Quantum consciousness

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'''Quantum consciousness''' (sometimes called '''quantum mind''') is the idea that [[consciousness]] requires [[Quantum mechanics|quantum]] processes, as opposed to the view of mainstream neurobiology, in which the function of the brain is wholly classical, and quantum processes play no computational role.

While many attempts at a theory of quantum consciousness are [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] by naively claiming the strangeness of quantum mechanics is a parallel to the strangeness of consciousness, more sophisticated quantum consciousness theories are an attempt at a solution of the "combination problem"; the problem explaining how a system of classical neurons can combine to form a single subject of experience (also referred to as the "binding problem"). However, there is currently little experimental evidence of computationally relevant quantum processes in the human brain, in part due to the technical difficulty of probing the brain at sufficient spatial and temporal granularity.

Whether or not quantum effects influence thought is a valid topic for [[scientific method|scientific]] investigation, but simply stating "quantum effects cause consciousness" ''explains'' nothing unless scientists can come up with some suggestion about ''how'' quantum effects could possibly cause consciousness. The argument goes:
# I don't understand consciousness.
# I don't understand quantum physics.
# Therefore, consciousness must be a function of quantum physics!
It's [[god of the gaps]] with "quantum" as the all-purpose gap filler.{{efn|This is the case even if, as with Penrose, you ''do'' know your quantum physics.}}

Please note: This should be distinguished from research into "[http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/09/how-quantum-cognition-can-explain-humans-irrational-behaviors/405787/ quantum cognition]," which applies quantum-mechanical mathematical models to human behavior in areas where classical probability theory fails to match observed human behavior. "Quantum cognition" does not assume that the underlying human consciousness is quantum-mechanical; it's simply that a few psychologists noted that the same concepts and equations used in quantum mechanics are for reasons unknown good analogies for actual human behavior where traditional probability theory suggests that actual behavior is irrational.

Also note that at the atomic level, quantum events (radioactive decay of atoms, probablistic collisions of molecules) obviously take place in the brain and affect neurons to some extent. However, such events are considered trivial and there is no evidence that they play any computationally relevant role.

==Quanta and consciousness==
Not all quantum mechanical interpretations assume [[quantum collapse]] happens, but if it does, one of many competing theories about how it happens is that [[Quantum collapse#Consciousness Interpretation|consciousness causes collapse]].  Since these consciousness-based theories were developed, people who want to believe that consciousness is in some way special have been attracted to that type of quantum physics.  Some adherents to mystical consciousness-based quantum physics have been [[woo]]-meisters and [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientists]] proposing often expensive [[bullshit|solutions to problems]]. Despite this respected scientists like Eugene Wigner were also attracted to quantum consciousness, a view Wigner later repudiated.<ref>[http://www.unil.ch/webdav/site/philo/shared/DocsPerso/EsfeldMichael/1999/SHPMP99.pdf "Wigner’s View of Physical Reality," Section 2.5 - Wigner’s later change of position]</ref> At the present level of [[knowledge]] it is difficult for lay people to see how far quantum consciousness is a reasonable [[theory]] and how much it is [[wishful thinking]].
However, unless substance [[dualism]] is true, which most scientists doubt, conscious [[mind]]s should be able to collapse wave-functions just as much as unconscious photodetectors can. If this were not so, it would mean that conscious minds are made of some non-physical substance that unconscious photodetectors are not made of.

==Different theorists==
It's necessary to distinguish between the [[Deepak Chopra]]-brand [[quantum woo]] version of quantum consciousness, [[non-materialist neuroscience]] and the more [[materialist]] version.  

===Deepak Chopra===
In the Chopra-brand, everything is in some vague [[quantum physics#Copenhagen interpretation|superposition]], [[Schroedinger's cat]] style, until it is observed. Therefore, the [[universe]] requires an observer. Therefore, [[monotheism|one]] or [[polytheism|more]] god(s) exists.

According to Chopra, [[Gish Gallop|"consciousness is nonlocal" and consciousness is "a field, a superposition of possibilities."]]<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deepak-chopra/quantum-consciousness_b_518940.html What Quantum Physics Tells Us About Consciousness], Deepak Chopra</ref> It is a bit hard to see what Chopra means by this, it seems that a whole lot of different, perhaps incompatible possibilities (like the possibility that Schrödinger's cat is alive and the simultaneous possibility that the cat is dead) form a field and by [[woo|some unexplained mechanism]] consciousness derives from this field of possibilities.

Other off-the-wall [[New Age]] theories often attempts to tie this in to [[idealism]] and wishful thinking akin to [[The Secret]].

===Mario Beauregard===
[[Mario Beauregard]]'s brand of quantum theory is explained in-depth at the [[non-materialist neuroscience]] page. The crux of the quantum-related part of his argument is that the ion channels in neurons are small enough to be subject to quantum effects. This is similar to the materialist version of quantum consciousness. Other scientists reject many of Beauregard's postulates.

