulterated version disseminated by pseudo-occultists is a shell of pretty words devoid of mathematical, impersonal, experimental, or predictive content. When someone says “according to quantum physics…” followed by a mystical statement, they are almost always using physics as decoration, not as a foundation.

Final note: <\/mark>
Six months ago, I had a conversation with one of these “gurus,” where I purposely didn’t indicate that I was a physicist. The result was:
– In terms of physics, I have never heard so much nonsense, stupidity, ignorance, and drivel in succession; later, when I asked physics questions, this “person” just kept repeating the same thing… like a CD (my dog Bit\u00f3 has more knowledge than him).
– In terms of occultism, the barbarity was the same as with physics, a torrent of “dogmas” with the same level of ignorance where he just kept repeating the same thing without ever going into depth or answering, systematically avoiding any question or development (the same “rational” as dogmatic religious people).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I entered the “Rosicrucian” world when I was still a physics student, introduced to it by my professors. Unlike those “gurus,” I began my mental exercises, evolved, tested, studied, and am absorbing this “new universe of senses” for myself (the experience in these areas is personal and therefore without any scientific value) and trying (like many others) to open and explain this path through physics and mathematics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Previously, I showed the differences between the Scientific Method and the so-called “human, social, health sciences, etc.,” which are nothing more than empirical knowledge or technological development, and in which the scientific method is neither used nor applied (only a small part, and in a dubious way). Now, here is another error I frequently encounter: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1395"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1399,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1395\/revisions\/1399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitormsalmeida.pt\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}