Unconscious emotional information processing: Theoretical consequences and practical applications
The nature of unconscious human emotional information processing remains a great mystery. On the one hand, classical models view human conscious emotional information processing as computation among the brain's neurons but fail to address its enigmatic features. On the other hand, quantum processes (superposition of states, nonlocality, and entanglement) also remain mysterious, yet are being harnessed in revolutionary information technologies like quantum computation, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation. In this paper, a behavioral- and two neuroimaging studies will be discussed that suggest a special role for unconscious emotional information processing in human interaction with other objects. Since this is a new research field; we are only beginning to understand quantum information processing in the human brain (Hameroff, 2006; Van den Noort and Bosch, 2006). This research is important since it could have important theoretical consequences in the way we understand physics and information processing in the brain. Moreover, it could lead to new information technologies and applications. For instance, it might give new insights on human consumer behavior (Dijksterhuis, 2004; Dijksterhuis, Bos, Nordgren, and Van Baaren, 2006a; 2006b), and lead to new commercial strategies for multinationals.
emotions consumer behavior consciousness quantum physics unconscious information processing