===Roger Penrose===
The most famous proponent of this theory is Roger Penrose, a renowned [[mathematician]] who has collaborated frequently with [[Stephen Hawking]] &mdash; that is, he differs from other quantum consciousness proponents in actually understanding something about quantum physics. You might recognize his name from the {{wpl|Penrose triangle}} or the {{wpl|Penrose tiling||.}}

Penrose's argument starts off based on {{wpl|Gödel's incompleteness theorem}}, stating that the existence of the theorem demonstrated that the mind had the capability of thinking outside of an algorithmic fashion, i.e. that consciousness is non-computable. Quantum physics then gives him the out to argue that neurons, and thus the [[brain]] as a whole, operate in a probabilistic fashion.{{efn|This is Penrose's book ''The Emperor's New Mind'' and some of his later work condensed to a few sentences.}} Somehow [[Probability|probabilistic]] fashions lead to consciousness. Max Tegmark,  a man who received donations from Elon Musk to investigate existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence, claims the brain is simply too hot for quantum states to be influential. <ref>Max Tegmark, "The Importance of Quantum Decoherence in Brain Processes," Phys. Rev. E 61 (2000) 4194-4206. [http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/9907/9907009v2.pdf Copy at arXiv.]</ref>

===Penrose and Hameroff===
Penrose then teamed up with Stuart Hameroff, who developed a similarly unscientific theory about quantum independently, to further this idea. They developed something called the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch-OR) model. Most of it is dependent on Hameroff's assertion that the micro-tubules in neurons could have quantum effects on neuronal behavior, thus allowing the brain to behave as a quantum computer. Max Tegmark performed some mathematics and he saw any quantum effects within micro-tubules as subject to decoherence and thus not affecting brain activity.<ref>Max Tegmark, "The Importance of Quantum Decoherence in Brain Processes," Phys. Rev. E 61 (2000) 4194-4206. [http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/quant-ph/pdf/9907/9907009v2.pdf Copy at arXiv.] Further explanation and commentary can be found [http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201001/2173359671.html here]</ref> Further [[falsification]]s of the Orch-OR model have been performed.<ref>Reimers et al. [http://www.pnas.org/content/106/11/4219.full.pdf+html Weak, strong, and coherent regimes of Fröhlich condensation and their applications to terahertz medicine and quantum consciousness.] Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online, Feb. 2009.</ref><ref>Georgiev, Danko (2006). [http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/3049/ Falsifications of Hameroff-Penrose Orch OR Model of Consciousness and Novel Avenues for Development of Quantum Mind Theory.] PhilSci Archive</ref> Penrose is an [[atheist]] and his arguments are usually used to support [[free will]] without invoking [[spirits]], making this something like materialist [[woo]]. Penrose himself is agnostic about free will - he doesn't reject it, but he's not sure it's free either.<ref>[https://www.facebook.com/theinstituteofartandideas/videos/quantum-theory-free-will-roger-penrose/428473478079787/ The Institute of Art And Ideas, 2019]</ref>

Research has recently shown that anaesthesia's action differs from the model in Penrose and Hameroff's hypothesis, casting further doubt on the idea.<ref>[https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/20421/20190418/scientists-discovered-where-anesthesia-works-on-the-brain.htm Sandra Handy via The Science Times: "Scientists Discovered Where Anesthesia Works On the Brain"]</ref>

{{wpl|Quantum computer||s}} do exist. They are specialized devices that use the [[Quantum mechanics|quantum properties]] of [[atoms]] and [[molecule]]s for computing power. A quantum computer harnesses the quantum superposition of atoms and can hold a single bit (known as "qubit") in a state of 1, [[0]] and both at the same time. Effectively this means that a single atom used to perform a calculation is on, off, and on and off ''at the same time''. The quantum computer can maintain these states &mdash; potentially ''all possible states'' &mdash; simultaneously before coalescing around a single calculation almost instantaneously. In principle, this allows quantum computers to perform some operations exponentially faster than classical computers, though there is currently no sound evidence to suggest that the human brain (or any other natural phenomenon) is or acts like a quantum computer.

