Jacques Pienaar

That's the question that got me started in physics.
Now, after more than 15 years of intense study, I can finally say that I have no idea.

"The most perfect philosophy of the natural kind only staves off our ignorance a little longer ... the observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn"
-- David Hume

An Australian, I studied in Melbourne and received my PhD from the University of Queensland. My work has taken me all over the world: I've held research positions at the University of Vienna (Austria); the International Institute of Physics in Natal (Brazil); and the University of Massachusetts Boston (USA).

In my career I have studied many different interpretations of quantum theory. My current favourite interpretation is QBism and I work closely with the QBism group at the University of Massachusetts Boston, led by Professor Chris Fuchs.

I'm currently co-leading a 3-year grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which I conceived together with QBism's founders Chris Fuchs and Rüdiger Schack, that aims to flesh out QBism's account of quantum measurement by connecting it to metrology, ie the science of precision measurement and standardization. To help us push QBism beyond its comfort zone, the project includes a mix of philosophers, metrologists and even a couple of QBist critics. You can read more about this collaboration at the official project website.

My website is just a bunch of simple HTML files that I edit by hand; all files are hosted on github, totally public and transparent. I don't use any kind of AI to assist with my writing, not even for proofreading ... and it probably shows! On the other hand, the decorative art for this site was mostly generated with the help of DALL-E, and I'm quite pleased with it.

There are no trackers, ads, analytics, or any of that disgusting internet trash - this is a clean site. (My old blog, on the other hand, is full of it... sorry!) By visiting my site, nobody learns anything about you. Please pause to enjoy the feeling of not being spied on, quantified, analyzed, and generally treated like a product.

I don't allow comments on my blog posts because I don't have time to read or reply to them, much less deal with trolls (except Mateus Araujo). If you find a forum where my writing, or QBism generally, is being discussed, please let me know and I will post a link. Who knows, I might even show up there to leave a comment once in a blue moon.

Yes, the cheesy "contact me" form actually works. It goes to the same email address listed on this site. I can't promise I'll reply in a timely manner, but I do try to read everything that comes through here.