Quantum Mechanics and New Age Nonsense

The New York Times has a good essay about the misuse and misapplication of quantum mechanics to new age thought. The essay is about movies:

These films and the quantum mysticism industry behind them raise a disturbing question about the muddled intersection between science and culture. Do we have to indulge in bad physics to feel good?

And then:

When I first heard that Marlee Matlin had made a movie about quantum theory, I was excited. (Total disclosure: Ms. Matlin once bought an option on the film rights to an essay of mine about Albert Einstein and his wife.) What could be more deserving of wide-screen cinematic treatment than the weirdness and mystery of the laws that sculpture our space-time adventures?

But hours and hours spent watching the two films and navigating their splashy Web site have tempered my enthusiasm. These films and the quantum mysticism industry behind them raise a disturbing question about the muddled intersection between science and culture. Do we have to indulge in bad physics to feel good?

The essay goes on to tell how physicists have abandoned Wigner's idea that quantum mechanics relates to consciousness and have gone on to other studies. Yet, bad physics continues.

Read the entire essay.