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Of all basic principles of classical physics, realism should arguably be thelast to be given up when seeking a better interpretation of quantum mechanics.We examine the de Broglie-Bohm pilot wave theory as a well developed example ofa realistic theory. We present three challenges to a naive reading ofpilot-wave theory, each based on a system of several entangled particles. Withthe help of a coarse graining of pilot wave theory into a discrete system, weshow how these challenges can be answered. However this comes with a cost. Inthe description of individual systems, particles appear to scatter off emptybranches of the wave function as if they were particles, and conversely travelthrough particles as if they were waves. More generally, the "particles" ofpilot wave theory are led by the guidance equation to move in ways no classicalparticle would, involving apparent violations of the principles of inertia andmomentum conservation.We next argue that the aforementioned cost can be avoidedwithin a retrocausal model. In the proposed version of the pilot wave theory,the particle is guided by a combination of advanced and retarded waves. Theresulting account for quantum physics seems to have greater heuristic power, itdemands less damage to intuition, and moreover provides some general hintsregarding spacetime and causality. This is the first of two papers. In thesecond [1] we show that, in the context of an explicit model, retrocausality,with respect to an effective, emergent spacetime metric, can coexist with astrict irreversibility of causal processes.

Realism and causality I: Pilot wave and retrocausal models as possible facilitators