===David Pearce===
Philosopher David Pearce published an essay entitled "Physicalistic Idealism: Does physicalism entail monistic idealism? An experimentally testable conjecture about the nature of the physical world." In it, he proposes a scientifically falsifiable hypothesis for testing the computational role of quantum processes in the brain as a solution to the phenomenal binding problem that arises from a standard conception of the brain as a wholly classical system. The experimental apparatus required to test and possibly falsify the conjecture is currently more advanced than what we have available.<ref>[http://physicalism.com/ Physicalistic Idealism: An experimentally testable conjecture about the nature of the physical world.]</ref>

===All these theories===
In short, the various exercises in quantum "flapdoodle"{{efn|To borrow a phrase from [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murray_Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann].}} seem to demonstrate that many are uncomfortable with the facts that neurons operate on the all-or-nothing principle, i.e., a) they are either on or off, making them in effect similar to a computer's binary code;<ref>Similar, but not identical. See Isaac White's [http://www.isaacwhite.ca/Academic-Work/cognitive-science/gofaisbiologicalassumptionandwhereitleads GOFAI's Biological Assumption and Where It Leads] for differences between boolean logic and neural activity.</ref> b) that, as far as we can tell according to modern science, they are subject to physical law and classical mechanics;{{efn|More precisely, that classical mechanics provides very accurate approximations. Of course, neurons are subject to laws of quantum mechanics just like any object in the universe. However, quantum corrections are extremely small in magnitude.}} and c) we still don't have a full solution for the binding problem or an all-encompassing explanation for just why brains work the way they do. Of course not ''all'' of it is flapdoodle-this doesn't rule out the possibility of quantum effects, but no coherent mechanism able to be replicated by [[experiment]] has been proposed thus far.

As of late, it seems that Penrose and his followers have allowed their brand of quantum consciousness to bleed into Chopra's and that of other woo-meisters.{{efn|Hameroff has become a particularly bad offender, having gone on to be featured in ''[[What the Bleep Do We Know?]]'' and palling around with Chopra himself.}} This is rather unfortunate due to the fact that while many predictions made by the Orch-OR model have been wrong, it might have eventually shown promise in a [[protoscience|protoscientific]] sense, while Chopra's problematic and tangled nonsense is mostly unfalsifiable with scientific instruments in their current stage of evolution or to initial inspection [[not even wrong]].

===The question of "quantum free will"===
Even if quantum forces were discovered to exert influence over neuronal activity, this still doesn't necessarily prove free will, in great part because of the slippery definition of "free will." The probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics does not rule out [[determinism]] &mdash; rather than a strict "A then B" view of causality, it simply creates a more complex picture of causality in which future possibilities and probabilities are naturally constrained and "calculated."<ref>This argument has been put forth by a number of physicists and [[philosopher]]s, perhaps most recently in [[Stephen Hawking]] and Leonard Mlodinow's ''The Grand Design''. [http://books.google.com/books?id=RoO9jkV-yzIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=grand+design+stephen+hawking&hl=en&ei=lkSTTt2QBIPe0QHQqMxP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=quantum%20physics%20might%20seem&f=false pp. 72-73]</ref> This might be thought of as rolling dice to determine your future action. It may be probabilistic, but it isn't freely chosen in the normal sense of the word.<ref>Although [https://web.archive.org/web/20130906195848/https://sabotagetimes.com/people/the-dice-man/ Luke Rhinehart] would disagree.</ref>
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===Victor Stenger===
[[Victor Stenger]] gets the last word, from his definitive takedown of quantum nonsense:
{{cquote|The overwhelming weight of evidence, from seven decades of experimentation, shows not a hint of a violation of reductionist, local, discrete, nonsuperluminal, non-holistic relativity and quantum mechanics  - with no fundamental involvement of human consciousness other than in our own subjective perception of whatever reality is out there.  Of course our thinking processes have a strong influence on what we perceive.  But to say that what we perceive therefore determines, or even controls, what is out there is without rational foundation.  The world would be a far different place for all of us if it was just all in our heads - if we really could make our own reality as the New Agers believe.  The fact that the world rarely is what we want it to be is the best evidence that we have little to say about it.  The myth of quantum consciousness should take its place along with gods, unicorns, and dragons as yet another product of the fantasies of people unwilling to accept what science, reason, and their own eyes tell them about the world.<ref>Victor J. Stenger. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130512041525/http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Quantum/QuantumConsciousness.pdf The Myth of Quantum Consciousness.] The Humanist, May/June 1992, Vol. 53, Number 3, pp. 13-15.</ref>}}

'Nuff said.-->

==See also==
*[[Non-materialist neuroscience]]
*[[Panpsychism]]

==External links==
*[http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/ Quantum Consciousness], Hameroff's webpage
*[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/287/5454/791.short Cold Numbers Unmake the Quantum Mind]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140225113456/https://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/Briefs/QBrain.pdf Is the Brain a Quantum Device?] by Victor Stenger
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130507082530/http://kuoi.com/~kamikaze/doc/minsky.html Conscious Machines] by Marvin Minsky, a critique of some of Penrose's ideas
*[http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/the-talk-3 If you don't talk to your kids about quantum computing, someone else will] SMBC

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Quantum woo]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Science woo]]
[[Category:New Age]]

Categories: Quantum woo, Pseudoscience, Science woo, New Age