The Emergence of Space-time and the Emergence of Consciousness: Could They Be One and the Same? A Comment on Schneider and Bailey's 'Superpsychism'

A philosophical critique argues that the 'Superpsychism' theory—which proposes that space-time and ordinary consciousness both emerge from a fundamental level of reality composed of maximally coherent quantum entanglement relations called prototime that instantiate a basic form of consciousness termed superconsciousness—faces significant objections. The authors question whether this view offers genuine explanatory advantages as an account of space-time, an interpretation of quantum mechanics, or a theory of consciousness, finding it lacking in each area.

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Abstract

In 'Superpsychism', Susan Schneider and Mark Bailey (this issue) propose that space-time and ordinary (human-level) consciousness both emerge from a fundamental, non-spatio-temporal level of reality consisting of a network of maximally coherent, zero entropy quantum entanglement relations, termed prototime, which also instantiates a fundamental form of consciousness, termed superconsciousness. We raise some objections to this view, considered as an explanation or reduction of space-time, as an interpretation of quantum mechanics, and as a theory of consciousness, questioning the extent of its explanatory advantages in each of these areas.