>[!abstract] >The cellular automaton interpretation (CAI) of quantum mechanics is one of several interpretations of quantum mechanics, alongside the more mainstream Copenhagen interpretation and the many-worlds interpretation. It was published in 2016 by physicist Gerard t’ Hooft ([[t' Hooft, 2016|t' Hooft, 2016]]). It aims to explain quantum behaviors using a classical framework and introduces the concept of [[Superdeterminism|superdeterminism]]. >[!quote] >When investigating theories at the tiniest conceivable scales in Nature, almost all researchers today revert to the quantum language, accepting the verdict that we shall nickname “the Copenhagen doctrine” that the only way to describe what is going on will always involve states in Hilbert space, controlled by operator equations. Returning to classical, that is, non quantum mechanical, descriptions will be forever impossible, unless one accepts some extremely contrived theoretical contraptions that may or may not reproduce the quantum mechanical phenomena observed in experiments. > >Dissatisfied, this author investigated how one can look at things differently. This book is an overview of older material, but also contains many new observations and calculations. Quantum mechanics is looked upon as a tool, not as a theory. Examples are displayed of models that are classical in essence, but can be analysed by the use of quantum techniques, and we argue that even the Standard Model, together with gravitational interactions, might be viewed as a quantum mechanical approach to analyse a system that could be classical at its core. We explain how such thoughts can conceivably be reconciled with Bell’s theorem, and how the usual objections voiced against the notion of ‘superdeterminism’ can be overcome, at least in principle. Our proposal would eradicate the collapse problem and the measurement problem. Even the existence of an “arrow of time” can perhaps be explained in a more elegant way than usual ([[t' Hooft, 2016|t' Hooft, 2016]]). >[!tip] My explanation >Imagine the entire universe as a 3D lattice, like a Minecraft world, where each block is a point the size of one Planck length (1.6 x 10^-35 meters). Each point follows a few simple, local rules and can only interact with its immediate neighbors. > >In this strictly deterministic arrangement, the state of the universe at time T+1 is entirely determined by its state at time T. But because we cannot access the full underlying information about the lattice, all our predictions at observable scales become probabilistic. > >We misinterpret this seemingly indeterministic emergent behavior as the quantum wavefunction, which we mistakenly take as real when it's just a statistical tool that reflects our ignorance about the substrate. In other words, quantum mechanics are wrong. > >That, in essence, is Nobel Laureate Gerard ‘t Hooft's Cellular Automaton Interpretation (CAI) of quantum mechanics. The name comes from Conway's game of life, and describes how each point of the universal lattice obeys simple rules based on the state of its immediate neighbors. > >CAI proposes that the universe is entirely classical and deterministic. What we perceive as quantum randomness is merely epistemic randomness (i.e., a result of our limited knowledge of the system). There is no actual (ontological) randomness to be found anywhere. > >CAI brings reality closer to deterministic chaos, in the sense that outcomes seem random and unpredictable only because of our limited knowledge of initial conditions. Free will, in this view, is also an illusion, as every choice is already encoded in the deterministic evolution of the universe. > >So the universe is chaotic and fractal, life is pre-determined, you are a cellular automaton with no moral responsibility, your thoughts are just an emergent property of the classical substrate, and your self-awareness is just a recursively computable state, which means that you are just software running on the universe's lattice. >[!references] References >- [[t' Hooft, 2016]] >- [[Hossenfelder, 2025b|Hossenfelder (2025b)]] >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): [[Quantum mechanics, Copenhagen interpretation]] [[Quantum mechanics, many-worlds interpretation]] >- **South** (downstream): —