Processing Asymmetries at the Macroscopic Observer Boundary: Evidence for Observer-Dependent State Reduction
Richard James Lucido
OSF Preprints September 6, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.13140/rg.2.2.31087.39843 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Measures | reaction time (RT) |
| Key points | Proposes that consciousness is discrete and operates in temporal chunks, so if consciousness causes wavefunction collapse, that collapse should require measurable time. Predicts that participants will respond more slowly to quantum-generated numbers left unobserved (in superposition) than to numbers already observed by the experimenter, because the participant's consciousness must force the collapse during the task. |
Abstract
This study builds upon previous experiments testing the Consciousness Causes Collapse (CCC) hypothesis. Previous studies by the author investigated the CCC using subliminal priming. This current experiment simplifies the paradigm by removing primes entirely and focusing directly on the temporal duration of wavefunction collapse. We hypothesize that consciousness is discrete and operates in temporal chunks. Therefore, if consciousness causes the wavefunction of a quantum event to collapse, this interaction cannot be instantaneous; it must require a measurable duration of time. To test this, participants will complete a reaction time (RT) task categorizing numbers (derived from quantum events via a Geiger counter) as odd or even. Half of the stimuli will be previously observed by the experimenter (already collapsed), and half will remain unobserved (superposition state). We expect that unobserved stimuli will yield slower reaction times because the participant's consciousness must force the collapse during the task, adding a delay.