Quantum mind

The quantum mind theory is founded on the premise that quantum theory is necessary to understand the mind and brain. This is very much a minority opinion, although it does have the support of the well-known mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose. Other proponents include Stuart Hameroff, Subhash Kak, Karl Pribram, Henry Stapp, Brian Flanagan and Michael Lockwood.

Introduction

Proposition

A common argument underlying the quantum mind thesis is that classical mechanics cannot fully explain consciousness. Proponents have suggested that quantum mechanical phneomena, such as quantum entanglement and superposition, play an important part in the brain's function.

Skepticism

The main argument against the quantum mind is that the structures of the brain are much too large for quantum effects to be important: it is impossible for coherent quantum states to form for very long in the brain and impossible for them to exist at scales on the order of the size of neurons.

This does not imply that classical mechanics can explain consciousness, but that effects such as superposition and entanglement are insignificant. Quantum chemistry is required to understand the actions of neurotransmitters, for example.

One well-known critic of the quantum mind is Max Tegmark. Based on his calculations, Tegmark concluded that quantum systems in the brain decohere quickly and cannot control brain function, "This conclusion disagrees with suggestions by Penrose and others that the brain acts as a quantum computer, and that quantum coherence is related to consciousness in a fundamental way"^[1].

See also

• Consciousness
• Electromagnetic theories of consciousness
• Space-time theories of consciousness
• Evolutionary neuroscience
• Theory of mind
• Bohm interpretation
• Holonomic brain theory
• Consciousness causes collapse

References

 

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Consciousness studies

• Bennett, Charles H., Shor, Peter W., Smolin, John A. and Thapliyal, Ashish V. "Entanglement-Assisted Classical Capacity of Noisy Quantum Channels," Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3081–3084 (1999). (http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v83/i15/p3081_1)
• Flanagan, Brian. "Are Perceptual Fields Quantum Fields?" http://wordassociation1.net/FieldWork.html
• Hodgson, David. The Mind Matters. Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Lockwood, Michael. Mind, Brain and the Quantum. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell Ltd., 1989.
• Schrodinger, Erwin. Mind and Matter. Cambridge University Press, 1959.
• Weyl, Hermann. Mind and Nature, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1934.
• Wigner, Eugene. "Physics and the Explanation of Life," in Foundations of Physics, vol. 1, 1970, pp. 34-45.
• Wikibook on consciousness

External links

• The Science and Philosophy of Consciousness
• Quantum Interconnectedness
• Problem with Quantum Mind Theory
• http://consciousness.arizona.edu/ Center for Consciousness Studies, directed by Stuart Hameroff
• http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/ Hameroff's Quantum Consciousness site
• Spin & Consciousness Research

1. Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes by Max Tegmark in Phys. Rev. E (2000) Volume 61, pages 4194 - 4206.