Measurement from Inside: Analytic Idealism and the Quantum Zeno Problem
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) September 9, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22677142 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the quantum Zeno problem for consciousness-collapse interpretations is framework-dependent, arising only from the assumption that consciousness is a property physical systems may possess. Proposes that under analytic idealism the dissociative boundary constituting a finite mind is identical to what the formalism describes as measurement, seen from inside, which removes the need for emergence-specific machinery and reinterprets the Zeno effect as attention performing high-frequency measurement in a stable basis. |
Abstract
Abstract: The hardest technical obstacle facing consciousness-collapse interpretations of quantum mechanics — the quantum Zeno effect — is not a problem with the formalism but an artifact of the framework within which such models are built. The Zeno problem is framework-dependent: it arises from the assumption, shared by materialism and property dualism, that consciousness is a property physical systems may or may not possess, which creates an emergence threshold the Zeno effect makes uncrossable. Under analytic idealism, where consciousness is fundamental and finite minds are dissociated perspectives within it, the assumption does not hold: the emergence form of the problem does not arise, and its state-transition form becomes attention selecting the basis of an ongoing measurement, at a recorded price. The essay develops a central identification, building on Kastrup (2017): the dissociative boundary that constitutes a finite mind IS what the formalism describes as measurement, seen from inside — a consequence of what dissociation means, not an added postulate. The identification removes the emergence-specific machinery built to circumvent the Zeno effect, explains — as any identity of consciousness with its correlate would — why consciousness-collapse and purely physical collapse models yield identical predictions, and reinterprets the Zeno effect as a description of attention: high-frequency measurement in a stable basis. The boundary is one-way — real as a limit on the alter's access, non-existent as a limit on the ground's presence — so outcome selection belongs to the ground and question selection to the finite perspective. The argument is conditional and constructive. Keywords: quantum Zeno effect · consciousness-collapse · analytic idealism · dissociation · measurement problem · von Neumann Process 1 · attention · integrated information theory · continuous spontaneous localization · super-resistance · mind-at-large · intersubjective regularity Part of the Return to Consciousness research program — 30 philosophical essays exploring consciousness-first metaphysics. Full project: https://returntoconsciousness.org/