Why did Stalin deem Quantum Mechanics 'counter-revolutionary'?
Upvote:3
As you know, quantum mechanics has some difficult philosophical problems even today. In the USSR the main champion of the criticism was Blokhintsev who was a proponent of ensemble interpretation. So in any case this would not be an attack on quantum mechanics as such but an attack on a particular interpretation viewed by some as not compatible with dialectical materialism. It is not really necessary to ascribe any such move to Stalin personally.
Upvote:23
Stalin took ideology seriously...
- He started the Soviet meme "на идеологии мы не экономим" ("we don't skimp on ideology").
- He also believed that "Учение Маркса всесильно, потому что оно верно" ("The teachings of Marx is omnipotent because it is true").
- He also understood the critical importance of science and technology.
- He also continued the age-old Russian national mentality "we are surrounded by sworn enemies" in its class version (workers vs bourgeois instead of Russians vs non-Russians)
- This lead him to place an overriding importance on the correct indoctrination of scientists - both
- as the means of improving the scientific work as a part of the "material" Cold War competition
- to use the Soviet scientists' superiority in the Ideological Warfare.
...but only up to a point
The only reason he did not purge physics of quantum mechanics is that he was told by Kapitsa in no uncertain terms that he will not have an atomic bomb without quantum mechanics (other sources mention Kurchatov and/or Khariton talking to Beria: since the Physics "discussion" was scheduled after Philosophy and Biology, the physicists knew what was in stock for them and fought, so it is likely that there were many such conversations).
Quantum mechanics
The specific reasoning behind his rejection of Quantum mechanics is manifold.
First of all, he did not understand it (which is not surprising, given his lack of scientific background and the complexity of the subject), which, combined with his overblown self-image (decades of flattery took its toll on the aging man), led him to think that it was worthless - especially given some counter-intuitive implications.
Second, quantum mechanics clearly and explicitly contradicted a direct quote from Lenin's book "Materialism and Empirio-Criticism": "Электрон так же неисчерпаем, как и атом" ("Electron is just as inexhaustible as the atom") because it reduced the properties of electron to a few numbers (charge, mass, spin) instead of ascribing it an infinite divisibility. Remember that a quote from Marx/Engels/Lenin was enough to win any argument in the Soviet Union:
Similarly, the Big Bang theory contradicted the doctrine of eternal universe, which made General Relativity unacceptable.
Third, the natural laws of a totalitarian state require suppression of any free thought everywhere. Stalin's laxity in enforcing the rigid ideological control in physics resulted in it being the spawning ground of dissidents (Sakharov, Tverdokhlebov, Orlov) - as well as the excellence of Soviet physics school. The same goes for mathematics, by the way (Esenin-Volpin, Shafarevich, Shikhanovich).
Linguistics
This subject is far from esoteric!
It helps to define the notion of a "people", and the political implications of nationalism in the 20th century are impossible to underestimate.
E.g., Stalin's support for Kurds and Israel had to be scientifically justified (remember, Marxism was supposed to be a science) and linguistics provided a means.
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