External observer reflections on QBism

Abstract

In this short review I present my personal reflections on QBism. I have no intrinsic sympathy neither to QBism nor to subjective interpretation of probability in general. However, I have been following development of QBism from its very beginning, observing its evolution and success, sometimes with big surprise. Therefore my reflections on QBism can be treated as "external observer" reflections. I hope that my view on this interpretation of quantum mechanics (QM) has some degree of objectivity. It may be useful for researchers who are interested in quantum foundations, but do not belong to the QBism-community, because I tried to analyze essentials of QBism critically (i.e., not just emphasizing its advantages, as in a typical QBist publication). QBists, too, may be interested in comments of an external observer who monitored development of this approach to QM during the last 16 years. The second part of the paper is devoted to interpretations of probability, objective versus subjective, and views of Kolmogorov, von Mises, and de Finetti. Finally, de Finetti's approach to methodology of science is presented and compared with QBism.

polishing text, better expressions

References in corpus (7)

• Quantum Mechanics as Quantum Information (and only a little more)
• QBism, the Perimeter of Quantum Bayesianism
• QBism and the Greeks: why a quantum state does not represent an element of physical reality
• Information Invariance and Quantum Probabilities
• Quantum theory: Reconsideration of foundations
• My Struggles with the Block Universe
• A Quantum Model for the Ellsberg and Machina Paradoxes

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Negativity Bounds for Weyl-Heisenberg Quasiprobability Representations
• Ozawa's Intersubjectivity Theorem as objection to QBism individual agent perspective
• Ozawa's Intersubjectivity Theorem as justification of RQM's postulate on internally consistent descriptions
• Reflections on Zeilinger-Brukner information interpretation of quantum mechanics