Next time you’re told you’re being irrational in an argument, use this new scientific comeback: “No, I’m just quantum probabilistic.”
In two new review papers, one in Current Directions in Psychological Science and the other in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, a team of researchers have theorized a mathematical model for the human decision-making process through quantum physics.
So why quantum physics? In theory, by abandoning the conventional approach of thinking through classical probability theory (think back to statistics) and thinking in a way similar to quantum physics, humans can work through complex questions and make decisions in the face of uncertainty.
“We have accumulated so many paradoxical findings in the field of cognition, and especially in decision-making,” said Zheng Joyce Wang, one of the scientists working on the theory and director of the Communication and Psychophysiology Lab at The Ohio State University.
“Whenever something comes up that isn’t consistent with classical theories, we often label it as ‘irrational.’ But from the perspective of quantum cognition, some findings aren’t irrational anymore. They’re consistent with quantum theory—and with how people really behave.”
Classical and ‘rational’ vs. Quantum thinking
As many of those deemed “irrational” have attempted to state, researchers who try to study human behavior using the classical probability approach are likely to find that human behavior isn’t always rational. Noticing this, Wang and her collaborators focused in on how quantum theory, rather than classical reasoning, could open up an understanding of human cognition and behaviors.
“In the social and behavioral sciences as a whole, we use probability models a lot,” Wang stated. “For example, we ask, what is the probability that a person will act a certain way or make a certain decision? Traditionally, those models are all based on classical probability theory—which arose from the classical physics of Newtonian systems. So it’s really not so exotic for social scientists to think about quantum systems and their mathematical principles, too.”
Quantum physics typically works with the ambiguity in the physical world. In the same way, quantum cognition is when humans have to mentally deal with ambiguity. As humans, we aren’t certain about how we feel, what we want, or what we should do, and so we must make decisions based on little information.
“Our brain can’t store everything. We don’t always have clear attitudes about things. But when you ask me a question, like ‘What do you want for dinner?’ I have to think about it and come up with or construct a clear answer right there,” Wang explained. “That’s quantum cognition.”
Why quantum theory works
Think about how a person makes a decision—in most cases, he or she will go back and forth, weighing the options for each possibility as they stack up against each other until a final decision is made.
When using the classical approach to psychology, some of these options might not make sense, and as humans attempt to make decisions, researchers must create new mathematical axioms to account for each behavioral instance. The result? A multitude of psychological models, some conflicting with each other and none applying to every decision-making situation we encounter. We don’t answer the same way every single time, do we?
However, by using a quantum approach, Wang and her collaborators claim that with the same limited set of axioms, researchers can explain the vast varieties of diverse and complex human behaviors and decisions.
“I think the mathematical formalism provided by quantum theory is consistent with what we feel intuitively as psychologists,” Wang continued. “Quantum theory may not be intuitive at all when it is used to describe the behaviors of a particle, but actually is quite intuitive when it is used to describe our typically uncertain and ambiguous minds.”
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