Petitio Principii, or "A Coversation With The Armchair Philosopher"

As scientific research inevitably popularizes itself, fact is dressed by imagination as the uninformed inform one another of their varying interpretations of the data. A favorite among the armchair philosophers with self-awarded degrees in (meta)physics concerns the implications of quantum mechanics on spirituality. "Doesn't the uncertainty principle," they suggest, "imply that the complexity of the human mind cannot be explained by science alone?" or "Doesn't quantum entanglement show that telepathy and otherworldly communication is possible?" And of course, the popularization of string theory has led to a 'scientific justification' of higher dimensions and planes of existence which transcend our own. All of which is fascinating and worthy of contemplation, but not at all supported scientific considerations.

The logic behind it all is something like this: quantum mechanics shows us that subatomic particles behave in unpredictable ways, that space-transcending correlations can exist between individual particles through quantum entanglement, and that string theory suggests that higher dimensions provide a means by which to unify our understanding of the physical world. Therefore, since such acts of space-transcending magnificence are allowed under quantum theory, spiritual experience is given scientific support.

This, however, still begs the question, as no scientific evidence suggests that the effects of quantum mechanics take place on an everyday level. There is a factor of scale to be considered, a factor much easier circumnavigated in argument than in reality. The strange quantum behavior observed in the lab occurs only at the scale of the subatomic. Quantum mechanics does not provide the mechanism for spiritual transcendentalism any more than the laws of gravity will allow for solar systems to form in your office building. The physical scale is not right, and there are explicit reasons for why physical laws stick to their respective realms of authority.

Sure, quantum mechanics could perhaps explain certain aspects of 'spiritual experience,' provided we were each smaller than the size of a single atom, but quantum theory does not explain the religious experiences of the armchair philosopher whose size is comparable to that of a human being.