Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
July 18, 2022
Roger Penrose
Abstract The human ability to achieve conscious understanding is argued to be a non-computational process. For this to be in accordance with physical laws requires something beyond current physical theory, in supplying a physical basis for “the collapse of the wave function”, demoted OR. This is argued to be an effect of gravitation on quantum mechanics. OR events are what allow a firm...
Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
July 18, 2022
Michel Bitbol
AbstractTwo questions standardly arise about the connections between quantum mechanics and consciousness: “how can consciousness impose a reduction of the physical system’s quantum state?”; and, conversely, “how can consciousness be produced by a quantum process?”. In this paper, such questions are not answered, but considered as symptoms of a cultural bias. Indeed, they involve two terms,...
Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
July 18, 2022
J. Acacio De Barros, Carlos Montemayor
AbstractIn this chapter we argue that an access-consciousness version of panpsychism, which we call “panintentionalism” suffices, and is better equipped to account for the type of mentality involved in quantum mechanics than the standard one, based on phenomenal-consciousness. We provide details concerning the notion of “observer” in quantum mechanics to support our claims and conclude that,...
Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
July 18, 2022
Philip Goff
AbstractThis chapter argues that wave function monism – a popular theory of the ontology of quantum mechanics – cannot be true, on the grounds that its truth is inconsistent with the reality of consciousness. According to wave function monism, fundamental physical reality consists of a complex-valued field in a high-dimensional space. Building on a specific analysis of the grounding...
Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics
July 18, 2022
Basil J. Hiley, Paavo Pylkkänen
AbstractThe paper proposes that quantum theory implies a radically new notion of matter which has not been properly understood before David Bohm’s groundbreaking work. Bohm proposed that the fundamental particles of physics (such as electrons) are not merely pushed around mechanically by classical forces but are also able to respond to information. Information is thus assumed to be an objective...