Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
August 24, 2022
Stuart Kauffman, Andrea Roli
52 citations
Consciousness is approached not as Descartes' systematic doubt but as organisms finding their way in the world by detecting affordances—possible uses of features that are beneficial or harmful. Affordances are indefinite, unordered, non-listable, and not deducible from one another. Biological adaptations arise either from heritable variation and selection or, faster, from organisms finding novel uses. This leads to five conclusions: artificial general intelligence based on universal Turing machines is impossible because they cannot find novel affordances; brain-mind is not purely classical physics; brain-mind must be partly quantum, supported at 6.0–7.3 sigma; mind actualizes potentia (quantum possibilities) into actuals, supported at 5.2 sigma, experienced as qualia enabling perception of uses; and trans-Turing systems beyond quantum computers are discussed.
Bio Systems
September 1, 2024
Stuart Kauffman, Sudip Patra
The article attempts to weave Cosmos, Mind, and Matter into a unified conceptual framework, building on three recent discoveries: (i) particles of the Standard Model may be capable of collective autocatalysis, possibly explaining Cosmogenesis and the origin of physical laws and constants; (ii) evidence suggests matter can expand spacetime, which could clarify Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Inflation; (iii) evidence at 6.49 sigma indicates mind can alter the outcome of the two-slit experiment, implying mind plays a role in the universe, possibly including a Cosmic Mind. The framework considers ontologically real potentia, nonlocality, mind as not in spacetime, and the co-evolution of complex matter.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2023
Stuart Kauffman, Dean Radin
The mind-brain relationship may be partially quantum, not fully explained by classical physics. The authors propose a model with two ontological elements: Possibles (not obeying Aristotle's law of excluded middle) and Actuals (obeying it). Measurement registered by an observer's mind converts Possibles into Actuals, suggesting mind may be quantum and play an active role in the physical world. This aligns with proposals by Heisenberg (1958), von Neumann (1955), and Stapp. Empirical evidence supports these possibilities.
arXiv Preprint Archive
April 12, 2021
Stuart Kauffman, Andrea Roli
Consciousness is approached not as Descartes' doubt but as how organisms find their way in the world by discovering beneficial or harmful uses of features—'affordances.' The number of uses of any thing is indefinite, unordered, and not deducible from one another. All biological adaptations arise from seizing affordances. From this, the authors conclude: artificial general intelligence based on universal Turing machines is impossible because they cannot find novel affordances; brain-mind is not purely classical physics; brain-mind must be partly quantum-supported (evidence at 6.0 to 7.3 sigma); mind actualizes quantum potentia (supported at 5.2 sigma), and these actualizations of entangled brain-mind-world states are experienced as qualia, enabling perception of uses. Computers cannot jury-rig. Trans-Turing systems are discussed.
arXiv Preprint Archive
October 7, 2014
Stuart Kauffman
The author argues that contemporary neurobiology and post-Cartesian philosophy of mind assume humans are classical-physics machines, leaving mind either absent or epiphenomenal and causally impotent. The paper contends this conclusion is not forced, provided we abandon total reliance on classical physics. Much of the discussion is speculative; some claims are testable, others not. The author assumes quantum measurement is real and rejects Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics.
arXiv Preprint Archive
July 15, 2009
Stuart Kauffman
Six enduring problems in philosophy of mind—how mind acts on matter, whether mind is a mere epiphenomenon, the source of free will, the source of responsible free will, the evolutionary advantage of consciousness, and the nature of consciousness itself—are addressed using two physical postulates. The mind-brain system is a quantum coherent but reversibly decohering and recohering system; mind does not causally act on brain but acausally decoheres to classicity, averting epiphenomenalism. A quantum mind yields a merely random free will, not a responsible one. The more radical proposal is that the quantum-classical interface can be nonrandom yet lawless, providing a source for responsible free will.