Erwin Schrodinger — "Consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown."
Consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown.
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More from Erwin Schrodinger
"The idea that there is a 'mind' or 'consciousness' that is separate from the physical world is a delusion. It is a product of our language and our limited way of thinking."
"There is no quantum jump. There is no such thing as a quantum jump. It is all balderdash."
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About Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)
Austrian physicist who shared the 1933 Nobel for the wave equation that bears his name and the famous cat thought-experiment. Closely associated with Werner Heisenberg (matrix-mechanics rival who reached the same physics by different math) and Albert Einstein (his pen-pal on quantum interpretation). For an intellectual contrast, see Niels Bohr, Danish physicist and architect of the Copenhagen interpretation — Schrödinger's cat thought-experiment was specifically designed to ridicule Bohr's 'observer-dependent reality' reading of quantum mechanics — Schrödinger thought the Copenhagen interpretation was absurd; the cat was meant as reductio ad absurdum.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
There is only one consciousness, not many separate ones. What we experience as individual minds are not truly distinct entities but facets of a single unified awareness. The sense of being a separate self is an illusion — consciousness itself cannot be counted or divided into discrete units the way physical objects can. Plurality belongs to matter; consciousness stands apart, irreducibly one.
Relevance to Erwin Schrodinger
Schrödinger spent his later career bridging physics and philosophy, particularly in 'What is Life?' and 'Mind and Matter.' Having formulated wave mechanics — where a particle exists in superposition until observed — he was obsessed with the role of the observer. This quote reflects his deep engagement with Vedanta philosophy, which similarly holds that individual consciousness is an illusion masking one universal Atman.
The era
Mid-20th century quantum mechanics shattered classical assumptions about objective reality, forcing physicists to confront the observer's role in measurement. Simultaneously, neuroscience was in its infancy and could not explain subjective experience. Schrödinger wrote this amid postwar intellectual upheaval, when Western scientists were increasingly turning to Eastern philosophy to fill gaps that materialist science left gaping.
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