My confusion about quantum theory (beyond my obvious unfamiliarity with its terminology) is basically twofold:

1. I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of quantum theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world
2. I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the quantum level of reality.

This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles (bosons and fermions in the case of quantum fields), and particles (themselves) are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first in the hierarchy of cause and effect relationships, particles or "fields"?

My confusion about quantum theory is twofold:

1. I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of quantum theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world
2. I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the quantum level of reality.

This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles, and particles themselves are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first, particles or fields?

I hope that I am using appropriate terminology. My confusion about quantum theory (beyond my obvious unfamiliarity with its terminology) is basically twofold:

1. I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of quantum theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world
2. I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the quantum level of reality.

This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles (bosons and fermions in the case of quantum fields), and particles (themselves) are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first in the hierarchy of cause and effect relationships, particles or "fields"?

My confusion about quantum theory (beyond my obvious unfamiliarity with its terminology) is basically twofold:

1. I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of quantum theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world
2. I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the quantum level of reality.

This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles (bosons and fermions in the case of quantum fields), and particles (themselves) are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first in the hierarchy of cause and effect relationships, particles or "fields"?

I hope that I am using appropriate terminology. My confusion about Quantum Theory (beyond my obvious unfamiliarity with its terminology) is basically twofold: 1) I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of Quantum Theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world, and 2) I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the Quantum level of reality. This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles (bosons and fermions in the case of Quantum fields), and particles (themselves) are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first in the hierarchy of cause and effect relationships, particles or "fields"?

I hope that I am using appropriate terminology. My confusion about quantum theory (beyond my obvious unfamiliarity with its terminology) is basically twofold:

1. I lack an adequate understanding of how the mathematics of quantum theory is supposed to correspond to phenomena in the physical world
2. I still have an incomplete picture in my mind of how cause and effect relationships occur at the quantum level of reality.

This is why phenomena such as "entanglement" make absolutely no sense to me. So, in an attempt to come to some understanding of all of this, I would like to know that if what we conceptualize as a "field" is merely an interaction among particles (bosons and fermions in the case of quantum fields), and particles (themselves) are actually fluctuations in "fields", then which comes first in the hierarchy of cause and effect relationships, particles or "fields"?